World News

North Korea denounces US over spying revelations 6/18/2013 11:39:33 PM Pyongyang: North Korea, one of the world's most repressive societies, branded the United States a "kingpin" of human rights abuses Tuesday, following revelations of the US government's Internet surveillance programme. A bylined commentary in the government's official Minju Joson newspaper said US National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden had exposed the global nature of the NSA's intrusive monitoring activities. "This clearly proves once again that the US is a kingpin of human rights abuses as it put the world under its watch network and has conducted espionage against mankind," said the commentary as reported by the official Korean Central News Agency. North Korea is widely recognised as one of the most world's most tightly-controlled societies where daily life is monitored and regulated at almost every level. Washington has repeatedly sought to censure Pyongyang over its human rights record in fora like the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. The Minju Joson commentary argued that Snowden's revelations had exposed the hypocrisy of the US position and said Washington would have to reflect before mentioning "such sacred words as human rights" in the future. ... Obama says China getting tougher on North Korea 6/18/2013 11:39:00 PM Washington: US President Barack Obama said that China was taking a tougher line against North Korea's nuclear program as he credited new President Xi Jinping with taking more responsibility in the world. "We've seen the Chinese take more seriously the problem of constant provocation and statements from the North Koreans -- rejecting the nuclearization," Obama told "The Charlie Rose Show." "In the past, they would try to paper over the intentions," he said in the interview broadcast Monday. "They kind of pushed those problems aside. We're seeing, I think, an interest and a willingness to engage with us in a strategic conversation around those things," he said. China is the main economic and diplomatic supporter of Kim Jong-Un's isolated regime, which brazenly defied Beijing's warnings by carrying out its third nuclear weapons test in February. China took the rare step of cracking down on North Korean bank accounts as part of new UN-led sanctions, although many experts doubt Beijing would go so far as to risk a collapse of the impoverished state separating it from US ally South Korea. Obama said that he saw a gradual movement by China to take more responsibility in global affairs since Xi assumed power in March. Obama held two days of informal talks with Xi on June 7-8... 70 pc Americans oppose US decision to arm Syrian rebels: Poll 6/18/2013 11:37:45 PM Washington: A majority of Americans oppose Obama administration's decision to arm anti-government groups in Syria, a new poll has found. According to the Pew Research Center Poll, 70 percent of Americans don't want the United States and allies to send arms and military supplies to those Syrian rebels fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad. According to Politico, nearly 60 percent of those surveyed said the opposition forces may be no better than the current government. Still, 53 percent said it is important for the US to support people who oppose authoritarian regimes as compared to 36 percent who oppose it. Separately, a Gallup Poll found that 54 percent of Americans don't support the administration's plan to aid the Syrian opposition, as compared to 37 percent who do.... Kuwait hangs 'monster' child rapist 6/18/2013 11:37:40 PM Kuwait City: Authorities in Kuwait on Tuesday hanged a 33-year-old Egyptian man dubbed a "monster" for the abduction and rape of 17 children under the age of 10, the public prosecution said. Hajjaj Saadi, who was handed five death sentences, complained shortly before his execution that he had not been given any assistance from the Egyptian government, a witness said. Saadi strongly denied in court that he had committed any of the crimes, which shocked the Kuwaiti public, and insisted his confessions were extracted under duress. Arrested in July 2007 as he prepared to board a flight to Luxor in Egypt, he became known as "the Hawalli monster" for the district near Kuwait City where the crimes took place. The authorities said Saadi had confessed to raping 17 boys and girls after luring them onto rooftops in Hawalli, an area mainly inhabited by foreigners 12 kilometres (seven miles) south of the capital. Another Egyptian man was executed at the same time after he was found guilty of killing an Asian couple by setting their home ablaze and attempting to murder another couple from Egypt the same way, said the prosecution.Ahmad Abdulsalam al-Baili poured an inflammable material in the apartment of the Asian pair and set it on fire in April 2008, causing their deaths, it said in a...