Boko Haram Militants 'Kill Hundreds' In Nigeria

Boko Haram militants dressed as soldiers have reportedly killed up to 200 villagers in three attacks in northern Nigeria.

The killings - in Danjara, Agapalwa and Antagara - are said to have taken place on Monday and a community leader who reportedly witnessed them said residents of the Gwoza local government district in Borno state had pleaded for protection from the army but no help had arrived.

The militants arrived in pickup trucks of the type often used by the military and told the civilians they were soldiers "and we are here to protect you all".

The schoolgirls were abducted on April 15.

Once people had gathered in the heart of the villages, as ordered, Boko Haram members began "to shout  'Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar' on top of their voices, then they begin to fire at the people continuously for a very long time until all that gathered were all dead", said one frightened witness who did not wish to be named.                 

It took time for survivors to get word of the killings to the provincial capital, Maiduguri, because of poor road conditions and limited telecommunications.

Local politician Mohammed Ali Ndume confirmed the attacks had taken place.

Gwoza is a regional political centre, whose emir - a religious and traditional ruler - was killed in a Boko Haram ambush on his convoy last week.

President Goodluck Jonathan has been criticised for not visiting the region

He had spoken out against the actions of the militants.

Boko Haram wants to establish an Islamic state in Nigeria and has been been fighting back against a year-long government-backed military offensive aimed at crushing them.

The group has taken over villages in the northeast, killing and terrorising civilians and political leaders.

It is currently holding hundreds of schoolgirls captive after snatching them from school in the remote village of Chibok in April.

More than 2,000 Nigerians are believed to have been killed so far this year with some 75,000 civilians driven from their homes.

While Boko Haram has largely been pushed out of cities in the northeast, the group has been seizing villages in remote areas, making large swathes of Nigeria, no-go areas for the army.

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Obama Says 'No Apologies' For Bergdahl Deal

Six Things To Know On Bowe Bergdahl

Updated: 11:11pm UK, Wednesday 04 June 2014

Everything you need to know about Sgt Bowe Bergdahl, the US prisoner of war released by the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Bowe Bergdahl had a variety of hobbies including ballet and fencing

The 28-year-old grew up in the small mountain town of Hailey, Idaho, where he was home-schooled with his older sister, Sky.

His devout Calvinist parents, Bob and Jani, taught their children about ethics and religious thinkers.

By all accounts, Sgt Bergdahl was a bookish teenager with a number of pursuits from skiing to shooting. He performed ballet, took up fencing and studied foreign languages.

He also became interested in Buddhism and tarot cards.

Sgt Bergdahl once tried unsuccessfully to join the French Foreign Legion, according to his father. He worked as a barista in Idaho before joining the US Army in June 2008.

The soldier reportedly became disillusioned with the US role in Afghanistan

According to a report in a Rolling Stone magazine profile, Sgt Bergdahl wrote an email to his parents saying he was "ashamed" to be an American.

He wrote: "The horror that is America is disgusting."

Members of his unit said Sgt Bergdahl kept mainly to himself. The New York Times cites platoon members as saying he wrote Jason Bourne-type novels in which he made himself the lead character.

He is said to have learned Dari and Pashto in his spare time and was reportedly traumatised after seeing an Afghan child run over and killed by an American armoured vehicle.

Members of his platoon say he sent all his belongings, including a laptop, home before vanishing.

Members of his unit have accused him of desertion

According to soldiers in his platoon, Sgt Bergdahl abandoned his post while on guard duty, with only a compass, a knife, water, a digital camera, a diary and possibly also a phone.

The New York Times reports that he left a note in his tent saying he did not support the American mission in Afghanistan and was leaving to start a new life.

The Pentagon concluded in 2010 that Sgt Bergdahl had walked away from his unit before he was captured by the Taliban.

Sgt Bergdahl may have attempted to escape during his captivity

The Taliban released propaganda videos during Bergdahl's time in captivity in which the prisoner, looking under-fed, denounced US foreign policy.

In one clip, a bald and bearded Bergdahl said he was "scared" he would not be able to return home. In others, he was seen eating and exercising.

