Julian Assange: US rule of law suffering 'calamitous collapse'

Assange: US rule of law suffering 'calamitous collapse' (via AFP)

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said Friday that the US justice system was suffering from a "calamitous collapse in the rule of law", as Washington reeled from the sensational exposure of vast spy agency surveillance programmes. Speaking in an interview with AFP at Ecuador's London embassy, where…

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Bradley Manning Said To Be 'Very Political' But Effective In Iraq

Manning said to be 'very political' but effective in Iraq (via AFP)

Bradley Manning, the soldier who passed a trove of secret US files to WikiLeaks, was politically outspoken but excelled in computers and did his job well, his army commanders said Wednesday. On day three of Manning's court-martial, it became clear the prosecution will seek to prove that he was trained…

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Bradley Manning Goes On Trial Over WikiLeaks Disclosures

Manning goes on trial over WikiLeaks disclosures (via AFP)

The long-awaited military trial of Bradley Manning got under way Monday, with prosecutors accusing the US soldier of helping Al-Qaeda by funneling a horde of secret files to WikiLeaks. The 25-year-old army private faces a possible 154-year jail sentence for his role in the biggest leak of classified…

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Cat Caught Smuggling Cell Phones Into Russian Jail

Cat caught smuggling cell phones into Russian jail (via AFP)

The Russian prison service said Monday it had caught a cat being used as a courier to smuggle banned cell phones and chargers into a prison camp in the country's remote far north. The prison service in the Komi region said on its website that the cat was detained Friday evening as it climbed the fence…

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Iran Busts Mossad Terror Cell Ahead of Vote

Mossad Logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Iran busts Mossad 'terror' cell ahead of vote: report (via AFP)

Iran has dismantled a "terror network" backed by Israel's Mossad intelligence services which planned to disrupt the upcoming presidential election in the Islamic republic, the state broadcaster said on Sunday. "The intelligence ministry has identified and arrested the members of this terror network…

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Matt Smith Quits BBC's Doctor Who

Matt Smith quits BBC's Doctor Who (via AFP)

The BBC is on the hunt for a new Time Lord after British actor Matt Smith announced on Saturday that he is quitting as the star of cult sci-fi drama Doctor Who. Smith, who has played the eccentric, time-travelling Doctor since 2010, said he would bow out in a special Christmas episode of the 50-year…

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French First Lady Demands End of Impunity for DR Congo Rapes

French first lady demands end of impunity for DR Congo rapes (via AFP)

France's first lady Valerie Trierweiler on Thursday urged the international community to help bring to justice those responsible for hundreds of thousands of rapes committed in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the past two decades. "I want bring an end to the silence surrounding this tragedy, a…

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Roman Polanski Blames the Pill for 'Masculinising' Women

Polanski blames the Pill for 'masculinising' women (via AFP)

Oscar-winning director Roman Polanski on Saturday blamed birth control pills for "masculinising" women, as he premiered what he called a satire on sexism. Polanski unveiled "Venus in Fur" starring his wife Emmanuelle Seigner, which was the last movie in competition to be screened at the Cannes Film…

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British PM Survives Gay Marriage Vote

British PM survives gay marriage vote (via AFP)

British Prime Minister David Cameron headed off another Conservative rebellion Monday after the opposition Labour Party helped him see off a "wrecking amendment" which had threatened his gay marriage bill. Tory MP Tim Loughton had proposed the amendment saying that if gay couples were allowed to marry…

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Muslim Religious Leaders To Visit Auschwitz

Muslim religious leaders to visit Auschwitz (via AFP)

Fourteen Muslim clerics from across the globe will visit the former Nazi German Auschwitz death camp in southern Poland next week as part of a Holocaust awareness and anti-genocide program, organisers said Friday. "This is an opportunity for imams who are influential in their communities to look at…

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Same-sex marriage gains traction around world

Same-sex marriage gains traction around world (via AFP)

While in Tokyo for the city's first Rainbow Week, Boris Dittrich could not help but notice gay pride marchers with banners demanding marriage equality in the land of the rising sun. "I asked why and they said, 'Well, we've seen what's happening in other countries and we feel the time has come to push…

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Hollywood Special Effects Master Ray Harryhausen Dies at 92

Hollywood special effects master Harryhausen dies at 92 (via AFP)

US-born "king of stop-motion animation" and special effects pioneer Ray Harryhausen died aged 92 in London on Tuesday, his family announced. Hollywood tributes flooded in for Oscar-winner Harryhausen, who is best known for his work on "Jason and the Argonauts" and "Clash of the Titans". "Ray has been…

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PLO Slams Israel Over Treatment of Palestinian Christians

PLO slams Israel over treatment of Palestinian Christians (via AFP)

The Palestine Liberation Organisation denounced Israel for causing "countless difficulties" for Palestinian Christians and Muslims to reach their holy sites as Orthodox Christians held the "Holy Fire" ceremony in Jerusalem Saturday on the eve of Orthodox Easter. "It is not only that Israel has isolated…

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Palestinian Christians Urge Pope To Oppose Wall

Palestinian Christians urge pope to oppose wall (via AFP)

Palestinian Christians near Bethlehem on Monday urged Pope Francis to speak up against an Israeli decision to build its controversial separation barrier on a route they say would cut off their community. "We cry to your Holiness with a feeling of despair and urgency in order to keep alive our hope…

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Israel airport security allowed to read tourists' emails

Israel airport security 'allowed to read tourists' email' (via AFP)

Israeli security officials at Ben Gurion airport are legally allowed to demand access to tourists' email accounts and deny them entry if they refuse, the country's top legal official said on Wednesday. Details of the policy were laid out by Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein in a written response to…

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Protesters in final bid to block France gay marriage law

Protesters in final bid to block France gay marriage law (via AFP)

Tens of thousands of opponents of a gay marriage bill thronged the streets of Paris Sunday in a last-ditch bid to block the legislation, under the watchful eye of police after recent violence over the divisive issue. Paris police estimated the march attracted 45,000 people but organisers said 270,000…

World Bank, IMF endorse bold poverty agenda

World Bank, IMF endorse bold poverty agenda (via AFP)

The IMF and World Bank on Saturday backed a bold Bank goal to eradicate extreme poverty within a generation and raise the shared prosperity of their 188 member countries. The Development Committee, representing the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank on development issues, said it had endorsed…

Gabon girl's death sparks fears of ritual killings

Gabon girl's death sparks fears of ritual killings (via AFP)

The discovery of a young girl's body on a Libreville beach last month shocked the city and reignited the debate over ritual killings in Gabon, sparking outrage on social media sites and forcing President Ali Bongo Ondimba to react. The young girl disappeared after going swimming. Her battered body…

Boston Marathon Explosions: Live Report

Boston Marathon explosions: Live Report (via AFP)

2133 GMT: Boston Globe report Billy Baker tweets: "Massive police and military presence in city now. Boston Common full of uniforms. Scene is calmer, but ambulances continue to race by" 2121 GMT: Secretary of State John Kerry, who is from Boston, was informed of the explosions by a senior aide as his…

Football: History of Violence Returns to Haunt Europe

History of violence returns to haunt Europe (via AFP)

Tear gas, stun grenades and knuckle-dusters provided a grim, bloody backdrop as hooliganism returned to haunt Europe's top leagues this weekend. From London's showpiece Wembley Stadium to Munich's glittering Allianz Arena and at the 2004 Olympic Stadium in Athens, fans fought hit-and-run battles with…