News Headlines - 17 February 2014

▽'Abundant evidence' of crimes against humanity in N. Korea, panel says - CNN.com

A stunning catalog of torture and the widespread abuse of even the weakest of North Koreans reveal a portrait of a brutal state "that does not have any parallel in the contemporary world," a United Nations panel reported Monday.
North Korean leaders employ murder, torture, slavery, sexual violence, mass starvation and other abuses as tools to prop up the state and terrorize "the population into submission," the United Nations Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in North Korea said in its report.

▽BBC News - Japan snowstorm leaves part of the country cut off

A massive snow storm that has dumped a metre and a half of snow in some areas of the country has left areas cut off and hundreds of cars and trucks stranded. The storm has killed at least 12 people and injured more than 1,000 others.

▽Matteo Renzi promises to combat Italy’s 'despair’ - Telegraph

Italy's new prime minister-elect set out an ambitious timetable for “urgent” financial and political reforms yesterday, immediately after being appointed.
Matteo Renzi, the 39-year-old Florence mayor and head of the Democratic Party (PD), was summoned by Giorgio Napolitano, Italy’s president, and asked to form a government four days after the internal party coup that forced his predecessor, Enrico Letta, to resign.

▽MPs' expenses: Maria Miller likely to avoid punishment over expense claims - Telegraph

Maria Miller, the Culture Secretary, is likely to avoid punishment over her expenses after the parliamentary watchdog found she was entitled to make claims on behalf of her elderly parents.
In 2012 an investigation by The Daily Telegraph found that Mrs Miller claimed more than ￡90,000 over four years for a second home where her parents lived in South London.

▽Father of 'the God particle' Peter Higgs says fame is a bit of a nuisance | theguardian.com

Nobel prize-winning scientist Prof Peter Higgs, says he finds his new-found fame "a bit of a nuisance".
The 84-year-old scientist was thrust into the limelight after the elusive fundamental particle that bears his name was found by scientists at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the huge atom-smashing machine built to probe the origins of the universe.