In one video, he shouted at the camera: "Release me, please! I'm begging you, bring me home!"

In 2011, he is thought to have escaped briefly. When he was recaptured, it reportedly took five militants to overpower him.

"He fought like a boxer," a Taliban fighter told Newsweek.

There are claims US soldiers were killed as a result of having to look for him

Former members of Sgt Bergdahl's battalion and military officials have claimed between six and 14 soldiers died in the search for him.

But the facts seem murky, as so often in the fog of war.

Two of the soldiers whose deaths have been blamed on Bergdahl's disappearance died inside a US military outpost that was under Taliban attack, not while out searching for him.

Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel has said: "I don't know of any circumstances or details of US soldiers dying as a result of efforts to get Bergdahl."

He will likely face a court martial for desertion

Some have called for Sgt Bergdahl, who is said to be in stable condition at a military hospital in Germany, to be shot for desertion.

But that will not happen, according to Yale Law School professor Eugene Fidell, a specialist in military legal affairs.

He told Sky News the last US soldier to be killed for desertion, Eddie Slovik, was tied to a post and shot in 1945.

Prof Fidell thinks it more likely Sgt Bergdahl will face a court martial, a short sentence of confinement and a punitive discharge.

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'Slender Man' Attack 911 Recording Released

Police have released a recording of the 911 emergency call made by a cyclist who found a 12-year-old allegedly stabbed 19 times by friends inspired by a fictional internet horror figure.

The victim's arms, legs and torso were covered in knife wounds as she crawled from the scene of the attack in Waukesha, Wisconsin.

In the 911 audio recording released by the Waukesha County Sheriff's Office of the cyclist who found the victim, the dispatcher is heard to say: "So you are with this 12-year-old female?"

The caller said: "Yes, she says she is having trouble breathing. She says she was stabbed multiple times."

Police at the scene of the attack in Waukesha, Wisconsin

Two girls, also aged 12, appeared in court on Monday charged with attempted homicide.

Meanwhile, the website where the youngsters are said to have read about the mythical Slender Man figure, has sought to distance itself from the Wisconsin attack in the face of criticism.

Creepypasta Wiki - an online horror story database - stressed all the stories and characters on the site were fictional, and insisted it was "not a crazy satanic cult."

Writing after the stabbing drew national attention to the website, an administrator for Creepypasta Wiki called Sloshtrain said: "I'm going to make myself loud and clear.

"All works presented on this wiki and other sites (including Slenderman, Jeff the Killer, Ben, Sonic.Exe, etc) are fictional stories and characters."

They added: "This is an isolated incident, and does not represent or attribute the Creepypasta community as a whole.

"This wiki does not endorse or advocate for the killing, worship, and otherwise replication of rituals of fictional works.

The two defendants face 60 years in prison if found guilty

"There is a line of between fiction and reality, and it is up to you to realise where the line is. We are a literature site, not a crazy satanic cult."

Prosecutors say the defendants lured their victim into a park on Saturday before repeatedly knifing her. One of the wounds came within a millimetre of piercing a major artery near her heart.

The pair told detectives they had plotted for months to kill the other girl in the hope of winning favour with the Slender Man, often depicted as a tall, thin, blank-faced figure wearing a black suit.

One of the accused allegedly told a detective: "It was weird that I didn't feel remorse."

The defendants are due back in court next week and face up to 60 years in jail if convicted.

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Pepper The Robot Knows If You're Happy Or Sad

An emotionally aware robot called Pepper – which knows when you're happy or sad – is to go on sale in Japan within months.

The humanoid was unveiled at a media event in Tokyo, and can perform a range of tasks ranging from customer service to helping out around the home.

It uses an "emotional engine" - powered by a cloud-based artificial intelligence system – to analyse expressions, voice tones and gestures.

The robot is powered by an "emotional engine"

Developer SoftBank said Pepper can "make jokes, dance and amuse people thanks to a wide variety of entertainment capabilities".

Company president Masayoshi Son said: "People describe others as being robots because they have no emotions, no heart.

"For the first time in human history, we're giving a robot a heart, emotions."

It will go on general sale from February next year, costing 198,000 yen (£1,152), and is designed for personal use.

