Woolwich attack: ‘Soldier’ wearing Help for Heroes t-shirt hacked to death in broad daylight. A man – believed to be a soldier wearing a Help for Heroes t-shirt – was hacked to death in the street today. Armed police called to the scene near the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich, London, shot and injured two suspects. Woolwich and Greenwich MP Nick Raynsford said both were in a serious condition in hospital. One witness, identified as James, said he and his partner saw two black men attack the young man with kitchen knives like he was “a piece of meat”. “They were hacking at this poor guy, literally,” he told LBC. “They were hacking at him, chopping him, cutting him. Fighting back tears, he added: “These two guys were crazed. They were just anim.....

The US has chided Russia for what it calls an "unfortunate decision" to send missiles to the Syrian government. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Martin Dempsey said the shipment "will embolden the regime and prolong the suffering" that has killed 80,000. The sophisticated anti-ship missiles could be used to counter any future foreign military intervention, US officials told The New York Times. Some 1.5 million people have fled the conflict, says the UN refugee agency. Most have fled to Jordan and Lebanon, but not all have been registered yet, meaning the true total is likely to be far higher, according to the UNHCR. Meanwhile, Syria's national production has dropped by 40% and the number of people living below the poverty line has risen.....

Staffers at a zoological conservation center in Greenwich, Conn., are very confused — as are the rest of us — because their female giant anteater, Armani, has managed to conceive a baby, apparently without the presence of a male anteater. It all started in August, writes Lisa Chamoff for Greenwich Time. Armani, an anteater at the LEO Zoological Conservation Center, had given birth to anteater baby girl Alice. Alice's father, Alf, was kept away from Armani and Alice because male anteaters have a bad history of committing infanticide. And then one April morning, a zoo staffer entered Armani's abode and found ... another baby. Chamoff explains, "The sudden appearance of little Archie was a surprise, to say the least. The gestation period for anteaters is six months. Armani and.....

Boston Marathon bomber manhunt: One suspect dead, second on the run Police sealed off densely populated portions of the Boston metro area early Friday after a violent night of chasing the Boston Marathon terror suspects left one of the men and a police officer dead. The manhunt effectively shut down a large portion of the nation's fifth-largest metro area. Developments moved quickly: -- Police swarmed over a Watertown, Massachusetts, neighborhood looking for the surviving suspect, identified by Boston police as Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, age 19. -- The slain suspect was wearing explosives and a triggering device when he died, a source briefed on the investigation told CNN's Deborah Feyerick. Several sources identified him as Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26. He was the f.....

Two explosions were heard near the finish line of the Boston Marathon on Monday, witnesses told NBC News. Will Ritter, the spokesman for a Massachusetts Senate candidate, said that he heard what sounded like two explosions and saw smoke rising near the Boston Public Library. He said that he saw three fire engines and police running to the site. Ritter said that people hit the ground. Janet Wu, a reporter for NBC affiliate WHDH, told NBC News that she heard two loud explosions. Boston police confirmed there was an incident but did not immediately give details. Police, fire and medical technicians were responding. New England Cable News reported that the emergency response came within seconds. Federal authorities told NBC News that they had no immediat.....

A well-known Palestinian prisoner died of cancer in Israeli custody on Tuesday, sparking outrage among Palestinian groups who accuse Israel of denying him treatment. Maysara Abu Hamdiya, 64, a retired Palestinian general, had been in Israeli prisons since 2002 and was serving a life sentence for alleged involvement in an attempt to bomb a Jerusalem cafe. He died Tuesday morning in an Israeli hospital after being admitted last week because of his deteriorating health, according to the Palestinian Authority's Government Media Center. After the announcement of Abu Hamdiya's death, hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails protested by knocking on the doors of their cells and refusing food, the beginning of what they say is a three-day hunger strike, according to a statem.....

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has died aged 58, after 14 years in power. Mr Chavez had been seriously ill with cancer for more than a year, undergoing several operations in Cuba, and had not been seen in public for several months. Foreign Minister Elias Jose Jaua Milano declared seven days of mourning and said Mr Chavez's body would lie in state until his funeral on Friday. Vice-President Nicolas Maduro would assume the presidency until an election was called within 30 days, he added. "It is the mandate that Comandante President Hugo Chavez gave us," Mr Jaua told state television, adding that Mr Maduro would also be the candidate of the governing United Socialist Party (PSUV). It was not immediately clear when the election would take pla.....

