Connect to share and comment

Rival Honduran gangs in truce to end spiral of violence

May 28, 2013 23:43
By Orfa Mejia TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) - Two of the most violent gangs in Honduras announced a truce on Tuesday under a church-brokered drive to stem a tide of violence that has turned Honduras into the world's most murderous country. Following the example of similar gangs in neighboring El Salvador, masked members of the "Calle 18" and "Mara Salvatrucha" gangs made separate announcements from within San Pedro Sula prison in northern Honduras, which houses the country's most violent criminals.

US student planned 'grim reaper' Columbine-style attack

Agence France-PresseMay 28, 2013 23:31
A judge set bail at $2 million Tuesday for a US teenager accused of planning a Columbine-style attack on his school using explosives and guns, as macabre details emerged of the alleged plot. Grant Acord, 17, planned to declare "The Russian grim reaper is here" as he threw a "napalm firebomb" and open fire at the the West Albany High School in the northwestern state of Oregon, according to court documents.

PNG revives death penalty, repeals sorcery law

Agence France-PresseMay 28, 2013 07:21
Papua New Guinea pressed ahead Tuesday with a controversial revival of the death penalty, passing laws allowing execution by a range of methods, while repealing its contested sorcery act. The impoverished Pacific nation's parliament voted to extend the long-dormant death penalty to cover rape, robbery and murder with new legislation permitting hanging, electrocution and firing squad executions.

First G20 cop trial centres on video, but it doesn't capture key moment

The Canadian PressMay 27, 2013 04:15
TORONTO - The first trial of a Toronto police officer facing criminal charges in the G20 protests is focusing on photos and video of one man's arrest, though none captured the moment he says he was hit with a riot shield. Dorian Barton, 32, an usher and part-time editor whose shoulder was broken on June 26, 2010, had ventured down to the Ontario legislature to scope out the scene. A line of police officers in riot gear had formed to the south of him, and as he was facing east taking pictures of police horses he was hit from behind, Barton said.

Spain's Princess Cristina faces new tax probe charge

May 24, 2013 11:01
MADRID (Reuters) - A Spanish judge has opened an investigation into Princess Cristina's tax returns after an earlier charge of being an accomplice in an embezzlement case against her husband was dropped. In a judicial writ made public on Friday, Examining Magistrate Jose Castro said he has asked the tax agency for information to determine whether Cristina, daughter of Spain's King Juan Carlos, engaged in tax evasion or money laundering between 2007 and 2010.

Amnesty urges Malaysia to end post-election crackdown

Agence France-PresseMay 24, 2013 05:00
Global rights group Amnesty International urged Malaysia Friday to end its "post-election crackdown" which has seen four critics arrested in the aftermath of the government's worst electoral result. The arrests made in the past week under the Sedition Act -- which Prime Minister Najib Razak pledged last year to repeal -- comes amid opposition claims that fraud marred the May 5 general election and cost them victory.

Mexican governor says his state is calmer thanks to army

Agencia EFEMay 23, 2013 17:01
Mexico City, May 23 (EFE).- This week's deployment of Mexican army soldiers in Michoacan has brought "tranquility" to the violence-wracked western state, Gov. Jesus Reyna said Thursday. Acknowledging the state is not "100 percent" calm, the governor told MVS radio that "the results have been good." He said his administration asked President Enrique Peña Nieto for military help "to re-establish completely the institutional order" amid the rise of armed militias that had taken it upon themselves to police their own communities.

In tense Mexico state, vigilantes refuse to disarm

Agence France-PresseMay 23, 2013 03:15
Farmers wearing bulletproof vests and toting assault rifles ride in pick-up trucks emblazoned with the word "self-defense" to protect this rural Mexican town from a drug cartel. The government deployed thousands of troops to the western state of Michoacan this week, but in some towns like Coalcoman, population 10,000, vigilantes are wary of putting down their weapons until they feel safe again. "We won't drop our guard until we see results," Antonio Rodriguez, a 37-year-old avocado grower and member of the community force, told AFP.

Hostage taking at Edmonton courthouse 'successfully concluded': police

The Canadian PressMay 22, 2013 17:34
EDMONTON - Police say a hostage taking at the Edmonton courthouse is over. Tactical officers responded to the downtown building shortly before noon. Within two hours, however, police reported that the matter had "successfully concluded." Police would not confirm who was involved. But a source told The Canadian Press that one female prisoner took another female prisoner hostage.

Swedish 'serial killer' has two more murders dropped

Agence France-PresseMay 21, 2013 16:00
A Swedish man originally convicted of eight murders saw two more of the killings wiped from his record when the prosecutor's office announced Tuesday it was dropping charges in a retrial. The decision leaves Sture Bergwall -- for many years known as Thomas Quick and long considered Scandinavia's worst serial killer -- with just one murder on his record. The prosecution said Monday it would not prosecute Bergwall, 63, for the deaths of a Dutch couple, Marinus och Janni Stegehuis, who were found stabbed to death at a highway rest stop in Appojaure, in northern Sweden, in 1984.
Syndicate content