North Korea sentences US citizen to 15 years' hard labour
The announcement, from state news agency KCNA, said Pae Jun-ho, known in the US as Kenneth Bae, was tried on 30 April.
He was held last year after entering North Korea as a tourist. Pyongyang said he was accused of anti-government crimes.
The move comes amid high tensions between North Korea and the US, after Pyongyang's third nuclear test.
North Korean media said last week that Mr Pae had admitted charges of crimes against North Korea, including attempting to overthrow the government.
Paris celebrates 40 years of le périph – one of busiest highways in Europe
To navigate the dense, usually fast-moving traffic of Paris’s Boulevard Périphérique, you need nerves of steel and 360degree vision. Motorcycles dart between vehicles. Tailgaters bear down in rear-view mirrors. Cars barrel across four lanes in every forward direction.
Known affectionately as le P ériph , the Paris ring road is one of the busiest highways in Europe, with an estimated 1.1 million motorists using at least part of the ring road daily. Officially opened 40 years ago, it is the stuff of urban legend.
TERRORISM
Al Qaeda branches strengthen as center weakens
Osama bin Laden, the founder and long-time leader of the Islamist terrorist organization al Qaeda, was killed two years ago by US soldiers. His worldwide terrorist network has changed a lot since then.
The name al Qaeda is synonymous with a number of terrorist attacks, both in the West and in the Arab world. The destruction of the World Trade Center in New York in 2001 brought the group to the world's attention. Around 3,000 people were killed. The former head of the Islamist terror network, Osama Bin Laden, was hunted down in Pakistan and shot dead by US soldiers.
Malaysian election integrity fears mount
Lindsay Murdoch
South-East Asia correspondent for Fairfax Media
Doubts are growing over the integrity of Malaysia's election this Sunday amid cyber-attacks, campaign-related violence and revelations that indelible ink meant to prevent fraud can be easily washed off.
Reports have emerged that security personnel taking part in early voting had easily cleaned off ink applied to a person's finger to show they had already voted.
The ink has been brought in for Malaysia's closest fought election following pressure from clean-poll activists and the opposition.
'South Africans are backward'
One of the most colourful men in African politics happens to be white. Guy Scott is the vice-president of Zambia but his race is probably the least exceptional thing about him.
On a recent afternoon in Lusaka, Scott held court with the kind of candour – and eccentricity – seldom heard from today's media-honed political class. He dismissed South Africans as "backward", insisted that Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe wants to quit and discussed Zambia by way of references to Marlon Brando and the Klingon empire.
May 2, '13
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By Bertil Lintner
Rather than being on a path to democracy, Myanmar may find itself instead in the middle of a dangerous and potentially volatile superpower rivalry. That means the traditionally powerful military
may not be in the mood to give up its dominant role in politics and society any time soon.
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