Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II (centre) rides in the carriage with The Prince of Wales (second right) and The Duchess of Cornwall (back left) and Lord Dalmeny (right) as they arrive at the grandstand during the second day of Royal Ascot, in Berkshire, west of London, yesterday. The five-day meeting is one of the highlights of the horse racing calendar. 

CHICAGO: A mentally disabled woman and her daughter were forced to live in an Ohio basement with snakes and pit bulls and were treated like slaves for more than two years, US prosecutors said.  The case came to light after the woman was caught stealing a candy bar and told police she’d rather go to jail than go home because her roommates “were mean to her.” Three of h

Washington: The FBI has admitted it sometimes uses aerial surveillance drones over US soil, and suggested further political debate and legislation to govern their domestic use may be necessary. Speaking in a hearing mainly about telephone data collection, the bureau’s director, Robert Mueller, said it used drones to aid its investigations in a “very, very minimal way, very seldo

WASHINGTON: More than 150 doctors from the United States and Britain have written to President Barack Obama urging him to grant independent medical care to hunger-striking Guantanamo detainees. The hunger strike, which began more than four months ago, is meant to protest the inmates’ indefinite detention at the military facility even though more than half have been cleared for release

LONDON: Britain’s Prince William and his wife Catherine do not know the sex of their baby, which is expected in mid-July and should be born by natural delivery, palace sources said. The baby, which will be third in line to the throne, will be born in the same London hospital where princess Diana gave birth to William and his younger brother Harry. While the monarchy is on Twitter, the

LONDON: The British government warned yesterday that future combat operations could become more difficult after a court ruled that families of three soldiers killed in Iraq could sue the military for failing to protect troops on active duty. Britain’s Supreme Court upheld the claim of relatives that the Human Rights Act applied to troops serving in battle abroad, and rejected the Mini

A road heading towards Llanos del Hospital area has been washed away after river Esera burst its banks at the Benasque valley in the Pyrenees in Huesca, Spain, yesterday. Heavy rain has caused the Esera to overflow and residents have been evacuated by Civil Defence forces. 

BERLIN: US President Barack Obama yesterday called on Russia to agree strategic nuclear weapons cuts of up to a third and to also rein in strategic atomic arms. In a keynote speech in Berlin, Obama also said he would lead two new Nuclear Security summits in his second term. “These are steps we can take to create a world of peace with justice,” Obama said, addressing thousand

US President Barack Obama waves after giving his speech at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, yesterday. Obama arrived with his family in the German capital for his first visit as president.  BERLIN: President Barack Obama defended US intelligence methods on a visit to Berlin yesterday, telling Chancellor Angela Merkel and wary Germans that Washington was not monitoring the emails of o

BUDAPEST: Part of Hungary’s parliament was evacuated yesterday after an unexploded World War II bomb was discovered during excavation work for a nearby underground garage. “The northern wing of the parliament and the surrounding area including the Museum of Ethnography have been evacuated after construction workers found a World War II bomb,” a spokeswoman for the Hungaria

THE HAGUE: European police have arrested 18 suspected members of a Georgian crime gang, confiscating weapons, drugs and cash in one of its most significant blows against Russian-speaking mafia groups on the continent, Europol said  yesterday. Police carried out simultaneous raids in the Czech Republic, France, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania and Portugal in the early hours of Tuesday, the co

MAIDUGURI: Nigeria’s military banned the use of Thuraya satellite phones yesterday in northeastern Borno state, a step it said was designed to stop Islamist militants communicating. President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency in Borno and two other states on May 14, ordering extra troops in to try to crush Islamist sect Boko Haram, whose insurgency against has killed tho

    ROME: Italy’s constitutional court rejected a bid by Silvio Berlusconi to block a tax fraud conviction from October, clearing the way for a final verdict this year and deepening the uncertainty facing Prime Minister Enrico Letta. Berlusconi’s lawyers had challenged a ruling in Milan last year that sentenced the 76-year-old media tycoon and leader of the cen

Protesters hold a banner reading, “Yes, We Scan,” and posters reading “Stasi 2.0” depicting US President Barack Obama wearing headphones, in allusion to a film poster of the movie The Lives of Others,  yesterday in Berlin. Obama arrived in the German capital yesterday with the US surveillance controversy still fresh, and talk of him having to face questions

LAGOS: A Nigerian court yesterday dismissed charges against eight of 15 Russian seamen arrested in October for alleged illegal arms possession, but set a trial date later this week for the others. The sailors’ vessel, the MV Myre Seadiver, was seized in October off the coast of Lagos by a naval patrol which also detained its 15 crew members. The vessel belongs to Moscow-based Moran Gr

Kiev: Yulia Tymoshenko, the erstwhile Orange Revolution co-leader jailed for abuse of office, could be released from prison this autumn and allowed to travel to Germany for medical treatment under a deal being thrashed out between the authorities in Kiev and European intermediaries. The EU has made the solution of the dispute a prerequisite of closer ties with the former Soviet republic.

SOFIA: Bulgaria’s Socialists, in power for only three weeks at the head of a fragile government, promised yesterday to reform the electoral law in a bid to defuse the street protests that have resumed with new momentum despite last month’s election. Thousands of Bulgarians have been demonstrating in Sofia and other cities since Friday demanding the resignation of the new governm

ROME: Italy’s top court said yesterday it had ordered a re-run of the Meredith Kercher murder trial because the acquittal of American Amanda Knox (pictured) and her ex-boyfriend contained “shortcomings, contradictions and inconsistencies”. Knox and Italian Raffaele Sollecito were initially found guilty of killing the 21-year-old Leeds University student in 2007 during

HERZOGENAURACH, Germany: German sportswear maker Adidas AG forecast record sales for its soccer business in 2014, aiming to retain market leadership in the sport ahead of US rival Nike Inc in a soccer World Cup year.  Adidas and Nike dominate a market for soccer kit — replica shirts, balls and boots — estimated to be worth around ¤5bn ($6.7bn) annually. “It

NEW YORK: The New York Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit yesterday against the New York Police Department over its surveillance of Muslim communities, accusing the police of trampling on religious freedoms and constitutional guarantees of equality.  The surveillance by the NYPD’s intelligence division has extended beyond New York City’s five boroughs into neighbori