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The unnamed employee who mistakenly sent a missile alert which caused panic in the US state of Hawaii on Saturday has been temporarily reassigned to other duties, a US official has said.

People across the state received text messages warning of an imminent attack. The US media regulator says the mistake was « absolutely unacceptable ». Hawaii did not have « reasonable safeguards or process controls » in place to prevent the false alert, it said.

The 38-minute delay in issuing the correction made it worse, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said. The error occurred when, during a drill after a shift change, an employee made the wrong selection from a drop-down computer menu, picking the real-life missile alert instead of the test option, officials at Hawaii’s Emergency Management Agency (EMA) said.

To prevent a repeat, two employees are now required to activate the alert system – one to issue the warning and another to confirm it, they said.

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The leader of a Nigerian gang responsible for the death of a British aid worker has been killed, according to the Nigerian army.

A manhunt for gang leader Peregbakumo Oyawerikumo, known as Karowei, had been under way in southern Nigeria since last year. He coordinated the kidnap of four British missionaries in October. Three were released but one man, Ian Squire, was shot dead in captivity.

Kidnapping for ransom is common in southern Nigeria though most often those taken are freed after a ransom is paid.

The Foreign Office currently advises against all but essential travel to much of Delta state, saying there is a « high threat of criminal kidnap ».

A special military task force said it arrested the gang leader in a village.

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Armed robbers have seized millions of euros worth of merchandise from a jewellery shop at the famous Ritz Hotel in Paris.

Five men armed with axes smashed a window at the shop inside the hotel at about 18:00 local time (17:00 GMT), French media report. Three men have been arrested, police said, while others remain on the run.

It is not clear whether any of the loot, estimated to be worth more than €4m (£3.5m), was recovered.

The luxurious five-star Ritz is located in Place Vendôme, in Paris’ historical first district on the right bank of the river Seine. The ministry of justice lies next door. The hotel includes a gallery shopping area near its rear entrance, which it says hosts five shops and 95 « showcases », selling jewellery, watches and luxury clothing.

Local newspaper Le Parisien, citing a police source, reports that the robbery was interrupted by an officer on patrol, but two people escaped on a motorised scooter.

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Thai police have arrested a Japanese yakuza boss on the run for 15 years after pictures of his tattoos went viral on Facebook.

Shigeharu Shirai is accused of murdering a gang rival in 2003. The photographs of the 74-year old fugitive’s elaborate yakuza tattoos were taken by a local person in Thailand unaware of his identity.

The mafia-like yakuza gangs have been part of Japanese society for centuries and have an estimated 60,000 members.

While the gangs themselves are not illegal, much of their earnings are gained illicitly through gambling, prostitution, drug trafficking and cyber-hacking.

When the pictures of Mr Shirai went viral they caught the attention of Japanese police who requested his arrest.

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A Russian man has been arrested after he reportedly stole an armoured vehicle and crashed it into a shop in a town north of the Arctic Circle.

According to regional news outlet Hibinform.ru, the unnamed culprit took the vehicle from a driving school, before failing to negotiate a bend, destroying a car, and crashing into the shop front in the north-western town of Apatity.

He’s also suspected of stealing a bottle of wine from the supermarket, and « it was with this very bottle that policemen detained him, » Hibinform says.

Little is currently known about the suspect, but Russian TV channel Vesti says he was « bored » and took the tracked vehicle from the driving school operated by DOSAAF, a voluntary organisation which cooperates with the armed forces in Russia. Police in the Murmansk region are now considering criminal charges, local media reports.