The Israeli government has found a way to try to make its assassination of two women in a Gaza church more palatable by claiming the mother and daughter were actually “Hamas spotters” who therefore needed to be eradicated. The women, Nahida Khalil Anton and Samar Kamal Anton, were killed by Israeli snipers while taking shelter at the Holy Family Parish, the only Catholic church in Gaza. At the... 

Police have cordoned off a park area in Bunbury, Western Australia, where a man with explosives took at least one person hostage, according to local media. Police have confirmed there is a hostage situation in a park near the corner of Koombana Drive in Bunbury, according to a GWN7 News reporter. The situation began unfolding at around 8pm local time (12.00 GMT). It is believed that the man is in... 

Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin has called on the UN Security Council to launch an investigation into all events that led to the “forcible change of power” in Ukraine. Speaking in a news program on the Russian television on Saturday, Churkin said it is necessary to thoroughly probe the recent developments in Ukraine, including the use of snipers. “All events … must... 

The snipers who shot at protesters and police in Kiev were allegedly hired by Maidan leaders, according to a leaked phone conversation between the EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton and Estonian foreign affairs minister, which has emerged online. “There is now stronger and stronger understanding that behind the snipers, it was not Yanukovich, but it was somebody from the new coalition,”... 

Police sniper shoots suicidal boy instead of saving him The parents of a suicidal 16-year-old boy who was shot to death by a SWAT team sniper in suburban Atlanta have spoken out for the first time against the unjustified actions of the police. Andrew Messina had threatened to kill himself after getting a bad grade in school last May. He took his father’s .357 Magnum, took swigs of alcohol from a... 

The BBC's Lina Sinjab is one of the few journalists to reach Deraa. At least six people have died after security forces fired on protesters outside a mosque in the Syrian city of Deraa, human rights activists say. Hundreds of people had gathered in the streets outside the Omari mosque to prevent troops from storming it. The mosque has been the focus of anti-government demonstrations – at... 

Patriotic tea partiers in Quincy, Ill When hundreds of tea-party protesters – including many elderly women – gathered outside a civic center where President Obama was giving a public speech Wednesday, they were surprised to be greeted by police dispatched in full riot gear. Obama spoke in Quincy, Ill., at the Oakley Lindsay Civic Center. The event was open to the public, and about 2,000 tickets...