A meteor streaked through the skies above Russia's Urals region Friday morning, before exploding with a flash and boom that shattered glass in buildings and left hundreds of people hurt. The number of injured continues to rise as new reports come in from across a wide area. As of noon Moscow time, as many as 725 people had sought medical help, according to the state-run RIA Novosti news agency. Deputy Health Minister Igor Kagramanyan said 571 people had sought medical help, with 34 of them hospitalized, according to state-news agency Itar-Tass. The vast majority of injuries are not thought to be serious. About 270 buildings have sustained damage -- mostly broken glass -- as a result of the shock waves caused by the blast, said Vladimir Stepanov, of .....

St. Peter's Basilica. Peter in the Vatican is one of the most important sites of Christianity. Tradition says, the building stands on the site of crucifixion and burial of St. Peter, which is considered the first pope. It is also the place where John Paul II lies. On Monday, February 11, the day on which Pope Benedict XVI announced the abdication, in its dome was struck by lightning. There is no power "to direct the boat St. Peter" Pope Benedict XVI resign from the Head of the Catholic Church functions - on Monday, media reported over the world. "To steer the boat St. Peter and preach the gospel (...) it is necessary to power both the body and the spirit, which in recent months has weakened me so much that I have to consider my inability to perform good servic.....

Pope Benedict XVI will not interfere in choosing his successor after his shock decision to resign at the end of the month, the pontiff's brother has said. Georg Ratzinger told the BBC the Pope would only "make himself available" if he were needed. Benedict said on Monday he would resign after nearly eight years as the head of the Catholic Church because he was too old to continue at the age of 85. The Vatican now says it expects a new Pope to be elected before Easter. The unexpected development - the first papal resignation in nearly 600 years - surprised governments, Vatican-watchers and even Benedict's closest aides. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger became Pope Benedict XVI in 2005 after John Paul II's death. The BBC's David Willey in Rome sa.....

The U.S. Navy SEAL who shot and killed Osama bin Laden is speaking out for the first time since the May 1, 2011, raid on the al-Qaida leader's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. In an interview with Esquire, the former SEAL—identified as "The Shooter" due to what the magazine described as "safety" reasons—said he's been largely abandoned by the U.S. government since leaving the military last fall. He told Esquire he decided to speak out to both correct the record of the bin Laden mission and to put a spotlight on how some of the U.S. military's highly trained and accomplished soldiers are treated by the government once they return to civilian life. Despite killing the world's most-wanted terrorist, he said, he was not given a pension, health care or protect.....

Malian troops and suspected Islamist militants are exchanging heavy gunfire on the streets of Gao in northern Mali. A BBC correspondent in the town says the clashes began near the central police station but have since spread. It comes a day after a suicide bomber blew himself up near a checkpoint at a northern entrance to the town - the second such attack in two days. Gao was retaken just over two weeks ago by French and Malian forces, who supposedly drove out the Islamists. Security had been tightened in the wake of the suicide attacks, with military patrols stepped up and checkpoints put in place. The Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (Mujao) said it had carried out Sunday's attack on Malian troops as well as both the suicide bombings,.....

When the candidates for president of the Czech Republic meet in a televised debate tonight, by far the most colorful contender will be Vladimir Franz. His entire head is tattooed. Despite his wildly unorthodox appearance Franz has a respectable 11.4 percent of the popular vote in opinion polls, placing him third among the nine candidates, a position that could make him a Czech king maker. Franz, 53, holds a law degree, is a Czech drama professor, a painter and a prolific opera and theater composer. He also has tattoos covering 90 percent of his body, a variety of body piercings and dyed blue hair. "Today is the biggest day of my art career and of my political career," Franz told ABC News. "I have a world opera premiere of Karel Capek's novel 'War With the Ne.....

Governor Patrick Yakowa of Kaduna State and former National Security Adviser Andrew Owoye Azazi apparently died in a helicopter that crashed today in Bayelsa State, a reliable source has told SaharaReporters. Governor Yakowa and Mr. Azazi, a retired military general who served as chief security adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan, were among passengers in the ill-fated helicopter. Nigeria's National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA) had earlier indicated that the agency had activated a search for a crashed helicopter. Our sources had earlier disclosed that the crashed chopper was carrying “some major political figures.” As at the time of going to press, Saharareporters was unable to confirm the identity of any other passengers in the ill-fated choppe.....

