Michelle Obama's message - think before you tweet

Former first lady Michelle Obama address the crowd at the second day of the Obama Foundation Summit in Chicago. Photo / AP

United States: Former first lady Michelle Obama says words matter, particularly in an age where Twitter and other social media can be used like a weapon. She addressed a summit of young leaders hosted by the Obama Foundation. She says people shouldn't "tweet every thought" because "first initial thoughts are not worthy of the light of day." The comments drew laughter from the crowd as Obama added she wasn't "talking about anybody in particular". She says when people send a tweet, especially young people, they need to think it over, spell correctly and use good grammar.

North Korea: A high-ranking North Korean defector told a US congressional hearing today that a pre-emptive US military strike on the country would trigger automatic retaliation, with the North unleashing artillery and short-range missile fire on South Korea. The testimony from Thae Yong Ho, former deputy chief of mission at the North Korean Embassy in London, underscored the high risk in using military force against North Korea. The Trump Administration has said this is among its options in stopping leader Kim Jong Un from perfecting a nuclear-tipped missile. Thae said the US and South Korea would win a war after a preventive military strike on the North, but there would be a "human sacrifice" inflicted on the South from the "tens of thousands" of artillery guns and short-range missiles the North has at the frontier.

Greece: Police in Greece say 25 people have been detained for questioning after a lawyer was attacked outside the Athens courthouse where members of an extreme right political party are on trial. Lawyer Evgenia Kouniaki said she was punched in the face by a man who was among a group of Golden Dawn party supporters. Kouniaki is representing victims of an alleged Golden Dawn attack.

United States: Hollywood's widening sexual harassment crisis has ensnared a prominent film director after six women - including actress Olivia Munn - accused Brett Ratner of sexual misconduct in a Los Angeles Times report. The reverberations also reached back 32 years as Oscar-winner Dustin Hoffman came forward to apologise for allegedly sexually harassing a 17-year-old intern in 1985. Writer Anna Graham Hunter alleged in the Hollywood Reporter that the now 80-year-old actor groped her on the set of TV movie Death of a Salesman.

Colombia: Adelaide drug mule Cassie Sainsbury has been sentenced to a maximum of six years behind bars in Colombia and slapped with a US$90,000 fine after a judge rubber- stamped a plea deal. The 22-year-old had been facing up to 30 years in jail but could be free in about two-and-a-half years. Sainsbury pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges after being caught with 5.8kgs of cocaine hidden inside 18 headphone boxes as she tried to leave Bogota's airport in April.

A Palestinian security officer controls traffic of imported goods at the Kerem Shalom border crossing on the Gaza Strip-Israel border. Photo / AP

Palestinian territories: Hamas handed over control of Gaza's border crossings with Israel and Egypt to the Palestinian Authority, taking the first tangible step towards implementing a reconciliation deal with the rival Fatah movement. After a decade of Hamas rule, the group's security forces and border control agents were seen pulling away from the crossings that facilitate the movement of cargo and people in and out of Gaza. Representatives of the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority quickly took up positions. After a decade of an Israeli-Egyptian blockade, Hamas' new leadership says the group is no longer interested in governing Gaza. The blockade has hit Gaza's economy hard, with over 40 percent unemployment and chronic power outages. Under Egyptian mediation, the two rivals last month announced a preliminary reconciliation deal, but many issues remain unresolved. The sides are to meet in Cairo on November 21 to continue talks.

Brazil: State police in Brazil say an American couple and their two daughters have been missing since Monday, when river pirates assaulted the boat taking them and other passengers to an island on the Amazon River delta. The Para state Public Safety Department says a search is underway for the missing family. It said that pirates forced the boat to dock and fled with the belongings they stole. When police, arrived the Americans were not on the boat. It identified the couple as Adam Harris Heart, 39, Emily Faith Heart, 37 and their daughters aged 3 and 7. The children's names were not revealed.

Spain: Some members of Catalonia's ousted government will appear before a Spanish judge tomorrow for questioning in the rebellion investigation stemming from the region's declaration of independence, but the former regional president does not plan to be among them. A Belgian lawyer representing the sacked Catalan president said he was seeking to have Carles Puigdemont questioned instead in Belgium.

Germany: It's legal to drink beer in German movie theaters - but it's probably not a good idea to try to open your beer bottle with a pepper spray canister. However, that's exactly what a thirsty moviegoer tried doing at a cinema in the northwestern German town of Osnabrueck. Instead of opening his beer, the 29-year-old man broke his pepper spray container and some 200 people had to quickly leave the theater in tears. The cinema's manager told DPA that it was "chaos." Still, he kept his head, calling police, offering beverages to moviegoers and opening the windows. He says the movie was restarted after 30 minutes.

The Edenbridge Bonfire Society effigy of Harvey Weinstein. Photo / AP

Britain: Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has resigned from his position saying he accepted his conduct in the past had fallen below high standards. Fallon was named in an a newspaper article earlier this week which said he had touched a radio presenter's knee in 2002. The BBC reported on Tuesday that Fallon's spokesman said he had apologised for the incident at the time. The presenter tweeted that she considered the matter closed. Meanwhile, a British town plans to burn a 11m effigy of Harvey Weinstein at its annual Bonfire Night celebrations at the weekend. Each year the Edenbridge Bonfire Society chooses a well-known figure to go up in flames alongside an effigy of 17th-century militant Guy Fawkes. The society says the movie mogul was the obvious choice after many women made allegations of sexual harassment and assault against him.

Bosnia: A permanent US resident arrested in the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo abandoned the US in 2013 to join Isis and cheer on suicide bombers while recruiting and spreading propaganda on the internet, authorities said. William Sweeney, head of the New York FBI office, said Mirsad Kandic expressed a desire to travel overseas to kill or maim US military forces long before he used fake documents to overcome a no-fly designation in December 2013 and travel to Turkey. From there, he joined the terrorist group, Sweeney said. The former Bronx and Brooklyn resident was extradited yesterday from Bosnia and Herzegovina to face a six-count indictment. He has been detained since his July arrest in Sarajevo.

Saudi Arabia: Women in Saudi Arabia have scorned the Government's decision to grant citizenship to a female robot who, unlike them, doesn't need a male guardian or has to cover her head in public. Social media was abuzz with questions about whether the robot, Sophia, who was unveiled at a technology conference in the capital Riyadh last week, will be treated like other women in the conservative kingom now that she is a citizen. "It hit a sore spot that a robot has citizenship and my daughter doesn't," said Hadeel Shaikh, a Saudi woman whose 4-year-old child with a Lebanese man does not have citizenship. Women married to foreigners in the gender-segregated nation cannot pass on citizenship to their children. "I'm wondering if robot Sophia can leave Saudi Arabia without her guardian consent!" tweeted Saudi feminist, Moudi Aljohani, who is based in the United States.

- agencies