Terror suspect shot dead by Boston police officer
The suspect was under surveillance because he had made threats against police, sources say.
Man arrested in Boston terrorism probe due in court
A Massachusetts man arrested late Tuesday as part of a terrorism investigation will face charges in federal court on Wednesday, the day after another suspect in the probe was shot dead, according to prosecutors. Police arrested the man, named as David Wright by a spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Carmen Ortiz, in Everett, outside Boston. Officers working with the Joint Terrorism Task Force had earlier shot and killed Usaamah
Sepp Blatter back at work at FIFA headquarters
ZURICH (AP) — A day after announcing his decision to resign, Sepp Blatter was back at work at FIFA headquarters on Wednesday as the worst corruption crisis in the governing body’s 111-year history continued to unfold.
Apple recalls some Beats Pill XL speakers
(Reuters) – Apple Inc said it is recalling some Beats Pill XL portable wireless speakers due to a fire hazard caused by overheating batteries. The iPhone maker will recall about 222,000 speakers in the United States and about 11,000 in Canada, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) said on Wednesday. Apple has received eight reports of overheating speakers, the CPSC said in a statement.
Texas set to execute man who has spent three decades on death row
By Jon Herskovitz AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) – One of the longest-serving inmates on Texas’ busy death row was set to be executed on Wednesday, more than three decades after being convicted of fatally shooting four people in 1983. Lawyers for Lester Bower filed a last-minute appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court last week that faults the sentencing, seeking to prevent the execution by lethal injection scheduled for 6 p.m. at
'Call me Caitlyn': Vanity Fair editor and stylist talk to Katie Couric
Buzz Bissinger and stylist Jessica Diehl share the story behind Caitlyn Jenner’s debut.
Sepp Blatter says he will resign as FIFA president
Sepp Blatter, FIFA’s long-time president, announced on Tuesday that he will be resigning as soon as an extraordinary FIFA congress has elected a successor.
Congress sends NSA phone-records bill to president
The bill revives and remakes a disputed post-9/11 surveillance program two days after letting it temporarily expire.
Poll: Clinton's trustworthiness takes hit among Americans
NSA phone collection bill clears Senate hurdle
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate sped toward passage Tuesday of legislation to end the National Security Agency’s collection of Americans’ calling records while preserving other surveillance authorities. But House leaders warned their Senate counterparts not to proceed with planned changes to a House version.
Exclusive: Detainee alleges CIA sexual abuse, torture beyond Senate findings
By David Rohde NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. Central Intelligence Agency used a wider array of sexual abuse and other forms of torture than was disclosed in a Senate report last year, according to a Guantanamo Bay detainee turned government cooperating witness. Majid Khan said interrogators poured ice water on his genitals, twice videotaped him naked and repeatedly touched his “private parts” – none of which was described in
Report tells of rapid capsize on China cruise ship
Tour guide Zhang Hui “had 30 seconds to grab a life jacket,” before the ship overturned in China’s mighty Yangtze river during a storm Monday night, the Xinhua news agency reported Tuesday. The 43-year old and a colleague “grabbed everything they could reach and kept their heads above water” as the ship sank, Xinhua said. More than a dozen people have been been saved from the Dongfangzhixing, or “Eastern Star,”
U.S. investigators don't know if warning device worked in Amtrak crash: NTSB
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Investigators probing the May 12 derailment of an Amtrak train in Philadelphia do not yet know whether an electronic warning device was operating or activated before the disaster, National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Christopher Hart told the U.S. Congress on Tuesday. In prepared testimony to a House of Representatives committee, Hart also said several U.S. rail carriers will not meet an end-of-year deadline for installing a more
Friend of Boston bomber sentenced to six years for obstruction
By Elizabeth Barber and Scott Malone BOSTON (Reuters) – A friend of the Boston Marathon bomber, who admitted to obstructing the investigation of the deadly 2013 blast, apologized on Tuesday for his actions at a hearing where he was sentenced to six years in prison. Kazakhstan national Dias Kadyrbayev was one of three friends of bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev to face federal charges for removing a backpack containing fireworks from Tsarnaev’s
Graham's personal history frames campaign launch
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) introduced himself to the nation here Monday by capitalizing on one of his most valuable political assets: his powerful up-from-nothing personal story.
