Lee was due to come home: Wife of slain UK soldier

London: The family of the British soldier who was beheaded by two armed men outside a military barrack in Woolwich in London have expressed their sorrow and grief on the soldier's death. Lee Rigby was due to travel home from London to see them this weekend, his family informed. "I just want to say that I love Lee. I always will and I'm proud to be his wife. He was...

Bosnia president, charged with graft, freed from jail

Sarajevo: The president of Bosnia's autonomous Muslim-Croat federation was freed from jail on Friday after the Constitutional Court ordered his release following his arrest last month on corruption charges. President Zivko Budimir was arrested along with 19 other officials in late April 2013 in the most high-profile anti-corruption drive in Bosnia since independence more than two decades ago. A court ordered Budimir and his four co-accused aides to be kept...

US: Truck crash may have caused state bridge collapse

Olympia: A bridge collapse that sent cars and drivers tumbling off a four-lane interstate and into a frigid river in Washington state may have been caused when a semi-trailer truck crashed into the structure, officials said on Friday. Three people were rescued from the Skagit River after a span of the bridge collapsed on Thursday evening. Two of those rescued were hospitalized with hypothermia but no one was killed, officials...

US: Bail denied to teen accused of Facebook terror post

Boston: A judge denied bail on Friday to a Massachusetts teenager who was arrested on terrorism charges after posting lyrics on his Facebook page suggesting he could do worse than the Boston Marathon bombers. Cameron D'Ambrosio, an 18-year-old aspiring rapper from Methuen, about 30 miles (50 km) north of Boston, was arrested on May 1 after he posted a note on his Facebook page that included the words "a boston...

Obama urges US military to stamp out sexual assault

Annapolis: President Barack Obama urged the future leaders of the US military on Friday to stamp out sexual assault from their ranks, warning that a few individuals could undermine the strongest military in the world. Addressing the graduating class of the US Naval Academy, Obama used his commencement speech to take on a problem that has dogged the Pentagon and the White House in recent weeks. "We must acknowledge that...

British security services in spotlight after murder

London: Britain's security services faced questions on Friday over whether they could have done more to prevent the murder of a soldier hacked to death in a busy London street after it emerged that his suspected killers were known to intelligence officers. Suspects Michael Adebolajo, 28 and Michael Adebowale, 22, are under guard in hospital after being shot and arrested by police after the murder of 25-year-old Afghan war veteran...

Private firms may travel to lunar surface: NASA report

London: A study of future human missions has indicated corporate researchers could be living on the moon by the time NASA astronauts head off to visit an asteroid in the 2020s. The study by Bigelow Aerospace, commissioned by NASA, shows "a lot of excitement and interest from various companies" for such ventures, Daily Mail quoted Robert Bigelow, founder and president of the Las Vegas-based firm, as saying. The projects range...

UK fighters escort Pakistan plane to airport; 2 arrested

London: British fighter jets escorted a Pakistan International Airlines passenger plane to Stansted Airport near London on Friday, where police went on board and arrested two men on suspicion of endangering an aircraft. Passengers were leaving the plane and no one was hurt in the incident, a spokesman for the airport said. Flight PK709 from Lahore in Pakistan had been due to land at Manchester in northern England with 297...

UK: Fighter jets escort a Pak passenger plane in British airspace

London: Britain launched fighter jets on Friday to escort a Pakistan International Airlines plane carrying 297 passengers from Lahore after it was diverted from Manchester, a spokesman for the Defence Ministry said. Flight PK709 from the city of Lahore in Pakistan was due to land at Manchester Airport in north west England at 1230 GMT. The plane was diverted to Stansted airport, east of central London, according to a Manchester...

There are signs of new conservatism among the young in UK: Sanjay Suri

The beheading of Lee Rigby in broad daylight in Woolwich, London, has got authorities in the UK, Europe and the US brainstorming over the possibility of 'homegrown' terror groups taking over the mantle of jehadi terror from trans-national entities like al-Qaeda. With groups like al-Muhajiroun, led by Anjem Choudhary, operating in the UK for long with impunity, is this the new concern for the west? CNN-IBN's London Correspondent Sanjay Suri...

Kabul: Explosion heard, blast not near Indian Embassy

Kabul: Several large explosions rocked a busy area in the centre of the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Friday with Reuters witnesses describing shooting in the area. There were at least four blasts interspersed by heavy shooting, a Reuters witness said. The first blast was a suicide car bomb and occurred at about 4 pm (1130 GMT) near an intersection in the district of Borj-e Sharahah, said Hashmatullah Stanikzai, a spokesman...

UK soldier beheading: Terror suspects were known to MI5

London: The British government on Friday defended the country's security services against criticism they missed signs which might have helped prevent the brutal murder of a soldier on a street of south-east London. MI5 now faces a House of Commons inquiry after it was confirmed the two terror suspects arrested over his murder were known to the national security agency. But Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said it was impossible to...

London: BA flight makes emergency landing

London: Reports of smoke coming out the rear of a plane caused chaos at London's Heathrow Airport and forced the authorities to shut down two runways on Friday. A British Airways flight, on way to Oslo, was forced to make an emergency landing and all passengers were safely evacuated. One of the two runways was opened later on and the aircraft took off from London safely. Authorities ruled out any...

UK: Woman who confronted soldier's killers becomes a national hero

London: A brave scout leader 48-year-old Ingrid Loyau-Kennett has become an unlikely star after confronting two alleged attackers who beheaded a British soldier outside military barracks in Woolwich in London. Kennett arrived at the spot soon after the soldier Drummer Lee Rigby was beheaded and tried to convince one of the attackers to throw away his arms and surrender without any concern for her safety. According to Kennett she was...

Earthquake measuring 8.2 hits Russia's Far East

Moscow: A magnitude 8.2 earthquake struck Russia's Far East in the Sea of Okhotsk off the Kamchatka Peninsula, according to the US Geological Survey. The epicentre of the quake was located 244 miles west north west of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy at a depth of 385 miles, the USGS said. The Russian authorities issued a tsunami warning in the Sakhalin region and advised people to move away from dangerous areas. The tsunami warning...