Philippines mayor among 4 killed in shooting at Manila airport
December 20, 2013 -- Updated 0600 GMT (1400 HKT)
A gunman opened fire outside a terminal at Manila's international airport on Friday, killing the mayor of a southern Philippines town, two members of his family and a young child, authorities said.
The attack wounded five people and caused panic among travelers caught up in the chaos.
Gun crime and political violence occur with grim frequency in the Philippines. But the shooting Friday at Terminal 3 of Ninoy Aquino International Airport appeared particularly brazen.
Initial reports suggested the shooting may have been carried out by more than one attacker. But police said they believe a lone gunman sprayed bullets at the mayor and his entourage before fleeing on foot and being picked up by an accomplice on a motorcycle.
The dead include Ukol Talumpa, the mayor of Labangan, a town in the southern Philippines, and his wife and 28-year-old niece, said Supt. Jose Erwin Villacorte, director of the Manila region's Southern Police District.
Vladimir Putin pardons jailed oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky
Man regarded by Kremlin critics as political prisoner could be freed on Friday after decree signed with immediate effect
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has signed a decree pardoning jailed tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the Kremlin has announced.
Putin unexpectedly said on Thursday he would pardon Khodorkovsky, who was once Russia's richest man and is regarded by Kremlin critics as a political prisoner.
The decree pardoned Khodorkovsky on the basis of "the principles of humanism". The Kremlin said the decree took immediate effect. Russian news agencies quoted a lawyer as saying it was possible that the former Yukos oil company chief could be freed as early as Friday.
Putin's announcement that he intended to relase Khodorkovsky – who has been in jail since 2003 and was due for release next August – came at the end of a four-hour press conference in Moscow.
South Sudan is 'on the precipice' of civil war President Obama warns
Robotics Challenge: Creating the Disaster Response of the Future
Seventeen rescue robots are competing in Florida this weekend, where their task is to clear away debris, break through walls and climb ladders -- a test run for their use in future disaster scenarios. But the humanoid figures are still a little shaky on their feet.
"Atlas" is attached to a hook, like a piece of meat, with his metal limbs dangling limply from his torso.
But now the device begins to falter. Atlas completes three triple steps in slow motion until he reaches a ramp. Behind a Plexiglas wall, researchers watch as the robot scans the obstacle with its laser.
Finally, Atlas hazards to take one step up the incline, followed by a second and a third. But he makes his fourth step at a dangerously crooked angle, puts weight on the poorly placed foot and falls down. A safety cable cushions the robot's fall, and in the end Atlas is hanging from a hook once again.
Harsh criticism for India's nuclear safety regime
December 20, 2013 - 12:43PMBen Doherty
South Asia correspondent for Fairfax Media
Delhi: India’s nuclear safety regime is “fraught with grave risks”, a parliamentary committee has reported, saying the country’s nuclear regulator was weak, under-resourced and “slow in adopting international benchmarks and good practices in the areas of nuclear and radiation operation”.
The bipartisan Public Accounts Committee tabled a scathing 81-page report in India’s parliament, critical of the decades-long delay in establishing an independent regulator for the nuclear-armed country.
Australia, the holder of the world’s largest uranium reserves, is India’s newest nuclear partner.
After years of refusing to sell uranium to India – at grave offence to the Indian government, which expressed dismay that China was a trusted customer but it was not – Australia under the Gillard government agreed to allow sales.
Brazil's 'peace police' turn five. Are Rio's favela's safer?
Brazil's pacifying police units have brought 36 favelas under their control since 2008. But some slums are seeing an uptick in violence and many have been ignored.
Brazil’s first police pacification unit (UPP) was installed in the Santa Marta favela, or shantytown, in Rio de Janeiro five years ago this month. But new research reveals that peace is still a long way off for some of the most violent communities across this coastal Brazilian city, with recent controversies creating further setbacks and challenges for the specially trained forces.
Created by Rio’s leading politicians, the UPP’s are viewed as a new breed of law enforcement that involves policing recovered territories, commonly in favelas, after Rio’s elite police battalion (BOPE) has cleared them of drug traffickers and violent criminals.
Reclaimed lands previously inaccessible to the authorities are permanently occupied by the UPPs to maintain security. The force aims to take a preventative and protective approach to policing, breaking the cycle of reactionary police raids and shootouts. A total of 9,000 newly trained officers – set to rise to 12,000 by 2016 – combine policing duties with social service programs.
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