Julian Assange’s chances of being given a fair trail if he is extradited to Sweden on sexual allegations has been further damaged by a “toxic” attack on him by the Swedish Prime Minister, a court heard yesterday. The WikiLeaks founder’s defence team have claimed that comments made by Fredrik Reinfeldt on Tuesday have made Mr Assange “public enemy number one” in... 

Many ECHR judges never spent a day on the bench in their home countries. What specific benefits accrue to the United Kingdom as a result of our adhesion to the European Convention on Human Rights? It ought to be the most basic question of all, yet it is almost never asked. Most politicians, together with virtually the entire legal establishment, take our continued membership as a datum or given; yet... 

Suspect: Jose Oswaldo Reyes Alfaro has been arrested in connection with three murders in Manassas, Virginia. Illegal immigrant accused of killing three in gun and knife rampage was deported 10 years ago but never left the country. A Salvadoran man who was ordered deported nearly a decade ago but never left has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder in a series of shootings and a knife... 

Breakthough: Wires are connected from the bionic arm to muscles in the chest. Most modern prosthetic limbs can be considered high tech. But Jesse Sullivan has a particularly clever prosthetic arm – it doesn’t work using a motor, but is controlled by his mind. Scientists have found a way to make the thought controlled limb by connecting the nerves from Mr Sullivan’s stump to muscles... 

Charlotte Cassez, mother of Florence Cassez, sentenced in Mexico to 60 years in prison for kidnapping, gives a press conference in Lille, northern France. A Mexican court on February 10, upheld the conviction of a French woman who is serving a 60-year prison term for kidnapping. Diplomatic relations between France and Mexico deteriorated into a crisis Friday, after a Mexican court upheld a 60-year... 

Grabbed: Secretly filmed footage from the Markazi Jamia mosque shows a teacher pulling a pupil towards him and striking him on the back. Secret filming at Muslim schools in Birmingham and Yorkshire shows pupils being beaten and “taught Hindus drink cow p***”. It is an assembly hall of the sort found in any ordinary school. Boys aged 11 and upwards sit cross-legged on the floor in straight... 

An Anomalous SETI Signal. No one knows for sure what caused this signal. There is a slight possibility that it just might originate from an extraterrestrial intelligence. The bright colors on the blue background indicate that an anomalous signal was received here on Earth by a radio telescope involved in a Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). A search for these signals is ongoing by several... 

Russian diplomats are reporting in the Kremlin today that the “shockwave” of the new doctrine enunciated by President Obama for the United States has reverberated throughout the corridors of power in both the West and East and now threatens the Old Order established in the aftermath of World War II, but to what ends can still not be determined. To fully understand the new Obama Doctrine it is... 

Algerian protesters chant slogans during a demonstration in Algiers. Internet providers were shut down and Facebook accounts deleted across Algeria on Saturday as thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators were arrested in violent street demonstrations. Plastic bullets and tear gas were used to try and disperse large crowds in major cities and towns, with 30,000 riot police taking to the streets in Algiers... 

Not-so-thin blue line: Riot policemen surround protesters during the demonstration. Estimates put the numbers of police at 30,000 - three times the number of protesters. Now revolution takes hold in Algeria, Hundreds arrested as ‘30,000’ riot police try to quell democracy march inspired by downfall of Hosni Mubarak. Thousands of riot police arrested hundreds of demonstrators in the Algerian... 

North Korea is reportedly importing animal feed grain from China to distribute on the market for human consumption as the regime struggles with food shortages. According to Radio Free Asia, Pyongyang gave the animal feed to its military as well as to merchants, bringing down the surging cost of rice. A source in North Korea said the feed is commonly darker in color than normal rice and is often mixed... 

A protest against deportation of migrant workers' children. Israeli policy requires that these women leave the country within three months after giving birth or, alternatively, send their children abroad if they wish to retain their work visa. A report by the United Nation’s Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women has for the first time included criticism of Israel’s... 

The International Monetary Fund issued a report Thursday on a possible replacement for the dollar as the world’s reserve currency. The IMF said Special Drawing Rights, or SDRs, could help stabilize the global financial system. SDRs represent potential claims on the currencies of IMF members. They were created by the IMF in 1969 and can be converted into whatever currency a borrower requires... 

An injured Ivorian lies on the ground outside the UN building in Abidjan on December 20. At least 296 people have been killed in Ivory Coast since a presidential stand-off escalated in mid-December, the United Nations mission in the crisis-hit west African nation has said. At least 296 people have been killed in Ivory Coast since a presidential stand-off escalated in mid-December, the United Nations... 

Japan’s foreign minister said Thursday that Tokyo’s claim over the disputed Kuril islands remains “absolutely unwavering” despite Russia’s decision to boost its military presence on the territory. Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara, who is due to visit Moscow from Friday, said Russia’s occupation of the islands is illegal and shrugged off President Dmitry Medvedev’s...