13 Feb

Police in Northern Ireland have charged a 52-year-old man with the murder of a female journalist last April.

The 29-year-old journalist was fatally shot while covering anti-police riots in Londonderry. The rioting had been triggered by a police investigation into a possible terrorist plot by Northern Irish extremists seeking secession from Britain.

The police said on Wednesday they had charged the suspect.

The New IRA issued a statement claiming responsibility for the shooting. The paramilitary group opposes the 1998 ceasefire agreement that ended much of the sectarian violence in Northern Ireland. More than 3,000 people have been killed since the 1960s.

But the revelation of a plot by the dissident group to carry out a bomb attack on January 31 -- the day Britain left the European Union -- has renewed concerns over public safety.

NHK