Men brace for 'beard patrols' in Iraq's IS-held Mosul
The jihadist group has handed out leaflets in their stronghold of Mosul in recent weeks announcing that full beards become compulsory on June 1 and explaining why shaving is punishable. “I’m scared because they deal ruthlessly with anyone who opposes or ignores their instructions,” he told AFP from Mosul, the de facto Iraqi capital of IS’s self-proclaimed caliphate. Mosul is Iraq’s second city and used to have a population of
2015 hurricane season: Forecasters predict ‘below-average’ activity
Ten years after the record-setting hurricane season that produced Katrina and other destructive storms, forecasters are calling for a quiet year in the Atlantic.
Defense hawk Graham enters Republican race for White House
U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a defense hawk, entered the race for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination on Monday, putting criticism of President Barack Obama’s foreign policy at the forefront of his White House bid.
U.S. top court throws out conviction for Facebook threats
By Lawrence Hurley WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday threw out the conviction of a Pennsylvania man found guilty of making threatening statements on Facebook to his estranged wife, law enforcement officers and others. The court ruled on an 8-1 vote in favor of Anthony Elonis, who served prison time for posting a series of statements on the social media site in 2010 after his wife left him.
Lindsey Graham launches 2016 bid
The S.C. senator says he is ready “to defeat the enemies that are trying to kill us.”
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Suicide attacks in Iraq's Anbar kill 41 from security forces
BAGHDAD (AP) — Three Islamic State suicide bombers targeted a police base in Iraq’s western Anbar province with explosives-laden Humvees on Monday, killing at least 41 police and Shiite militiamen, officials said.
Turkey's Erdogan dares opposition to 'find my golden toilet'
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday invited the opposition to inspect his gigantic presidential palace for gold-plated toilet seats, vowing to resign if they could prove their allegations of his bathroom bling. Erdogan’s 1,150-room palace, which was built at a cost of around 490 million euros ($615 million), has been condemned by critics as an absurd extravagance and held up as proof he is slipping further into authoritarianism. Kemal
5 die in eastern Ukraine despite cease-fire
MOSCOW (AP) — At least two civilians and three Ukrainian troops have been killed in eastern Ukraine despite the ongoing cease-fire, officials on both sides of the conflict said Monday.
Burundi president warns against another coup attempt
Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza, whose controversial bid to seek a third consecutive term has sparked weeks of civil unrest and a failed coup attempt, on Monday warned against any fresh move to try unseat him. Addressing supporters in his hometown in the north of the country, Nkurunziza thanked those who backed him after a top general launched a failed coup while he was out of the country in May for
Special Report: Egypt deploys scholars to teach moderate Islam, but skepticism abounds
By Mahmoud Mourad and Yara Bayoumy CAIRO (Reuters) – In his battle against militant Islam, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is relying not just on bomber planes and soldiers but on white-turbaned clerics from Al-Azhar, Egypt’s 1,000-year-old center for Islamic learning. In a televised speech in January at an Al-Azhar conference center in Cairo, Sisi called for “a religious revolution” in Islam.
Exclusive: Six powers agree way to restore U.N. sanctions in push for Iran deal – sources
By Louis Charbonneau, John Irish and Parisa Hafezi NEW YORK/PARIS/ANKARA (Reuters) – Six world powers have agreed on a way to restore U.N. sanctions on Iran if the country breaks the terms of a future nuclear deal, clearing a major obstacle to an accord ahead of a June 30 deadline, Western officials told Reuters. The new understanding on a U.N. sanctions “snapback” among the six powers – the United States,
U.S. says China's island-building erodes security; Beijing angered
By David Alexander and Rachel Armstrong SINGAPORE (Reuters) – U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Saturday that China’s island-building in the South China Sea was undermining security in the Asia-Pacific, drawing a scathing response from the foreign ministry in Beijing. Carter, speaking to top defense officials from the Asia-Pacific at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, acknowledged that several countries had created outposts in the region’s disputed islands, but
U.S. says China's island-building erodes security; Beijing angered
By David Alexander and Rachel Armstrong SINGAPORE (Reuters) – U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter said on Saturday that China’s island-building in the South China Sea was undermining security in the Asia-Pacific, drawing a scathing response from the foreign ministry in Beijing. Carter, speaking to top defense officials from the Asia-Pacific at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, acknowledged that several countries had created outposts in the region’s disputed islands, but