From today prototypes of Pepper will be deployed at two of the Softbank's stores in Tokyo.

The robots were developed by French robotics company Aldebaran, in which SoftBank took a stake in 2012.

Japan's overall robotics market was worth about 860bn yen (£5bn) in 2012 and is forecast to more than triple in value by 2020.

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Canada Shooting Captured On Witness Video

A video has emerged apparently showing the moment a gunman opened fire on police in Canada.

The attacker shot dead three officers and wounded two others.

A massive manhunt is taking place in Moncton, New Brunswick province, to catch him.

The footage, posted on Facebook by Vanessa Bernatchez, was shot from inside a house and captured through a window.

It shows a number of officers taking cover behind police cars.

The window of a police car is shattered

In a room with several people crouched down, an unnamed woman described what was happening outside.

She said of the officers: "They're not moving. They're behind cars, behind vans, behind a shed, behind a house with their guns out. They're waiting to shoot him down."

A woman in the room asks a man: "Do you see him?" and then there are two thud sounds, apparently gunshots.

There are screams and the man says: "He shot him! He shot a cop!"

The gunman had opened fire after police responded to a call about an armed man in north Moncton, at 7.30pm (11.30pm UK time).

Police say he is still believed to be in the Pinehurst area of the eastern city and have urged people there to stay inside, lock their doors and leave their outside lights on.

Officers are looking for 24-year-old Justin Bourque of Moncton and say he is considered "armed and dangerous".

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Hong Kong's Huge Vigil For Tiananmen Square

Tiananmen: Lockdown As China Passes 25 Years

Updated: 5:14pm UK, Wednesday 04 June 2014

Chinese authorities have been imposing severe security measures in central Beijing as the city passed the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre.

Thousands of police and security forces, some armed with automatic rifles, were deployed across the Chinese capital.

Police trucks were stationed near Tiananmen Square, alongside fire engines and ambulances.

Tourists were still able to move about the vast public square, although uniformed and plain-clothes officers were said to have demanded identification from passers-by.

An Australian woman told the AFP news agency she was unable to visit the Forbidden City because she was not carrying a passport.

Reporters were also told to leave the area following the daily crack-of-dawn flag-raising ceremony.

Dozens of activists and other government critics were detained by police in the lead-up to the anniversary.

Sky's Mark Stone said: "I think it's fair to say that more than any other year since 1989 the authorities here are desperate that this event is simply not marked.

"There is a sort of collective amnesia across mainland China. People are not marking what happened back on June 4, 1989."

Hundreds of protesters demanding democratic reform were killed when soldiers opened fire on crowds gathered in the square in 1989.

Some estimates put the death toll from the massacre at more than 1,000 people.

The crackdown saw Chinese soldiers crush months of peaceful protests by students who were demanding political reforms.

Government censorship means that many Chinese people know very little about what happened during the crackdown.

The US has used the 25th anniversary to call on Beijing to increase political freedom in the country and release political prisoners.

"We've very clearly called on the Chinese authorities to release all the activists, journalists and lawyers who have been detained ahead of the 25th anniversary," said State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf.

"I think it's time to allow some more space, quite frankly, for discussion in their own country, particularly around this kind of anniversary."

Around 180,000 people are said to have attended an annual candlelight vigil in Hong Kong to commemorate the victims of the massacre.

Tens of thousands of Hong Kong residents congregate in the city's Victoria Park every year for a solemn ceremony to mark the events of June 1989.

This year's event drew unprecedented numbers to the vigil, including an ever-larger cohort of mainland Chinese who travelled to Hong Kong.

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Brooklyn Lift Stabbing: Man Arrested

Police have arrested a man over the fatal stabbing of a six-year-old boy in the lift of a New York City apartment block.

The attack in the Brooklyn housing complex also left a seven-year-old girl fighting for her life. She remains in a critical but stable condition following surgery.

Daniel St Hubert was picked up by police just after 8pm in a residential neighbourhood in Queens - minutes after a public appeal was made to help find him.

