LONDON – Ex-News of the World editor Andy Coulson and its former royal editor Clive Goodman are to face a retrial on a charge of buying royal telephone directories from police officers. An Old Bailey jury failed to reach a verdict on the charges last week. Coulson, 46, was found guilty last week of conspiracy…
WASHINGTON DC – President Barack Obama has asked the US Congress to approve $500m (£294m) to train and equip what he described as “moderate” Syrian opposition forces. The funds would help Syrians defend against forces aligned with President Bashar al-Assad, the White House said. The aid would also counter Islamist militants such as the Islamic…
DELHI – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has narrowly overtaken the White House on Twitter, a study of political use of the social network has found. His account @NarendraModi has 4.99m followers, ahead of the @WhiteHouse account which has 4.98m followers. Mr Modi’s huge victory in the recent general election was partly credited to a…
BAGHDAD – Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has rejected calls for a national salvation government to help counter the offensive by jihadist-led Sunni rebels. Such calls represented a “coup against the constitution and an attempt to end the democratic experience”, he warned. The US has led appeals to the country’s political leaders to rise above…
LONDON – Former News of the World editor Andy Coulson has been found guilty of conspiracy to hack phones. Ex-News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks was cleared of all charges in the phone-hacking trial. Coulson went on to become director of communications for David Cameron. The prime minister has now apologised for making the appointment….
CAIRO – A court in Cairo convicted Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed of spreading false news and supporting the now banned Islamist group. The trio had denied the charges. Eleven defendants tried in absentia, including three foreign journalists, received 10-year sentences. The trial has caused an international outcry amid claims it was politicised….
GENEVA – The number of people living as refugees from war or persecution exceeded 50 million in 2013, for the first time since World War Two, the UN says. The overall figure of 51.2 million is six million higher than the year before, a report by the UN refugee agency says. Antonio Guterres, head of…
VERACRUZ – The authorities in Mexico have found more than 30 bodies in a mass grave in the eastern state of Veracruz. There is no word on the cause of deaths and officials have warned that the number of corpses could rise. The region has seen fierce fighting between rival drug gangs. Thousands of Central…
BAGHDAD – Iraqi government forces are engaged in heavy clashes with Sunni insurgents who have made major advances in the past week. Parts of the city of Baquba – just 60km (37 miles) from Baghdad – were briefly taken over by the rebels. Reports say 44 prisoners were killed during fighting at a police station…
GRENOBLE – F1 champion Michael Schumacher has left hospital in Grenoble and is no longer in a coma, his family says. The 45-year-old has been transferred to Lausanne university hospital in Switzerland, officials there say. Schumacher was placed in a medically induced coma after suffering a severe head injury in a skiing accident in the…