U.S. and Iran address obstacles to nuclear deal as deadline nears
By Lesley Wroughton GENEVA (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif on Saturday in a bid to overcome the remaining obstacles to a final nuclear agreement, a month ahead of a deadline for a deal between Tehran and world powers. The meeting in Geneva is the first substantive talks since Iran and the six world powers – Britain, France, the United States,
U.S. and Iran address obstacles to nuclear deal as deadline nears
By Lesley Wroughton GENEVA (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif on Saturday in a bid to overcome the remaining obstacles to a final nuclear agreement, a month ahead of a deadline for a deal between Tehran and world powers. The meeting in Geneva is the first substantive talks since Iran and the six world powers – Britain, France, the United States,
Boko Haram attack on Nigeria's Maiduguri city kills 11
Boko Haram insurgents attacked the outskirts of Borno state capital Maiduguri in Nigeria on Saturday morning and at least 11 people were killed in the fighting, residents and security sources said. The attack occurred barely a day after the inauguration of President Muhammadu Buhari, who swore to crush the Islamist militant group and move the command center for military operations away from the capital Abuja to Maiduguri. A military source
Islamic State's Saudi branch calls for clearing Arabian Peninsula of Shi'ites
Saudi Arabia’s branch of militant group Islamic State has said it wants to clear the Arabian Peninsula of Shi’ite Muslims and urged young men in the kingdom to join its cause, the U.S.-based SITE monitoring center has reported. Islamic State claimed two suicide bombings carried out on May 22 and May 29 on Shi’ite mosques in eastern Saudi Arabia, where the bulk of the Saudi Arabia’s Shi’ite minority lives. In
Bomb blast in mosque in Nigeria's northeastern city Maiduguri
MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (Reuters) – A bomb went off inside a mosque near the Monday Market in Nigeria’s northeastern city Maiduguri in Borno state on Saturday afternoon, residents and a security source said. “I was walking towards the mosque when the bomb went off inside,” resident Ibrahim Mohamed told Reuters. Many casualties are feared, the sources said, as people were heading there for prayer. (Reporting By Lanre Ola and Ardo Abdallah
Russia imposes travel ban on 89 EU politicians
By Andreas Rinke BERLIN (Reuters) – Russia has imposed an entry ban on 89 European politicians and military leaders, according to a list seen by Reuters, a move that has angered Europe and worsened its standoff with the West over Moscow’s role in the Ukraine conflict. More than 6,200 people have been killed in fighting between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists. Russia dismisses accusations from Ukraine, NATO and Western
Saracens beat Bath 28-16 to become English rugby champion
LONDON (AP) — Saracens became English rugby champions for the second time in five seasons by displaying their big-game experience to beat Bath 28-16 in the Premiership final at Twickenham on Saturday.
Puerto Rico starts debate on budget amid economic crisis
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Legislators in Puerto Rico have started to debate a proposed $9.8 billion budget amid growing concerns about the U.S. territory’s economic crisis.
IS group launches assault on key northeast Syria city: monitor
The Islamic State jihadist group launched an assault on the largely Kurdish city of Hasakeh in northeast Syria on Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. “IS fighters started an assault on Hasakeh city and reached the city’s southern periphery, where they are clashing with pro-regime forces,” said Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman. Syria’s official news agency SANA said loyalist forces had “foiled a terrorist attack by IS on
Czechs remember ethnic Germans who died in postwar expulsion
BRNO, Czech Republic (AP) — In a rare gesture of reconciliation, hundreds of Czechs have participated in a 20-mile walk to remember some 1,700 ethnic Germans who died 70 years ago during their expulsion from the Czech city of Brno.
U.S. says China has placed mobile artillery on reclaimed island
The United States said on Friday that China had placed mobile artillery weapons systems on a reclaimed island in the disputed South China Sea, a development that Republican Sen. John McCain called “disturbing and escalatory.” Brent Colburn, a Pentagon spokesman traveling with Defense Secretary Ash Carter, said the United States was aware of the weapons. McCain, chairman of the Senate’s Armed Services Committee, said the move would escalate tensions but
Special Report: Russian fighters, caught in Ukraine, cast adrift by Moscow
Alexandrov, 28, says he’s a Russian soldier who was captured in east Ukraine after being sent there on active duty with Russian special forces to help separatists fighting Kiev. “I was carrying out my orders.” Yet Russian President Vladimir Putin, in the face of widespread evidence to the contrary, has repeatedly said there are no Russian soldiers in Ukraine – only volunteers who have gone to help the separatists of
