Court orders partner of Sydney hostage-taker jailed
SYDNEY (Reuters) – An Australian court on Monday ordered bail revoked for the partner of a self-styled Sheikh who last week stormed a Sydney cafe at gunpoint, sparking a 16-hour hostage crisis that left three people dead, including the gunman.
Man stages new protest on ledge of St. Peter’s in Vatican
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – An Italian man evaded Vatican security for the fifth time to reach a high ledge on the facade of St. Peter’s Basilica to protest against laws he says caused him to lose his business.
China issues property registration rules to aid anti-graft drive
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China issued rules requiring real-estate owners to register their holdings with authorities, a major step in the fight against official corruption that should make it harder for property speculators to evade regulations.
Australian house where eight children killed to be demolished
SYDNEY (Reuters) – The house where an Australian mother allegedly killed eight children, most of them her own, will likely be demolished in keeping with indigenous culture to make way for a memorial, a government official said on Monday.
French villa owned by ousted Chinese politician Bo up for sale: report
BEIJING (Reuters) – A lavish French villa owned by disgraced Chinese politician Bo Xilai has been put up for sale for more than 6.95 million euros ($8.5 million), the state-backed Global Times reported on Monday, after his spectacular fall from grace.
China foreign minister says willing to help Russia
BEIJING (Reuters) – China is willing to help Russia if needed but believes that the country has the ability to overcome its current economic problems, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was quoted as saying in a state newspaper on Monday.
Obama says Sony hack not an act of war
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama moved to prevent U.S. anger at North Korea from spiraling out of control on Sunday by saying the massive hacking of Sony Pictures was not an act of war but instead was cyber-vandalism.
U.S. firm finds malware targeting visitors to Afghan government websites
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Malicious software likely linked to China was used to infect visitors to a wide range of official Afghan government websites, U.S. cybersecurity researchers say.
China arrests thousands in porn, gambling crackdown: Xinhua
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China has detained over 30,000 people during a two-month clamp down on pornography and gambling, state news agency Xinhua reported on Sunday.
How Syria policy stalled under the ‘analyst in chief’
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – (This version of the story was refiled to clarify the size of National Security Council staff in paragraph 12 for the record, after the story originally published on October 9 was updated on October 28 and refiled on December 19,…
