Kwame Brown, the former chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia, has pleaded guilty to two corruption charges – falsifying bank statements, and a campaign finance misdemeanor. Earlier this week, Brown resigned from his post after being charged by prosecutors in a federal investigation. This comes months after another Council member was sentenced to three years in prison for embezzlement, and after two aides to Mayor Vincent Gray pleaded guilty to charges arising from the Mayor’s 2010 campaign.
Court expert: Breivik not a paranoid schizophrenic
Anders Breivik, who is charged with killing 77 people last July, has no paranoid schizophrenia, but is suffering from developmental and neuropsychiatric disorders, a top expert, Ulrik Frederick Malt, told the latest hearing in Breivik's ten-week trial on Friday. It has been established that Breivik is likely to have Asperger syndrome, a development disorder which often starts in childhood; Tourette syndrome, a neuropsychiatric disorder; narcissistic personality disorder and possibly suffers from delusions, the expert said. Once allowed to speak, Breivik said “the premises outlined are not true,” calling himself an “altruistic person.” The verdict is set to be announced in mid-July or later. If found sane, Breivik would likely face Norway's maximum 21-year prison sentence, which can be extended for as long as he is considered a threat to society. In case he is proved insane, Breivik will be moved to a high security prison that has been converted into a psychiatric unit.
IAEA: No progress in Vienna Iran talks
Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency have held a new round of talks in Vienna, but failed to agree on how the agency should conduct a probe and if its watchdog will be allowed to visit the Parchin military complex. IAEA officials asked for permission to “revisit areas as their work progresses and as new information becomes available.” However, Iran said Parchin was a conventional military facility and called such demands "ridiculous." No date for a new meeting has been set yet. Diplomats and analysts hope an agreement will be reached in mid-June in Moscow, where Tehran is set to meet a group of six, the P5+1, to negotiate its nuclear activity.
US court denies partial dismissal of Manning charges
A US military judge Col. Denise Lind has denied Bradley Manning’s defense motion to dismiss eight of the 22 counts against the US soldier accused of leaking classified data to WikiLeaks. The judge also rejected the defense's arguments that the government used unconstitutionally vague language in charging Manning. It has also been said during a pretrial hearing that the trial initially slated for September this year is likely to start in November or January, 2013 due to procedural issues.
Father of man sentenced for killing Russian football fan found murdered
The father of Aslan Cherkesov who shot football fan Egor Sviridov in Moscow in December 2010 has been killed in the North Caucasus Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, police said on Friday. Magomed Cherkesov, 69, was attacked in the village of Kuba-Taba by a young man who wanted to seize his car, Interfax reports. Aslan Cherkesov was jailed for 20 years by a Moscow court in October, 2011 after he was found guilty of murder, hooliganism and assault. The killing of the Russian football fan by the North Caucasus native sparked a mass riot of around 5,000 football fans in central Moscow on December 11, 2010.
Iraq’s Sadr says his followers not fighting in Syria
Iraqi Shiite preacher Moqtada al-Sadr said on Friday the allegations his supporters were involved in fighting in Syria were false. “All these claims are lies,” Sadr said in a written comment on reports that Sadrists are taking part in the suppression of the uprising against the Syrian regime. Any purported video evidence of involvement of one of his loyalists is “fabricated and not real,” Sadr said, as cited by AFP. He added, however, that members of “splinter” groups could be involved in the violence.
British PM to face media ethics inquiry
Prime Minister David Cameron will give evidence next week to the British media ethics inquiry over his ties to suspects in the tabloid phone hacking scandal. Cameron will give evidence in a session on Thursday. The inquiry, which Cameron set up said it would also take testimony from former premiers Gordon Brown and John Major, AP said. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, Treasury chief George Osborne, Scottish Nationalist leader Alex Salmond will also give evidence. They will be followed by opposition Labour Party leader Ed Miliband, who has criticized Rupert Murdoch's media empire since the phone scandal erupted.
