PYONGYANG – North Korea says it has sentenced a US citizen to 15 years of hard labour. The announcement, from state news agency KCNA, said Pae Jun-ho, known in the US as Kenneth Bae, was tried on 30 April. He was held last year after entering North Korea as a tourist. Pyongyang said he was…
DAMASCUS – Syrian Prime Minister Wael al-Halqi has survived a car bomb attack in the capital, Damascus, state media say. The blast in the capital’s western Mazzeh district targeted Mr Halqi’s convoy, state TV said, reportedly causing a number of casualties. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based activist group, said Mr Halqi’s bodyguard…
NEW YORK – One of the Boston bomb suspects was added to a terrorism database 18 months ago at the request of the CIA, officials have told US media. The FBI has already said it investigated Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26, but had found no evidence of a threat. Tsarnaev was killed during a police chase last…
TORONTO – Iran has denied any links to two men arrested in Canada on suspicion of planning an attack on a train. Canadian officials said an attack had been planned with support from al-Qaeda elements in Iran, although there was no evidence of state sponsorship. Chiheb Esseghaier, 30, and Raed Jaser, 35, are due to…
BOSTON – US federal prosecutors are preparing charges against the surviving Boston Marathon bomb suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as more details emerge of his capture. If he is charged with using a weapon of mass destruction to kill people, he could face the death penalty. Mr Tsarnaev is in hospital, unable to speak because of a…
ASUNCION – Voters in Paraguay are electing a new president in a poll seen as key to restoring the country’s democratic credentials. Horacio Cartes, of the conservative Colorado Party, and the centre-right Liberal Party’s Efrain Alegre are seen as front-runners among 10 candidates. The country’s standing dipped in the region after last year’s disputed impeachment…
BOSTON – An investigation is under way after two explosions near the finishing line of the Boston Marathon left three people dead and at least 140 injured. The FBI has taken over co-ordination of what it described as a “potential terrorist inquiry”. Boston police say officers are working around the clock and all leave has…
RAMALLAH – The Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has resigned, after a long-running dispute with President Mahmoud Abbas. Official Palestinian news agency Wafa said the president accepted Mr Fayyad’s resignation after they met in person. But he asked him to remain as caretaker until a new government is formed. A BBC correspondent says Mr Fayyad’s…
LONDON – The Korean and Syrian crises will be high on the agenda for foreign ministers from the G8 group of nations, as their talks began in London. Correspondents say Japan, present at the talks, is looking for a strong statement of solidarity over Korea. North Korea has been making bellicose threats against South Korea,…
KUALA LUMPAR – A general election will be held in Malaysia on 5 May, the Election Commission said, in what is seen as a major test for Prime Minister Najib Razak’s ruling coalition. The governing party has been in power for a 56-year period. However, the opposition has been gaining ground on a pledge to…
