Copts return to scene of deadly bombing in Egypt
January 2, 2011
Emotional congregants returned to their church Sunday in Alexandria, Egypt, mourning the loss of fellow worshippers in a bombing a day earlier.
Inside the Church of the Two Saints, grisly reminders of the explosion — believed to be caused by a suicide bomber — remained as tearful worshippers lighted candles to honor the dead. Broken glass and debris littered the church’s interior and portions of the walls were splattered with blood.
Iran claims it shot down ‘Western spy planes’
January 2, 2011
Iran said Sunday it had shot down what it described as two Western spy planes over the Persian Gulf, according to Iranian media reports.
Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, air force commander for Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guard Corps, made the comments to Payam Engelab, or Message of the Revolution, an internal Islamic Revolution Guard Corps publication, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.
U.S. crab tycoon faces new criminal charges in Russia
January 1, 2011
An American businessman who lost his company, health and freedom in Russia is now struggling to merely stay alive.
Arkadi Gontmakher is the owner of the company that used to be the largest U.S. crab importer from Russia. Two weeks ago, he was unanimously acquitted by a 12-member jury in a high-profile court case in Russia’s remote Kamchatka region. But earlier this week, he was charged with an almost identical set of criminal violations, according to his family and lawyers.
No pardon for Billy the Kid
January 1, 2011
Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico will not pardon legendary Wild West outlaw Billy the Kid in the death of a law enforcement officer more than a century ago, he said Friday.
Richardson made the announcement on ABC’s “Good Morning America” the same day he leaves office.
Nigeria new year revellers hit by Abuja ‘bomb’
December 31, 2010
An explosion at a bar near a barracks in Nigeria’s capital has killed a number of people.
Nigeria’s military chief said a bomb had been planted to target people celebrating New Year’s Eve in Abuja but he did not say who was responsible.
Citibank fraud: Gurgaon police arrest banker Shiv Raj Puri
December 30, 2010
The Gurgaon police on Thursday arrested Shiv Raj Puri, the man who cleaned out nearly Rs 250 crore from the Gurgaon branch of Citibank.
Talking to Times of India after his arrest, Puri said: “I have already given full details to the police. I have full faith in the judiciary. Truth will come out.”
4 men to be charged in terror plot against Danish newspaper
December 30, 2010
Four men will be charged Thursday in connection with a terror plot against a Danish newspaper that published cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, the nation’s authorities said.
Three men arrested in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Wednesday after arriving from Sweden are believed to be “connected to international terrorists,” Denmark’s intelligence service said.
Violent deaths in Iraq fall ‘but at slower rate’
December 30, 2010
The number of civilians killed by violence in Iraq in the past year was the lowest since the 2003 US-led invasion, a rights group has said.
Iraq Body Count (IBC), which collates casualty reports, said deaths dropped by 15% from 2009 to just under 4,000.
Oklahoma man says wife’s death was sex fantasy accident
December 29, 2010
Arthur Sedille was up-front with police: He would often put a gun to his wife’s head during fantasy sex play at their Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, home.
But Sedille said he didn’t know the gun was loaded when he pressed it to his wife’s head and pulled the handgun’s slide back during sex on the night of December 21.
Terror suspects in custody over ‘pre-Christmas plot’
December 27, 2010
Nine men charged with conspiracy to bomb high-profile London targets in the run-up to Christmas have been remanded in custody after appearing in court.
They were also charged with preparing for terrorism by agreeing potential targets and testing materials.
The court was told that one of the potential targets was the London Stock Exchange.