National / International News

A paralysed man is taking up the legal challenge previously mounted by the late Tony Nicklinson for the right to die with the help of a doctor.

Authorities in Boston have flagged video and other images of a possible suspect in the marathon bombings. The Associated Press says there's no identification yet. The U.S. Attorneys' Office and the FBI have been releasing official reports about their investigation, but there's also been amateur sleuthing taking place online at sites like Reddit and 4Chan.

"I think that Reddit is where it pops up the most because [it's] a really popular community that is kind of networked in a way that gives it a lot of visibility," says Adrian Chen, senior writer at the news site Gawker. "But you've [also] got conservative bloggers, you've got people on Twitter, other message boards -- basically wherever anybody is talking on the Internet."

Online postings include time-lapse animations of people seemingly fleeing the bombing scene, and people with backpacks staring unsmiling along the marathon route. Though these efforts may be in good-faith, most, if not all of the people deemed suspicious were most likely not involved.

"This is not an inherently terrible idea to try to sift through some of these pictures to help the authorities, that's if everything goes right," says Will Oremus, a tech writer at Slate. "If everything goes wrong, you've got a lot of people out there who have been identified by their face as possible terrorists and they are totally innocent."

Though Oremus says the idea that “Redditors” could solve a crime isn't too far-fetched.

"A year or two ago, there was a hit and run incident, a photo was posted to Reddit, some gear-head noticed that the headlight belonged to a 1990 Cadillac, he knew the make and model, and they ended up solving the crime," says Oremus. 

To hear more about the implications of a public, crowdsourced manhunt, click on the audio player above.

Correction: The original version of this article misspelled the name of Gawker writer Adrian Chen. The text has been corrected.

Authorities in Boston have flagged video and other images of a possible suspect in the marathon bombings. The Associated Press says there's no identification yet. The U.S. Attorneys' Office and the FBI have been releasing official reports about their investigation, but there's also been amateur sleuthing taking place online at sites like Reddit and 4Chan.

"I think that Reddit is where it pops up the most because [it's] a really popular community that is kind of networked in a way that gives it a lot of visibility," says Adrien Chen, senior writer at the news site Gawker. "But you've [also] got conservative bloggers, you've got people on Twitter, other message boards -- basically wherever anybody is talking on the Internet."

Online postings include time-lapse animations of people seemingly fleeing the bombing scene, and people with backpacks staring unsmiling along the marathon route. Though these efforts may be in good-faith, most, if not all of the people deemed suspicious were most likely not involved.

"This is not an inherently terrible idea to try to sift through some of these pictures to help the authorities, that's if everything goes right," says Will Oremus, a tech writer at Slate. "If everything goes wrong, you've got a lot of people out there who have been identified by their face as possible terrorists and they are totally innocent."

Though Oremus says the idea that “Redditors” could solve a crime isn't too far-fetched.

"A year or two ago, there was a hit and run incident, a photo was posted to Reddit, some gear-head noticed that the headlight belonged to a 1990 Cadillac, he knew the make and model, and they ended up solving the crime," says Oremus. 

To hear more about the implications of a public, crowdsourced manhunt, click on the audio player above.

There were 352,000 first-time claims for unemployment insurance, up by 4,000 from the week before. The early analysis: It's a sign that the labor market's recovery, while slow, is continuing.

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Paul Kevin Curtis, the 45-year-old Mississippi man arrested Wednesday in connection with the possibly ricin-tainted envelopes sent to President Obama and at least one senator, has taken to Facebook in recent years to claim he knows of an organ-harvesting scheme. He's also an entertainer.

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A woman told to move an old armchair from the garden has protested - by creating a living room scene in her front yard.

Plans for a peace centre on the site of Northern Ireland's former Maze prison, which housed paramilitary prisoners, are approved.

The home secretary says she wants to know if the case of a police officer suing a garage owner is "symptomatic" of a claims culture.

Indonesia failed to uphold its 2005 peace agreement commitments with Aceh province, a new Amnesty International report says.

There will not be any criminal prosecutions over the Mortonhall baby ashes scandal in Edinburgh.

'Interactive' fabric that can change shape and colour has been developed at a Canadian university

Only God Forgives, the second film from Drive partnership Ryan Gosling and Nicolas Winding Refn, is in competition at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

An NHS worker who knew she was mistakenly being paid two salaries for two years, was caught after bragging about buying a hot tub and house extension, a court hears.

A Pakistani court orders the arrest of ex-military ruler Pervez Musharraf over moves to place judges under house arrest in March 2007.

Six-time Olympic gold medallist Sir Chris Hoy announces his retirement from competitive cycling and explains what his future holds. BBC Scotland's James Cook reports.

Six of the 10 London School of Economics students who visited North Korea with an undercover Panorama crew criticise the university for speaking publicly about the story.

Plans to increase free pre-school childcare are spelled out by the Scottish government.

Twenty-four hours of news photos: 18 April

An investigation is launched after an NHS Grampian vehicle was taken to a garage while a body was inside.

The Royal British Legion says it is opposed to moves to fly the union flag at Belfast City Hall's cenotaph every day of the year.