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Kevin Spacey grabbed man 'like a cobra', UK court hears

A man claiming to have been sexually assaulted by Kevin Spacey said the Hollywood actor grabbed him "like a cobra", a London court heard on Wednesday.

The alleged victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is the third of four men accusing Spacey of a string of sexual offenses between 2001 and 2013.

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Greta Thunberg charged with disobeying police order at climate protest

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has been charged with disobeying a police order to leave a climate protest in the southern city of Malmo on June 19, according to daily Sydsvenskan. On the day of the incident, Thunberg wrote in an Instagram post that protesters had blocked the road for oil trucks in Malmo harbour. "The climate crisis is already a matter of life and death for countless people. We chose to not be bystanders, and instead physically stop the fossil fuel infrastructure. We are reclaiming the future," she had said. If convicted for disobeying a police or...

Germany's far-right AfD has 34% support in Thuringia, poll shows

The far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party is backed by 34% of voters in the east German state of Thuringia, far ahead of any other single party, according to a poll released on Wednesday by public broadcaster MDR. The survey, conducted for the broadcaster by Infratest dimap, comes amid intense political debate in Germany about the rise of the far-right. The anti-immigration AfD won its first election for district administrator in the state in late June, when Robert Sesselmann was elected in Sonneberg in southern Thuringia. That was followed on Sunday by a first-time victory in winning ...

Unseen photos taken by Paul McCartney show Beatlemania

By Sarah Mills LONDON, (Reuters) - Personal and previously unseen photographs taken by musician Paul McCartney as 'Beatlemania' was soaring in the 1960s have gone on display at The National Portrait Gallery in London. Images of McCartney and his former Beatles bandmates - John Lennon, Ringo Starr and George Harrison - as young men flying to America, relaxing by a pool in Miami and being chased by photographers in New York form part of "Paul McCartney Photographs 1963- 64: Eyes of the Storm." "They document this period in which they went from sort of Beatlemania in Britain through to global fam...

Blondie drummer says music in UK schools helps autistic children

Blondie drummer Clem Burke on Wednesday said adding drumming to the UK school curriculum could be a "game changer" for autistic children after a study found as little as 90 minutes a week offered benefits.

A study conducted as part of the Clem Burke Drumming Project found children with the condition who learned to play the drums showed better control of their emotions and fewer signs of hyperactivity, inattention and repetitive behavior.

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India's headhunter warriors sever past, fret over future

Once, the way to get ahead among India's Konyak warriors was by chopping off an enemy's skull. Today, the last survivors of a past age mourn the changing times -- and a new generation they see as soft.

At 90, Nokkho Konyak can barely see beyond a few feet, his facial tattoos marking him as a warrior are fading and his frail body needs support.

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Austria's new answer to long-term unemployment

After spending years at home bringing up her two children, electrical systems technician Sarah Sklenicka found it a "big challenge" to get back into the job market.

But now the 37-year-old is ready to take on anything thanks to an experimental Austrian scheme, which claims to be a world first in tackling long-term unemployment.

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IAEA chief reassures Fukushima residents over water release

The head of the UN's nuclear watchdog tried to reassure local residents and representatives on Wednesday that the planned release of treated wastewater from the Fukushima nuclear plant is safe.

The planned, decades-long discharge of accumulated water from the devastated nuclear facility has been approved by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as meeting global standards.

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What would happen if Ukraine joined NATO?

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -Ukraine stepped up its efforts to join NATO after Russia invaded last year, arguing that the security assurances given by Moscow, Washington and London when it relinquished its nuclear arsenal to Russia in 1994 were clearly worthless. While eastern European countries say some sort of a road map should be offered to Kyiv at a NATO summit in Vilnius on Tuesday and Wednesday, the United States and Germany are wary of any move that might take the alliance closer to war with Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin has cited NATO's expansion towards Russia's borders over the pas...

How Jamaica and its prime minister are becoming a mini-superpower in the Caribbean

KINGSTON, Jamaica -- New commercial and high-end condominiums are rising from the dirt, the minimum wage is going up, unemployment is the lowest it’s been in years and tourism — the engine of the economy — is once more booming. After years of being hobbled by crippling debt, double-digit deficits and negative growth, Jamaica, the largest island in the English-speaking Caribbean, is showing its ability to weather crises — and its hard-won economic stability is getting noticed along with the leadership of its prime minister. In just the past four months, Prime Minister Andrew Holness has met wit...

China adviser warns chipmaking export curbs are 'just a start', as Yellen visit looms

BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's export controls on metals used in making semiconductors are "just a start", an influential trade policy adviser said on Wednesday, as it ramps up a tech fight with the U.S. days before U.S. treasury secretary Janet Yellen visits Beijing. Shares in some Chinese metals companies rallied for a second session, with investors betting that higher prices on gallium and germanium, which Beijing's export restrictions target, could boost revenues. Germanium is used in high-speed computer chips, plastics, and in military applications such as night-vision devices as we...

Taiwan presidential front-runner says he can keep peace with China

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Leading Taiwan presidential candidate William Lai wrote in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday that he could keep the peace with China if elected, reiterating his willingness for talks without preconditions and a pledge to boost defences. Lai, Taiwan's vice president and the candidate for the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), has consistently led the majority of opinion polls ahead of the January election. President Tsai Ing-wen cannot run again after two terms in office. In a commentary piece, Lai said that despite the military and economic challenges from China, ...

Russia says there are 'certain contacts' with U.S. on detained U.S. reporter Gershkovich

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia said on Tuesday that there were "certain contacts" with the United States over the case of detained Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, but that it did not want to make them public. The Kremlin made the remark a day after U.S. ambassador Lynne Tracy was allowed to visit Gershkovich in a Moscow prison for only the second time. Hours later, the Russian embassy in Moscow said its staff had visited Vladimir Dunaev, a Russian national who is in pre-trial detention in Ohio on cybercrime charges. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was asked at his daily briefing if t...