New Zealand jury convicts man of murdering British backpacker
New Zealand jury convicts man of murdering British backpacker
A jury in New Zealand on Friday convicted a 27-year-old man of murdering a British woman backpacker, media said, in a case that shocked the Pacific nation.Grace Millane, 22, went missing in Auckland on Dec. 1 last year, while traveling after finishing university. Police found her body on Dec. 9 in bushland just a few meters from a scenic drive in the Waitakere Ranges.
Philippine troops have rescued a British man and his Filipino wife who were abducted by British national and his wife kidnapped in southern Philippines . Jumsah acted as a key link of the Islamic State group to local jihadists and helped set up a series of deadly suicide attacks in Sulu this year.
Allan Hyrons, 70, and his wife Wilma were taken by gunmen last month from a resort they own and run in the southern Philippines . They were rescued unhurt on Monday after a 10-minute firefight with Islamic State-allied militants, the military said.
Philippine soldiers on Monday rescued a British man and his wife from Islamic State-linked jihadists nearly two months after the couple was kidnapped from their beach resort in the nation's south, authorities said.
© STRINGER Armed men abducted the couple on October 4 at their beach resort on the southern island of Mindanao Troops recovered the pair after a firefight with gunmen from the Abu Sayyaf group on the restive southern island of Jolo, which is a stronghold of the kidnap-for-ransom gang that has been behind some of the worst attacks in the Philippines.
"There was a brief exchange of fire, but they later abandoned the couple after being overwhelmed by pursuing government forces," Lieutenant General Cirilito Sobejana told AFP, adding the hostages were unharmed.
Freed UK hostage and wife say chained, threatened in Philippines
Freed UK hostage and wife say chained, threatened in Philippines
A British man and his wife rescued this week from Islamist captors in the Philippines' south say they were chained and threatened with beheading if they didn't deliver a ransom. The couple, shaken but unharmed, told their nearly two-month ordeal to reporters after escaping during a firefight Monday between Philippine troops and the Islamic State-linked Abu Sayyaf group. The couple, shaken but unharmed, told their nearly two-month ordeal to reporters after escaping during a firefight Monday between Philippine troops and the Islamic State-linked Abu Sayyaf group.
An elderly British man and his wife were abducted from their Philippine resort by at least four armed men , who dragged the couple into motorboats and took off, officials said. The gunmen pulled Allan Hyrons, 70, and his wife Wilma Hyrons from a hut in their Tukuran resort at nightfall Friday
A Philippine general says troops have rescued a British man and his Filipino wife who were abducted by gunmen in their beach resort in the south last month and taken to the jungle hideouts of local militants allied with the Islamic State group.
Regional army spokesman Arvin Encinas said no ransom was paid.
The British embassy in Manila confirmed the rescue of Alan and Wilma Hyrons, saying in a statement "we extend our gratitude to the government and authorities of the Philippines".
Armed men abducted the couple on October 4 at their beach resort on the southern island of Mindanao, which makes up the southern third of the Philippines.
Muslim separatists have led a decades-long insurgency in the south of the Catholic-majority Philippines, which has led to the death of tens of thousands of people.
While the government has negotiated peace with the largest group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, hardline factions allied with the Islamic State group are not part of the accord.
IS claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing of a Sunday mass in January at a Catholic cathedral on Jolo which killed 21 in the country's worst attack in years.
Authorities blamed the bombing on Abu Sayyaf, which in part funds its violence with ransom payments.
Dutch birdwatcher Ewold Horn, who was kidnapped in 2012 in the southern Philippines, was killed in May during a firefight between his Abu Sayyaf captors and the military.
Death toll in Philippine typhoon rises to 10 as storm moves off .
Death toll in Philippine typhoon rises to 10 as storm moves offTyphoon Kammuri, the 20th to enter the Philippines this year, hit land on Monday night, prompting forced evacuation of thousands of residents and cancellation of hundreds of flights. It also disrupted the schedule for some events in the Southeast Asian Games, which the Philippines is hosting until Dec. 11.
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Thousands flee as Typhoon Kammuri churns towards Philippines 
One Dead, Thousands Displaced as Typhoon Hits Philippines 
One Dead, 200,000 Evacuated as Typhoon Kammuri Hits Philippines 
Death toll in Philippine typhoon rises to 10 as storm moves off 