Prince Joshua and Mikayla had been on their way to get ice cream

In the appeal Police Commissioner William Bratton and Mayor Bill de Blasio had urged residents to call authorities if they saw or had any information about St Hubert.

Forensic evidence had led police to identify the 27-year-old as a suspect. Authorities did not elaborate and provided no possible motive for the knife attack.

Sources say officers tracked him down through his mobile phone.

The steak knife used was left at the scene. Pic: NYPD Twitter page

Witness Michael Dowery said St Hubert had a "blank expression on his face" as he was led to the police car with his hands behind his back.

Prince Joshua, 6, and Mikayla, 7, were on their way to get ice cream when they were both stabbed multiple times with a steak knife.

The assailant fled the scene at Boulevard Houses and abandoned the weapon outside the building.

The attack provoked public outrage, and a reward of tens of thousands of dollars was offered.

It has emerged St Hubert, who shaved his head while hunted by police, had been on parole.

A substantial reward was offered to track down the attacker

He was only released from prison last month after serving five years for the domestic assault and attempted murder of his ex-girlfriend.

He has nine prior arrests including assaulting a police officer and a corrections officer.

The attack on the children also cast a spotlight on the issue of surveillance cameras because none was in place to capture any images of the attacker despite funds set aside by the New York City Housing Authority to pay for them.

Mayor Mr de Blasio had said an "unacceptable bureaucracy" led to the lack of security cameras in the apartment block.

Police say they are also investigating whether St Hubert may also have fatally stabbed 18-year-old Tanaya Copeland on Friday a short distance from where Sunday's attack happened.

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ECB Acts To Halt Euro Deflation Threat

The European Central Bank (ECB) has announced a series of measures to help boost economic growth in the euro area and prevent a spiral into crippling deflation.

The bank's governing council's first monetary policy announcement was a lowering of the benchmark interest rate to a new record low.

The refinancing rate - which is effectively the ECB's base rate of interest used to calculate borrowing rates - was cut from 0.25% to 0.15%.

But of greater interest was confirmation the ECB was to charge banks to deposit cash with it for the first time - aimed at stoking bank lending - with the deposit rate hitting -0.1%.

ECB president Mario Draghi later told a news conference the rates would remain at that level for an extended period of time.

Other measures included an offer for banks to access a targeted long-term refinancing operation (LTRO) to persuade them to lend.

The initial size of the LTRO was put at €400bn (£3.23bn) and the ECB was also preparing to purchase asset-backed securities.

Mr Draghi said: "In order to strengthen the economic recovery, banks and policymakers in the euro area must step up their efforts.

"Against the background of weak credit growth, the ongoing comprehensive assessment of banks' balance sheets is of key importance.

"Banks should take full advantage of this (LTRO) exercise to improve their capital and solvency position, thereby contributing to overcome any existing credit supply restriction that could hamper the recovery.

"At the same time, policy-makers in the euro area should push ahead in the areas of fiscal policies and structural reforms."

Mr Draghi confirmed a downgrade in GDP expectations for the 18-nation eurozone for 2014, with economic growth now forecast at just 1%.

Economists say the biggest threats to recovery in the debt-laden euro area come from banks failing to lend and costs falling.

Tackling the spectre of deflation - or falling prices - is part of the ECB's key mandate.

Deflation is seen as such a threat because it has been proved to stop people or firms from making spending decisions because of the hope prices will be cheaper at a later date - a spiral which has persistently dogged Japan.

There was a positive reaction to the developments on world markets (see the latest moves here), with stocks rising across Europe.

The German DAX hit 10,000 points for the first time at one stage while on the bond markets, government borrowing costs remained largely stable.

The euro - widely seen as overvalued given the nature of Europe's economic problems - fell to a four-month low against the dollar and its lowest level against the pound since December 2012.

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Sudan's Meriam Ibrahim Appeals Death Sentence

A Sudanese woman sentenced to death for marrying a Christian has appealed the verdict following worldwide outrage at the punishment.

Meriam Ibrahim, 27, was convicted last month of apostasy and adultery and was forced to give birth in shackles while in prison.

She claimed she was a Christian, having been raised by her Ethiopian mother while her Muslim father had left when she was young.

