Six In The Morning Sunday February 15

15 February 2015 Last updated at 08:10

Copenhagen shootings: Police kill 'gunman' after two attacks

Police in Copenhagen say they have shot dead a man they believe was behind two deadly attacks in the Danish capital hours earlier.

Police say they killed the man in the Norrebro district after he opened fire on them. 

It came after one person was killed and three police officers injured at a free speech debate in a cafe on Saturday.

In the second attack, a Jewish man was killed and two police officers wounded near the city's main synagogue.

Police say video surveillance suggested the same man carried out both attacks. They do not believe any other people were involved.

"We assume that it's the same culprit behind both incidents, and we also assume that the culprit that was shot by the police task force... is the person behind both of these assassinations," Chief Police Inspector Torben Molgaard Jensen told a news conference.

PATRICK COCKBURN

Sunday 15 February 2015

It's the little lies that torpedo the news stars - as Brian Williams has found to his cost last week

World View: Embellishment and bravado are often punished more harshly than the untruths that cause wars

The exposure of fake or exaggerated tales of journalistic derring-do by Brian Williams, the anchor of NBC Nightly News now suspended without pay, will ignite a small glow of satisfaction in the breasts of many foreign correspondents. The arrival of anchors, editors or “celebrity” correspondents in the middle of a crisis, war, or at any other time, has always been the bane of reporters on the ground. I remember a friend on Time magazine, in the days when it was a power in the land 40 years ago, vainly trying to explain to his bosses why he was having difficulty arranging their fact-finding tour of Kuwait in the middle of Ramadan.

Williams’s credibility first began to disintegrate when he was challenged on his claim that he had been in a Chinook helicopter that was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in the Iraq War of 2003. In fact, the missile hit a Chinook flying half an hour ahead of his own.

Gunshots and leaflets: Boko Haram invades restive Gombe

14 FEB 2015 14:16 AFP

Boko Haram stormed the restive city of Gombe, Nigeria, firing gunshots and throwing leaflets which urged residents to boycott the upcoming elections.

Hundreds of Boko Haram Islamists on Saturday invaded the restive northeast Nigerian city of Gombe, firing heavy guns and throwing leaflets calling on residents to boycott the forthcoming general elections, locals told AFP.

“The Boko Haram gunmen are now at the Jeka-da-Fari roundabout in the centre of the city, firing indiscriminately and throwing pamphlets calling on people not to participate in the elections,” resident Ali Dahiru said.

Other witnesses said the extremists stormed the city around 9am local time and advanced without any resistance from the security forces.

A Nigerian fighter jet encircled the city but made no attempt to attack the insurgents, said witness Kabiru Na-Gwandu.

He said the residents had been warned to evacuate Gombe, which has been attacked by the insurgents previously.

S Korea mulls law against abuses after 'nut rage'

Parliamentarians considering legislation against high-handedness following outrage over airline official's tantrums.

15 Feb 2015 06:20 GMT

Resentment has mounted so much in South Korea against what has come to be known as "gabjil", high-handedness by the rich and powerful, that parliamentarians are proposing legislation to punish some of the worst abuses.

A bill to be presented in the national assembly this month is formally called the "Conglomerates Ethical Management Special Law" but has been nick-named the Cho Hyun-ah law.

Cho, also known as Heather Cho, is the daughter of the chairman of Korean Air Lines and was sentenced last week to a year in prison for an outburst on a Korean Air plane while on the ground in New York.

The bill proposes to ban members of the powerful business families known as chaebol from working at their companies for at least five years if convicted of a crime.

Cover-Up Allegations Against Argentina President Cause Turmoil

Reuters

By Richard Lough

BUENOS AIRES, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Top government officials rallied behind Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez on Saturday after a state prosecutor said he would keep investigating accusations that she tried to cover up Iran's alleged involvement in a 1994 bombing.

The allegations have plunged Fernandez's last year in office into turmoil at a time her leftist government is already grappling with an economy teetering on the brink of recession.

On Friday, state investigator Gerardo Pollicita formally reiterated the accusations leveled against Fernandez a month ago by his colleague Alberto Nisman. Nisman was found dead, with a single bullet in his head, on Jan. 18, a day before he was to detail further evidence for his accusations to Congress.

American Tackles Paris Love-Lock Bridge Tradition

BY KIKO ITASAKA AND KATY TUR

P ARIS — It has become a ritual for lovers visiting one of the most romantic cities in the world — but the practice of attaching personalized 'love locks' to the Pont des Arts over the River Seine is being challenged by an American woman.

The practice began about a decade ago. Couples — mostly tourists — buy padlocks and inscribe their names or initials before attaching the lock to the bridge and throwing the key into the river as a sign of everlasting love.

As many as three quarters of a million metal locks now cover the bridge, forcing the city government to step in and ask tourists to demonstrate their romantic commitment in other ways.

Last year part of the bridge collapsed under the weight of the locks, and officials responded by covering a section with plywood. Then the wood became festooned with graffiti, so it was replaced by temporary glass panels.