San Bernardino: couple die in police gun battle after mass shooting
- Fourteen people killed and 17 wounded as shooters storm into center
- Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik die in shootout with 20 police after car chase
- Shooting is deadliest since Sandy Hook school massacre in 2012
- Follow live updates here
A couple have been killed in a police gun battle hours after they took part in a mass shooting that left at least 14 people dead and 17 wounded in San Bernardino, California.
The couple, named as Syed Farook and his partner Tashfeen Malik, were shot dead by police officers following a car chase through the streets of the city.
Police said Farook and Malik, aged 28 and 27 respectively, were intercepted and a gun battle with more than 20 officers left their dark SUV riddled with bullets and both suspects dead.
The chase came about four hours after Farook had left a gathering of fellow public health employees of San Bernardino county where he worked. Police said he was angry and left early only to return with his partner. Both were heavily armed.
Nicolas Henin: The man who was held captive by Isis for 10 months says how they can be defeated
A French journalist who was held hostage by Isis for 10 months has spoken out against air strikes in Syria, saying they represent “a trap” for Britain and other members of the international community.
Speaking in an interview with The Syria Campaign, Nicolas Henin put forward his strategy for combatting the militant group – a no-fly zone in opposition-held areas of Syria.
Mr Henin has previously spoken about how he was held for seven years in Syria, and how British national Mohammed Emwazi – known as Jihadi John – was among the jailors who subjected him to physical and psychological torture.
“Strikes on Isis are a trap,” he said.
“The winner of this war will not be the party that has the newest, the most expensive or the most sophisticated weaponry, but the party that manages to win over the people on its side.”
Swiss police make more arrests in FIFA corruption probe: report
Swiss police say they are taking action in an investigation into corruption at the world soccer governing body, FIFA. “The New York Times” has reported that a number of fresh arrests have been made.
More than a dozen arrests were made in Switzerland on Thursday as part of the ongoing investigation into corruption allegations at FIFA, according to a report in “The New York Times.”
Some of the arrests occurred during a pre-dawn raid at the same luxury Zurich hotel, the Baur au Lac, in which other FIFA officials were arrested in May, according to the report.
FIFA said it was cooperating with US and Swiss corruption investigations.
“FIFA became aware of the actions taken today by the US Department of Justice. FIFA will continue to cooperate fully with the US investigation as permitted by Swiss law, as well as with the investigation being led by the Swiss Office of the Attorney General,” a statement said.
Iran had nuclear weapons program for years: UN watchdog
December 3, 2015 – 11:51AM
Vienna: The UN atomic watchdog has issued a report strongly suggesting Tehran had a nuclear weapons program for years, but, in a sign of the shift in ties since Tehran’s deal with major powers in July, Washington said it was not concerned.
Under that agreement, also reached with France, Britain, Germany, China, and Russia, sanctions against Tehran will be lifted in exchange for restrictions on its nuclear activities, which the US long said were linked to weapons.
In a report required under that deal, titled Final Assessment of Past and Present Outstanding Issues Regarding Iran’s Nuclear Program, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Wednesday gave its clearest assessment of Iran’s past activities in more than a decade of investigation.
“The Agency assesses that a range of activities relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device were conducted in Iran prior to the end of 2003 as a coordinated effort,” the IAEA said in the confidential report to its Board of Governors.
Nepal faces harsh winter as blockade disrupts supply chain
Following two devastating earthquakes that killed and displaced thousands of people, a blockade along the Indian border is making matters worse just as winter sets in.
It’s been a difficult year for the country of Nepal, still recovering from devastating earthquakes and now in the midst of a border blockaded by Indian border police and Nepali minority activists.
A new report by the humanitarian group Lutheran World Relief indicates the situation in Nepal might get worse before it gets better.
The organization released its 2016 Early Warning Forecast noting that more earthquakes could strike the central Asian country in the near future, while political instability caused in part by a new constitution formed in September has contributed mightily to delays in the country’s recovery efforts.
The obstruction is fueling a triumvirate of problems including an unstable economy, political issues, and a worsening humanitarian crisis.
Daniel Speckhard, the group’s CEO, said recently in an op-ed published in the Baltimore Sun that these factors have interrupted the delivery of food, aid, fuel, medicine, and construction material for shelter, particularly to the hard-hit and colder high-elevation regions of Nepal.
Ethiopia’s Rastafarian community living in limbo
With few legal rights and no local IDs, people who came from distant lands struggle to fulfil their spiritual quest.
Rastafarians around the world see Ethiopia as their spiritual home. Many of them believe the country’s last king, Haile Selassie, was a descendent of King Solomon and the messiah.
Many of the men travelled thousands of kilometres to live in what they say is their promised land. The town of Shashamane in southern Ethiopia is a place of pilgrimage for Rastafarians around the world.
The Rastafarians say they smoke marijuana because it is their sacrament – the equivalent of bread and wine given during Christian communions.
The nearly 800 Rastafarians who live in the area say they are fulfilling a prophecy that descendants of slaves will return to Africa.