US Drug Convict Kills Himself In Taiwan Court

An American man has killed himself by slashing his neck with a scissor blade in a Taiwan court as he was jailed for drug offences.

Tyrel Martin Marhanka, 41, was rushed to a hospital where he was pronounced dead on Thursday.

He had just been handed a four-year sentence at Changhua District Court for growing opium and marijuana.

Witnesses told the Taipei Times that after the judge read aloud the sentence Marhanka turned to the interpreter and said: "Four years?"

"I don't want to live anymore!" Marhanka reportedly shouted.

He was arrested in April 2015 after police discovered hundreds of cannabis plants and 10 opium poppies at his rented house in Changhua county, according to the Taipei Times.

According to local media, Marhanka told investigators he was growing the plants as a "hobby" and purely for his own consumption.

The American had reportedly been living in Taiwan for more than 15 years with his Taiwanese wife and two children and teaching English.

The court said in a statement: "He was co-operative during the investigation and the trial.

"His attitude was mild and he did not show any signs that he would commit suicide."

Marhanka apparently smuggled two scissor blades into the court by hiding them in a magazine.

It is not clear if the magazine passed through the metal-detecting gate at the entrance.

The blades and magazine were recovered by police, said the official statement.

The court said it had installed two X-ray scanners to strengthen the security check.

:: Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. 

In the US call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.

Jo Cox Suspect's 'Right-Wing' Links Probed

Police have said possible far-right extremist links of the man suspected of killing Jo Cox are a "priority line of inquiry".

West Yorkshire Police temporary Chief Constable Dee Collins said the force is working with counter-terrorism officers to investigate the MP's murder - which they believe was a "targeted attack".

She said reports of suspect Tommy Mair's history of mental health problems are also a major line of inquiry as they try to establish why the popular Batley and Spen MP was shot and stabbed in her constituency on Thursday.

Ms Collins also revealed the Metropolitan Police had investigated two previous unrelated incidents in which the 41-year-old had received threats of a sexual nature at her Westminster office.

MPs and members of the public attended a vigil in Parliament Square

A 77-year-old man who "bravely" tried to save the MP as she was being attacked is in a stable condition in hospital after sustaining a serious abdomen injury, she added.

The update on the investigation came as hundreds of people attended vigils across the UK - including in Parliament Square, where a two-minute silence was held.

Speaking outside the Houses of Parliament, Mrs Cox's close friend, Ilford North MP Wes Streeting, said: "The last 24 hours have felt like we are drowing in tears for our friend Jo." 

Thomas Mair has been declared medically fit for interview

Earlier, Ms Collins said: "Based on information available at this time, this appears to be an isolated, but targeted attack upon Jo - there is also no indication at this stage that anyone else was involved in the attack.

"However, we will be investigating how the suspect came to be in possession of an unlawfully held firearm."

said Mr Mair had been medically examined and declared fit for detention and interview, while forensics experts were still examining his home, along with other scenes.

A guide to making a gun in a book Mr Mair is said to have bought

She confirmed Mr Mair was not an individual previously cautioned for sending malicious communications to Mrs Cox's Westminster office. The culprit in a second such incident has not been caught.

US civil rights group the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has also produced evidence that Mr Mair had links to American white separatist movement the National Alliance.

Mr Mair is said to have bought books from a white separatist group

He was apparently sent an invoice for books with titles including "Incendiaries" and the "Improvised Munitions Handbook" - which includes instructions on how to make a handgun.

Witnesses described the weapon used by Mrs Cox's attacker - who is said to have shouted "Britain First" or "Put Britain First" as he shot and stabbed her - as looking home-made or like an antique gun.

The items on one of the invoices produced by the SPLC also include Ich Kampfe, an illustrated handbook issued to members of the Nazi party in 1942.

Amid evidence that the mother-of-two's killer may have been motivated by extreme political views, London Mayor Sadiq Khan has told Sky News politics in the UK has become "poisonous" and has to change.

Mitsubishi Cheating Compensation Tops $600m

Mitsubishi Motors has raised its charge for compensating customers affected by a fuel economy scandal to $620m (£435m).

The embattled company said it was to book a $480m "special loss" for its current financial year - on top of $140m already announced for owners of cars affected by the cheating.

The scandal - uncovered by Nissan in April- covers every vehicle it sold in Japan and made for Nissan there since 1991 - with some owners reportedly set to receive a maximum $1,000 (£700) each.

Mitsubishi found staff had falsified mileage tests to make the cars seem more fuel efficient than they were.

The inquiry uncovered a culture of poor supervision amid pressure to comply with tough domestic tax regimes aimed at boosting sales of smaller cars.

No vehicles sold outside of Japan are believed to be affected, though investigations are continuing.

Mitsubishi said the additional charge also covers payments to Nissan, which is taking a 34% stake in the troubled business at a cost of $2.2bn (£1.5bn), money that Mitsubishi will need as it faces the wrath of regulators in addition to irate customers.

For Nissan, Mitsubishi has an attractive domestic manufacturing and development set-up which is underutilised given sharp falls in sales in the wake of the scandal.

Its president,Tetsuro Aikawa, is to step down from the role in a week's time.

Putin: How Can 200 Russians Beat Up English Fans?

Vladimir Putin has questioned how just 200 Russians were able to beat up "several thousand" English football fans at Euro 2016.

Dozens of Russian fans were detained by French police after violence broke out between them and English supportersin Marseille.

The Russian President has described the hooligan behaviour as a "disgrace", but has questioned how it happened.

"The fighting between Russian fans with the English, that is a disgrace," he said at the country's annual economic forum in Saint Petersburg on Friday.

"But I truly don't understand how 200 of our fans could beat up several thousand English," he added to laughs and applause from the audience.

"In any case, the treatment by law enforcement should be the same for all violators."

