Two North Korean fishermen suspected of killing 16 fellow crew members before fleeing to the South, have been handed back to the North. They crossed the maritime border on Saturday and were later detained by authorities in the South.

South Korea usually grants asylum to defectors but said that in this case, the two men posed a threat to national security. They were treated as criminals – rather than defectors – and sent back. After crossing the border on their squid fishing boat, it took two days for the South Korean navy to seize them.

According to the Yonhap news agency, citing officials, the two confessed that they and another man killed the captain in late October because of his harsh treatment.

They then killed the other protesting crew members, one by one. The bodies were dumped overboard. The three suspects initially returned to the North – but when one of them was captured by local police at a port, the other two decided to flee on their boat to the South.(BBC)…[+]

A woman who was allegedly assaulted by make-up artist Lolita Callendar, known as ‘Lola Doll,’ yesterday told a city court that she would be willing to accept $800,000 as compensation for damage to her hair instead of proceeding with the case. Callendar, who recently returned to Guyana after serving a jail sentence in the British Virgin Islands appeared at the George-town Magistrates’ Courts in hopes of having a more than one-year-old assault charge dismissed.

Callendar, of East Ruimveldt, appeared before Principal Magistrate Faith McGusty yesterday and her attorney indicated that the complainant, Onika Pompey, was willing to drop the charge.

The charge against Callendar states that she inflicted grievous bodily harm on Pompey on April 6th, 2018, at Leopold Street. Callendar had pleaded not guilty to the charge. At that time, Pompey, of Barima Avenue, Bel Air Park, was also charged with unlawfully wounding Callendar on the same day and at the same location.(Stabroek News)…[+]

Police have released images showing how two murder suspects pulled off a surprising jail break in California. Santos Samuel Fonseca, 21, and Jonathan Salazar, 20, crawled through a 22in (55cm) hole they cut in a toilet ceiling at the jail in the city of Salinas, south of San Francisco.

The local sheriff’s office said the men had exploited a “blind spot”. The two were awaiting trial for separate murder charges when they escaped on Sunday. “We’re disappointed that there are people charged with homicide who are no longer in our jail,” Jonathan Thornburg, a spokesman for the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office, said. Authorities are searching for the fugitives, who are considered armed and dangerous.(BBC)…[+]

A woman who was fired for raising her middle finger at US President Donald Trump’s motorcade has been elected to local office in Virginia. Juli Briskman’s hand gesture went viral in 2017, leading to her losing a job with a government contractor.

The single mother won more than 52% of the vote to be elected district representative in Loudoun county. At the state level, US Democrats have seized full control of the Virginia legislature. Shortly after, Ms Briskman used the image as a profile picture on her social media accounts.

Her employer, Akima LLC, said the image was “lewd” and “obscene” and fired her for violating its social media policies, she told the Huffington Post. The company did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment at the time. Ms Briskman had reportedly been working as a marketing analyst for the government contractor for six months, but said she didn’t regret making the gesture. On Tuesday night, Ms Briskman celebrated her election in a tweet linking to the offending image. (BBC)…[+]

The EU’s Court of Justice has ruled that Poland’s decision to lower judges’ retirement ages contravened EU law, in a new setback to the government’s bid to reform the judiciary.

Poland has already reversed  the 2017 reforms and reinstated judges forced to retire, after an outcry at home as well as in Brussels. Poland broke EU law on two fronts. The Court said it was wrong to set a lower retirement age for women and to give a minister a final decision. The Polish foreign ministry responded by saying the law had been changed. As the verdict “relates to an old situation” it said the complaint should have been withdrawn.

At the time, both male and female judges and prosecutors retired at 67 but Poland’s socially conservative government cut the age to 60 for women and 65 for men.

Poland’s government, run by the Law and Justice Party (PiS), argued it was trying to fight corruption and replace judges whose careers dated back to the communist era, but critics said it was seeking to appoint loyalists instead.(BBC)…[+]

A Colorado man has appeared in court for allegedly plotting to bomb a synagogue in a case US prosecutors describe as “domestic terrorism”. According to court documents, Richard Holzer planned to bomb the Temple Emanuel synagogue in the town of Pueblo as part of a “racial holy war”.

Following a sting operation, the 27-year-old met FBI undercover agents to visit the temple and plan his attack, prosecutors say. Mr Holzer has not yet entered a plea. During his court appearance he requested a court-appointed lawyer.

FBI special agent John Smith said in an affidavit that Mr Holzer had “used several Facebook accounts to promote white supremacy ideology and acts of violence”.

He told undercover officers that he used to be a member of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) – one of the oldest white supremacy groups in the US – and was now a skinhead.(BBC)…[+]

Kevin Bruce, who was recently accused of pulling a gun on a policeman at a city station, yesterday learned that he will be spending the next two years in jail for having an unlicensed gun and ammunition. Bruce, called ‘Banky,’ was brought to the Georgetown Magistrates’ Courts, where he was sentenced to two years in prison for having an illegal gun in his possession and another two years for having ammunition for the illegal weapon. The sentences are to be served concurrently, meaning that Bruce will only serve two years in prison. He was also fined $50,000.

When Bruce first appeared at the city court, he had pleaded guilty to having the Taurus .32 pistol along with the 10 live .32 rounds of ammunition in his possession, while not being the holder of a firearm licence at the time.(Stabroek News)…[+]

Three thieves have broken into a medieval cathedral in south-western France using a log tied to the roof of their car, the authorities say. They helped themselves to chalices and other treasures, much of it gold, at the cathedral in Oloron-Sainte-Marie, near the Spanish border.

It is the first time the cathedral, which dates back to the 12th Century, has been attacked. Oloron-Sainte-Marie was listed as a Unesco World Heritage site in 1998.

The Bishop of Bayonne and Oloron, Marc Aillet, called the theft sacrilegious. The burglary happened at 02:00, council officials confirmed. The gang made their escape in another vehicle, according to witnesses. Situated some 50km (31 miles) from the border, the cathedral is a popular stop-over for Catholic pilgrims heading to Spain’s Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.

“Over and above the monetary value, residents now find themselves cut off from their history and their heritage,” a town official told AFP news agency. Police have launched an investigation.(BBC)…[+]

Pirates have kidnapped nine crew members from a Norwegian shipping vessel off the coast of Benin in West Africa. The vessel was carrying gypsum, a mineral used as a fertiliser, and was at anchor, owner JJ Ugland said.

The Gulf of Guinea is world’s most dangerous piracy hotspot, says the International Maritime Bureau (IMB). Some 62 seafarers have been captured off the coasts of Nigeria, Guinea, Togo, Benin and Cameroon this year.

The Norwegian-flagged MV Bonita’s remaining crew notified the local authorities after the attack early on Saturday and the vessel docked in Cotonou, the largest city in Benin, later the same day, JJ Ugland said in a statement. Although piracy has decreased worldwide, it continues to rise in Benin and there are fears that the area could emulate Somalia in terms of the threat to shipping.(BBC)…[+]

A police pickup yesterday morning crashed into two utility poles and a newly-constructed shop at Perseverance, East Coast Demerara and the driver of the vehicle has been arrested. There were no serious injuries. A source last night told Stabroek News that investigations have revealed that the pickup, bearing registration number PWW 5435, was proceeding west along the southern lane at a fast rate when the driver said he heard a loud sound from the right side back wheel. (stabroek news)…[+]