Twenty children and six adults have been killed in a shooting attack at a primary school in the US state of Connecticut, police say. Lt Paul Vance said the gunman was also dead, but did not identify him. However, officials told US media the killer at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, was a 20-year-old son of a teacher at the school. The killings make Newtown the second-worst US shooting, after 32 died at Virginia Tech in 2007. Early reports named 24-year-old Ryan Lanza as the gunman, but officials later said his brother Adam, 20, was the suspect. Ryan Lanza was being questioned by police, the Associated Press and New York Times reported. Friday's shooting is the third major gun attack in the US in 2012. In July an attacker killed .....

The resignation of CIA Director David Petraeus has brought a sudden and unexpected end to the public career of a four-star general who led U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq and was thought to be a potential candidate for president. Petraeus admitted to an extramarital affair in tendering his resignation, which President Barack Obama accepted Friday. Petraeus carried on the affair with his biographer Paula Broadwell, a reserve Army officer, according to several U.S. officials with knowledge of the situation. They spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to discuss publicly the investigation that led to the resignation. The FBI discovered the relationship by monitoring Petraeus' emails, after being alerted Broadwell may have had access to his personal e.....

The former Governor of Massachusetts Mitt Romney has admitted defeat in the US election with an emotional speech at an event in Boston. With results in from most states, he said he had called President Obama to congratulate him on winning a second term. Perhaps the biggest unknown about Mitt Romney in the waning hours of his campaign is whether his giddy behavior was a sign of a candidate truly at peace with losing his second bid for the presidency or whether he really believed the White House was within his grasp. It's hard to believe Romney, who became a multimillionaire based on his obsession with numbers and data, could have missed the signs of President Barack Obama's looming victory. But if that was truly the case, in some ways, it's not surprising......

Obama: 'The best is yet to come' Barack Obama supporters celebrate President Barack Obama has been re-elected to a second term, defeating Republican challenger Mitt Romney. America's first black president secured the 270 votes in the electoral college needed to win the race. In his victory speech before supporters in Chicago, Mr Obama said he would talk to Mr Romney about "where we can work together to move this country forward". Mr Obama prevailed despite lingering dissatisfaction with the economy and a hard-fought challenge by Mr Romney. His Democrats also retained control of the Senate, which they have held since 2007, while Republicans kept control of the House. With Florida's 29 electoral votes still undecided, Mr Obama won 303 elec.....

President Mohammed Mursi of Egypt has agreed to allow the Mubarak-era chief prosecutor to keep his job after an embarrassing public row. Spokesmen for Mr Mursi and the prosecutor, Abdel Maguid Mahmoud, confirmed an agreement had been reached at talks in the capital, Cairo. Mr Mahmoud earlier returned to work, escorted by judges and lawyers. He has been criticised for acquitting officials accused of attacking protesters under Hosni Mubarak. Ill-feeling between supporters of the prosecutor and Mr Mursi's followers degenerated into fighting in Tahrir Square on Friday. Scores of people were injured in the worst violence since President Mursi took office at the end of June. The outcome is a big defeat for Mr Mursi, who until now has been steadily .....

Chris Stevens, an American who risked his life to help Libyans overthrow dictator Moammar Gadhafi, was killed overnight in the former rebel capital of Benghazi -- a city he helped save, making it an especially tragic place for him to die, President Obama said Wednesday. An Arabic speaker who loved Libya and understood it deeply, Stevens died along with three other Americans when an angry mob stormed the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi. He was the first U.S. ambassador to be killed in the line of duty since 1979. The consulate was one of several American diplomatic missions in the Middle East to face protests Tuesday after the release online of a film mocking Islam and depicting the Muslim prophet Mohammed as a child molester, womanizer and ruthless killer. But U.S. sou.....

US President Barack Obama has vowed to bring to justice the killers of the US ambassador to Libya during protests against a film that mocks Islam. But he told reporters that the attack on the American consulate in Benghazi would not break the bonds between the US and the new Libyan government. Mitt Romney, Mr Obama's political foe, criticised the handling of the crisis. Ambassador J Christopher Stevens reportedly died of smoke inhalation after a crowd stormed the consulate. Three other Americans were also killed, amid reports that rocket-propelled grenades had been fired during the assault on Tuesday night. The consulate was set ablaze and a charred car could be seen parked near the damaged buildings on Wednesday. A US marine anti-terrorism t.....

Thousands of people have fled the US city of New Orleans as Hurricane Isaac makes its slow approach. The hurricane will hit the Louisiana city exactly seven years after it was devastated by Hurricane Katrina, but it is a much less powerful storm. The city has closed its new floodgates in a bid to protect it from the effects of high waters brought by sustained winds of up to 80mph (130km/h). Isaac killed at least 24 people in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. It has also caused significant flooding and damage across the Caribbean and forced a day's delay to the start of the Republican party's congress in Tampa, Florida. Isaac first touched down on land at Plaquemines Parish, on the coast south of New Orleans near the mouth of the Mississippi River, .....