"I hope that there are sober-minded people among them who really love sport and understand that any violation is not supporting their favourite team but damaging to the team and to sport."

On Thursday, a French court sentenced three Russian fans for up to two years in jail. The Russian foreign ministry says a further 20 people will be expelled on Saturday.

Russia has accused French authorities of trying to ignore the "provocative actions" of fans from other countries, including some who trampled on the Russian flag.

Russia has been handed a suspended disqualification from Euro 2016 because of crowd disturbances at the game against England.

Boko Haram kills 18 women at a funeral in Nigeria

Boko Haram fighters have killed at least 18 people at a funeral in northeast Nigeria, a witness and a police official have said.

The attackers shot at mourners and set houses on fire after arriving on motorbikes in the village of Kuda near Madagali town of Adamawa state on Thursday evening, witnesses said.

At least 10 people were injured in the incident, one witness told the Associated Press news agency on condition of anonymity due to security concerns.

Resident Moses Kwagh told the Reuters news agency that people waited until three hours after the attack and then counted 18 women's bodies. Some women were still missing, he said.

"When we said that Boko Haram is still in this place, some people sit in Abuja and claim that there is no more Boko Haram - but see what has happened," Kwagh said.

Othman Abubakar, a police spokesman, said on Friday that the number of dead could rise.

State lawmaker Emmanuel Tsamdu told Reuters: "I am yet to get the details on how it happened and the real number of people killed. I have sent hunters to go to the area and get me the details because people are afraid to go to the village."

Kuda is close to the Sambisa Forest, a vast colonial-era game reserve where Boko Haram fighters hide in secluded camps to avoid the Nigerian military. The village was previously attacked by Boko Haram in February.

Under President Muhammadu Buhari's command and aided by Nigeria's neighbours, the army has recaptured most of the territory seized by Boko Haram, but the armed group still regularly stages attacks.

Recent attacks in southeastern Niger bordering Nigeria killed more than 20 soldiers and displaced tens of thousands, worsening an already dire humanitarian situation in the region.

Boko Haram pledged support for the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) last year. The Nigeria-based group's nearly seven-year-old violence has killed some 20,000 people, forced more than two million from their homes and spread into neighbouring countries.

Dozens Of US Diplomats Call For Syria Action

More than 50 diplomats have signed an internal memo calling on the US government to take military action against the Assad regime in Syria.

The cable was sent via an internal network called the "dissent channel" which allows State Department employees to flag up concerns.

Signed by mostly mid-level diplomats working in the region or in Washington, the memo calls for military action to pressure Syria's government into accepting a ceasefire and engaging in peace talks.

It says the only way to deal with the worsening humanitarian situation in Syria - where nearly half the population has been forced to flee their homes - is by using air attacks or other "stand-off" weapons fired from a distance.

It does not advocate troops on the ground.

The position is at odds with current US policy and is at a time when the regime of Bashar al Assad is being supported on the ground by Russian military forces.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said he has not seen the memo but "respects the process very much".

He added that it is "an important statement" and will discuss it when he returns to Washington DC from Denmark, where he has been meeting the Danish Prime Minister.

The conflict in Syria has been ongoing since 2011 and is thought to have led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people and prompted an exodus that heavily contributed to the migration crisis affecting Europe.

US President Barack Obama has been very reluctant to take direct action - only once threatening and then rolling back from airstrikes over Syria's use of chemical weapons.

The US is engaged in an air war over Syria but its airstrikes and those of its allies are directed solely at militants operating in the country and neighbouring Iraq.

Syrian forces meanwhile, including their Russian allies, have been carrying out airstrikes on targets they say are terrorists and campaigners say are civilians.

Republican and some Democratic politicians have called for military action against the Assad regime on several occasions.

The document has been classified since its release but was quoted from by both the Wall Street Journal and New York Times.

The Journal reported that the document said: "Failure to stem Assad's flagrant abuses will only bolster the ideological appeal of groups such as (IS), even as they endure tactical setbacks on the battlefield."

Dozens Of US Diplomats Call For Syria Action

More than 50 diplomats have signed an internal memo calling on the US government to take military action against the Assad regime in Syria.

The cable was sent via an internal network called the "dissent channel" which allows State Department employees to flag up concerns.

Signed by mostly mid-level diplomats working in the region or in Washington, the memo calls for military action to pressure Syria's government into accepting a ceasefire and engaging in peace talks.

It says the only way to deal with the worsening humanitarian situation in Syria - where nearly half the population has been forced to flee their homes - is by using air attacks or other "stand-off" weapons fired from a distance.

It does not advocate troops on the ground.

The position is at odds with current US policy and is at a time when the regime of Bashar al Assad is being supported on the ground by Russian military forces.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said he has not seen the memo but "respects the process very much".

He added that it is "an important statement" and will discuss it when he returns to Washington DC from Denmark, where he has been meeting the Danish Prime Minister.

The conflict in Syria has been ongoing since 2011 and is thought to have led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people and prompted an exodus that heavily contributed to the migration crisis affecting Europe.

US President Barack Obama has been very reluctant to take direct action - only once threatening and then rolling back from airstrikes over Syria's use of chemical weapons.

The US is engaged in an air war over Syria but its airstrikes and those of its allies are directed solely at militants operating in the country and neighbouring Iraq.

Syrian forces meanwhile, including their Russian allies, have been carrying out airstrikes on targets they say are terrorists and campaigners say are civilians.

Republican and some Democratic politicians have called for military action against the Assad regime on several occasions.

The document has been classified since its release but was quoted from by both the Wall Street Journal and New York Times.

The Journal reported that the document said: "Failure to stem Assad's flagrant abuses will only bolster the ideological appeal of groups such as (IS), even as they endure tactical setbacks on the battlefield."