A roundup of today's other world news in brief
Times Square bomb device linked to international plot, paper claims
NEW YORK – The failed car bomb in New Yorks Times Square increasingly appears to have been co-ordinated by several people in a plot with international ties, The Washington Postreported yesterday, citing unnamed Obama administration officials.
White House officials also characterised the incident on Saturday night as attempted terrorism for the first time, dramatically stepping up their description of the intended attack. “Anybody that has the type of material that they had in a car in Times Square, I would say that that was intended to terrorise, absolutely,” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told a briefing.
“And I would say that whoever did that would be categorised as a terrorist, yes.”
New York police interviewed the owner of the vehicle yesterday and scrutinised more video tapes from the incident that rattled New Yorkers and forced the evacuation of Times Square, which was packed with thousands of tourists. – (Reuters)
Guantánamo tribunal told teen was hooded
GUANTÁNAMO BAY – Canadian captive Omar Khadr was crying when he was hooded and chained to a door outside his cell in Afghanistan about the time he turned 16, a former US medic testified yesterday in the Guantánamo war crimes tribunal.
The former army medic, identified only as M, testified to determine whether Khadr was coerced into confessing that he threw a grenade that killed a US soldier in Afghanistan. Khadr, now 23, was captured in a firefight in Afghanistan in 2002 and would be the first person tried in a US war crimes tribunal for acts allegedly committed as a minor. – (Reuters)
Lynn Redgrave dies aged 67
NEW YORK - Lynn Redgrave, the British film and stage actor who hailed from a well-known theatrical family, has died aged 67 after a battle with breast cancer, her publicist said. She died on Sunday night at her home in Connecticut. Redgrave had been treated for breast cancer for several years. - (Reuters)
Nashville deluge leaves 15 dead
NASHVILLE – A weekend deluge pushed rivers and creeks out of their banks across Tennessee and neighbouring US states yesterday, leaving at least 15 people dead and forcing thousands to evacuate homes and hotels.
The overflowing Cumberland river that courses through Nashville shut down bars and clubs, forced 1,500 guests out of the Opryland hotel and closed schools and businesses.
Nashville mayor Karl Dean urged residents to conserve water because one of the citys treatment plants had to be shut down after more than a foot (30cm) of rain fell. – (Reuters)