She married a Christian, Daniel Wani in 2011, and has refused to renounce her faith.

But a court in Khartoum insisted she was a Muslim, and in Sudan such interfaith marriage is forbidden.

Ms Ibrahim has been accused of converting from Islam to Christianity.

Ms Ibrahim pictured with her husband Daniel Wani

She was sentenced to 100 lashes for adultery and to hang for apostasy.

Amnesty International condemned the ruling as "abhorrent" and the US said it was "deeply disturbed" by the court's decision.

The judgement was also criticised by Ms Ibrahim's lawyer, Eman Adbul-Rahim, for making "procedural errors" and he demanded she be released.

She was sent to a women's prison and her sentence was suspended for two years so she could care for her newborn daughter, Maya.

The mother and her newborn Maya

Her other child, an 18-month-old boy, Martin, is also living in jail with her.

A new video reportedly shows Mr Ibrahim with Maya and Martin at the prison hospital where she gave birth.

Looking happy and relaxed, the footage apparently shows her breastfeeding the baby while on a bed with Martin sitting close by.

In many Muslim nations, such as Sudan, women are not allowed to marry outside their faith although these restrictions do not apply to Muslim men.

The conviction comes after several Sudanese women have recently been accused of apostasy, but managed to escape death sentences by renouncing their new faith.

Sudan introduced Islamic sharia law in the 1980s, under the rule of autocrat Jaafar Nimeiri.

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Police Shooting Suspect Spotted Three Times

A man wanted for the killing of three police officers and wounding two others has been seen three times near the Canadian east coast city where the gun attack took place.

The shootings began after police responded to a call about an armed man in north Moncton, New Brunswick province, at 7.30pm (11.30pm UK time).

Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) regional commander Roger Brown said: "The RCMP family is hurting," with his officers "working through (their) worst nightmare".

Police say the wanted man, Justin Bourque, 24, was seen in three different places around Moncton, the latest instance on Thursday morning.

The manhunt began after the attacker, reportedly wearing a camouflage outfit, began firing at officers in the normally quiet city of 69,000 people.

The window of the police car is shattered

Officers say Bourque, who is from Moncton, is considered "armed and dangerous".

Police released a map of a large portion of the northwest section of the city, including a heavily wooded area, where they wanted people to remain inside with their doors locked.

Schools and government offices were closed, and the city took its buses off the roads. Postal delivery was suspended.

RCMP in New Brunswick confirmed the three officers' deaths on its Twitter feed.

The two other officers had non-life threatening injuries and were in a stable condition in hospital.

The force tweeted an image of a suspect wearing military camouflage and wielding two guns.

A video has emerged showing officers taking cover behind police cars and which apparently shows the moment the gunmen opened fire.

There are two thuds and an unnamed person in the footage said: "He shot him, he shot a cop."

The police officers were shot dead in Moncton on the east coast of Canada

Witness Danny Leblanc, 42, said he saw the gunman in the distance on Wednesday evening standing in the middle of the street with his gun pointed at police vehicles.

The construction worker said he believed it was an RCMP officer he was looking at until he heard a burst of automatic gunfire coming from the man's gun.

He said he quickly went back into his home and remained there with his family.

Mr Leblanc said: "It's devastating. I don't know if he was on a hunt for them, or what."

At one point a neighbour posted on social media that their kitchen window was shattered by gunfire.

Another witness said she saw an injured officer being taken away.

The unnamed woman said: "We just came outside. My daughter said there were police in the area, and we noticed that there was a lockdown on the street, they wouldn't let anybody in or out, they were turning vehicles around.

"And we noticed there was a staff supervisor vehicle that had taken an injured officer away, the lady liked like she was, like, really hurt."

RCMP Constable Damien Theriault, who appeared emotional during a news conference, said he personally knew the officers who were killed.

Constable Theriault asked the public not to disclose any information about the police operation or locations of officers on social media.

Moncton mayor George LeBlanc urged all residents to pay strict attention to the RCMP warnings.

Such violence is rare in Canada, particularly on Canada's east coast.

Constable Theriault said Moncton did not have a homicide in 2013 or this year until Wednesday evening.

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