India's Supreme Court has upheld the death sentence of Pakistani national Mohammad Ajmal Amir Qasab, the sole surviving gunman of the 2008 attacks on Mumbai. The judges also rejected his claim that he had been denied a fair trial. Qasab, 24, was convicted of murder and other crimes in May 2010. His first appeal was rejected by the Mumbai High Court in February 2011. The November 2008 attacks claimed 166 lives. Nine gunmen were also killed. "In view of the nature of the gravity of his crime and the fact that he participated in waging war against the country, we have no option but to uphold his death penalty," Supreme Court Justices Aftab Alam and CK Prasad ruled. Legal experts say it could still be months or even years before Qasab's sentence can .....

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has said the government needs more time to "win the battle" against rebel forces. In an interview with pro-government al-Dunya TV, Mr Assad also dismissed as "unrealistic" the idea of creating humanitarian buffer zones within Syria. Opposition activists say the army has launched offensives across the country to regain control of rebel-held areas. Heavy shelling was reported on Tuesday in the capital, Damascus, Aleppo, and the north-western province of Idlib. Mr Assad said the Syrian government was "fighting a battle both regionally and internationally". "It definitely needs time to bring it to a decisive end. But I can sum it up in one sentence: we're heading forward," he told al-Dunya. "The situation on the.....

Norwegian mass killer Anders Behring Breivik was jailed for a maximum term on Friday when judges declared him sane enough to answer for the murder of 77 people last year, drawing a smirk of triumph from the self-styled warrior against Islam. An unrepentant Breivik, 33, gave the Oslo court a stiff-armed, clench-fisted salute before being handed the steepest possible penalty, 21 years. His release, however, can be put off indefinitely should he still pose a threat to a liberal society left traumatized by his bomb and shooting rampage last July. Justifying blasting a government building and gunning down dozens of teenagers at a summer camp as a service to a nation threatened by immigration, he had said only acquittal or death would be worthy outcomes. But his biggest concern wa.....

A tropical storm forming in the Caribbean could pose a potential threat to Florida next week during the Republican National Convention. Computer models from the US National Hurricane Center predict Tropical Storm Isaac would grow into a hurricane. Some models had the storm striking Florida as early as Sunday. Thousands of Republicans will gather in Tampa, Florida beginning on Monday to officially nominate Mitt Romney as the party's candidate for president. Republican and Tampa officials say they have contingency plans for a such a storm. In May, a four-day mock hurricane drill was held. That drill ended with planners cancelling the convention. Forecasters caution that long-range storm predictions can be off by hundreds of miles. A major hur.....

US President Barack Obama has said the use of chemical weapons by Syria would be a "red line" that would change his thinking on intervention in the crisis. He said he had "at this point not ordered military engagement". But he added: "There would be enormous consequences if we start seeing movement on the chemical weapons front or the use of chemical weapons." Earlier the new UN special envoy to Syria faced criticism for refusing to say whether President Assad must quit. President Obama, speaking to reporters at a White House briefing, said the deployment or use of biological weapons would widen the conflict in the region. He said: "It doesn't just include Syria. It would concern allies in the region, including Israel, and it .....

The wife of disgraced Chinese politician Bo Xilai has been given a suspended death sentence for the murder of British businessman Neil Heywood. Gu Kailai did not contest charges at her one-day trial that she poisoned Mr Heywood in November 2011. Suspended death sentences are usually commuted to life imprisonment in China. Mr Bo, the former party chief in Chongqing, was once seen as a contender for a national leadership position in a top-level reshuffle later this year. But he has not been seen in public since the investigation into Gu was announced. Gu's aide, Zhang Xiaojun, was jailed for nine years for his part in the murder. 'Special respect' The verdict in China's most high-profile trial for years came early on Mo.....

A heavily armed man who called himself a "joker" has been arrested after threatening his employer in the US state of Maryland, police say. Neil Prescott, 28, allegedly said he was going to "load my guns and blow everybody up" at his workplace. Wearing a t-shirt that read "guns don't kill people. I do" when arrested, he was in the process of being fired. The suspect in last week's massacre at a Colorado Batman screening reportedly told police he was The Joker. Mark Magaw, police chief of Prince George's County in Maryland, told reporters they were taking "all threats seriously" in light of last Friday's shootings. "If you're going to make a threat, we will take action," he said. 'Very quiet.....