Suicide bomber kills 3 at north Nigeria police station
A suicide bomber has attacked police headquarters in the northeast Nigerian city of Maiduguri, killing three. The attack occurred Friday around noon, according to Borno State police chief Bala Hassan. One policeman and two civilians were killed and six civilians were injured, the official said, as cited by AP. Earlier a suspected bomber died when an explosive went off prematurely in another part of the city. No group has claimed responsibility so far. Radical Islamist sect Boko Haram has carried out similar attacks in the past. The US Embassy issued a warning on Thursday to its citizens not to travel to Maiduguri as “the situation will continue to deteriorate” there.
UN monitors reach Syria’s Qubair village
A team of UN monitors has reached a village in Syria's Hama province where a massacre is said to have taken place on Wednesday. They arrived at Qubair in a convoy from Damascus, the BBC said. On Thursday, they were fired at near the village. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon earlier condemned the massacre, warning of a danger of civil war. Another team of observers returned to their hotel in Damascus on Friday, AP said. It is not clear if they had attempted to gain access to the same site.
Commander of US-led forces apologizes for Afghan civilian deaths
The commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan has apologized for civilian deaths in an airstrike this week. Marine Gen. John Allen personally delivered his regrets to villagers in Logar province on Friday, AP said. Afghan officials say the airstrike by NATO troops killed 18 civilians. Allen told the Afghans they “have my apology and we will do the right thing by the families.” The NATO forces confirmed for the first time that civilians were killed.
European Commission allocates humanitarian aid to Syrians
The European Commission has allocated 23 million euro for humanitarian aid to the Syrian population and refugees from the country. Kristalina Georgieva, European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, said on Friday that the number of Syrian refugees is now estimated at 95 thousand. Most of them fled to neighboring Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey. About one million people need humanitarian aid in Syria, she said, as cited by RIA Novosti. Earlier the European Commission allocated 10 million euro to the Syrian population.
Japan to restart two nuclear reactors
Japan’s Prime Minister Yasuhiko Noda has said the country must restart two nuclear reactors to protect the economy. Noda said on television on Friday that the government had taken measures to ensure the safety of the two reactors at the Ohi nuclear plant in western Japan, AP reports. All 50 workable reactors are now offline for maintenance and safety concerns following the Fukushima disaster last year. The government is seeking public support to avert a summertime energy crunch.
US-led Saber Strike military exercises start in Baltics
The military of several countries are preparing for international exercises in two Baltic countries, Latvia and Estonia. Saber Strike 2012 is organized by the US Army Europe and will be held from June 11 to 22. One of the goals is to train ground forces for the International Security Assistance Force's mission in Afghanistan. Some 2,000 military personnel from the Baltic states, US, Canada, France, the UK and Finland will take part in the exercises to be held for the second time.
Iran, UN watchdog start new talks on nuclear probe
The UN nuclear watchdog and Tehran began a new round of talks on Friday on a framework deal to resume a probe into suspected nuclear weapons research in Iran. The International Atomic Energy Agency is insisting on an agreement that would enable its inspectors to visit military complex Parchin and other sites. The IAEA suspects they may be linked to “possible military dimensions” to the nuclear program, Reuters says. Iran has promised to prove the allegations are “forged and fabricated.” The two sides have noted progress in this year’s previous meetings.
Spain to request European bank aid
Spain will request European aid for its ailing banks on Saturday to forestall worsening market turmoil, EU sources say. Two senior EU officials said finance ministers of the eurozone would hold a conference call on Saturday to discuss a Spanish request for an aid package, Reuters reports. No figure has yet been set. Fitch Ratings slashed Madrid's sovereign credit rating by three notches to BBB from A on Thursday. The move highlights Spain's exposure to its banks' bad property loans and influence of Greece's debt crisis.
Bomb kills 11 in northwest Pakistan
A bomb targeting a bus carrying government employees in northwest Pakistan has killed 11 people, officials said on Friday. The attack near the city of Peshawar also wounded 32 people, AP reports. Peshawar is on the edge of Pakistan's tribal region where militant attacks occur frequently.
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