French President Emmanuel Macron  today called for harsher European sanctions against Venezuela  and urged the South American country's trading partners to  follow suit in a bid to increase pressure on the regime of  Nicolas Maduro.
Following a court decision to exclude the Venezuelan  opposition from upcoming presidential elections in April,  Macron denounced the "unacceptable authoritarian slide" of the  oil-rich and once prosperous country.
"It will be at the European level that we will coordinate  to see if we want to increase our sanctions. I am in favour,"  he told a press conference with Argentinian President Mauricio  Macri.
He said that individual European sanctions against  Venezuelans linked to the Maduro regime had had a "limited  impact".
"I hope that other countries which share our values and  our attachment to human rights, and obviously have much closer  economic links, can also introduce effective sanctions," he  added in an apparent message to other Latin American  ..

Macron calls for more sanctions, pressure on Venezuela

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US President Donald Trump said today  that US-backed coalition forces had won back almost 100  percent of territory occupied by the Islamic State group in  Iraq and Syria.
"The coalition to defeat ISIS (IS) has retaken almost 100  percent of the territory once held by these killers in Iraq  and Syria," Trump said in a speech at the World Economic Forum  in Davos, Switzerland.
"There is still more fighting and work to be done and to  consolidate our gains."
IS has been dealt a string of defeats across Iraq and  Syria in recent months.
The US-led coalition said on Tuesday it had killed as  many as 150 IS fighters in an operation in the middle  Euphrates River Valley in Syria, where some remained  entrenched.
It said the Syrian Democratic Forces, a US-backed Arab-  Kurdish alliance fighting IS, had assisted in target  observation prior to the strike.
Kurdish ground forces have played a critical role in  defeating IS.
On Wednesday IS claimed responsibility for a deadly  attack on Save the 

Trump says almost 100% of territory regained from IS

BNP Paribas pleaded guilty to  conspiring to fix the foreign exchange market and agreed to  pay a USD 90 million criminal fine to settle the case, the US  Justice Department announced Friday.
The big French bank worked to fix prices of the  currencies of Central and Eastern European, Middle Eastern and  African countries, coordinating bids and offers and agreeing  to quote rates to specific customers, the government said.
"The antitrust division is committed to uncovering and  prosecuting wrongdoing in all corners of the foreign currency  exchange market," US assistant attorney general Makan Delrahim  said.
"The division's investigation aims to root out and  eradicate the manipulation that has plagued this industry."
BNP Paribas agreed to cooperate with the Justice  Department's ongoing probe of the foreign exchange market as  part of a guilty plea, according to information filed in US  District Court.
BNP Paribas' admission follows a succession of  indictments and pleas from a ...

US fines BNP Paribas USD 90 mn for price fixing in forex

Russian police today raided a Moscow  cinema after it screened British comedy "Death of Stalin" in  defiance of an official ban.
The culture ministry withdrew permission for British  director Armando Iannucci's film, which satirises the death of  the dictator, on Tuesday after Russian officials labelled it  offensive and "extremist."
But Moscow cinema Pioneer, named after the Soviet youth  organisation, decided to go ahead with its screenings of the  film.
Reports of the cinema's planned defiance led the culture  ministry on Thursday to warn movie houses they will bear  "legal responsibility" for showing the film.
Today, six policemen accompanied by a group of men in  civilian clothing went to the cinema following a matinee  screening of the film, and at one point held an administrator  and other cinema employees behind closed doors.
Asked by an AFP reporter why they were there, the  policemen repeatedly refused to give an answer. "We just  wanted to go to the cinema at lunch," one ...

Police raid Moscow cinema for showing banned 'Death of Stalin'

It's one of the most beloved  movies in musical cinema and now Steven Spielberg is giving  "West Side Story" a makeover -- except this time, he is  recruiting Latino talent to play the lead roles.
The original film version of Leonard Bernstein's musical  -- Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" reimagined in the world of  warring New York gangs -- came out in 1961, winning 10 Oscars  and captivating a generation on the cusp of huge societal  change.
For the remake, Spielberg is teaming up with playwright  and screenwriter Tony Kushner, who has previously collaborated  with the three-time Oscar-winning billionaire director on  "Lincoln" (2012) and "Munich" (2005).
Casting director Cindy Tolan has issued a casting call  for actors aged 15-25 to play the lead roles of Tony, Maria,  Anita and Bernardo. Candidates "must be able to sing," with  dance experience "a plus," it said.
The ad also specified that Maria, Anita and Bernardo were  Hispanic characters.
In the original movie, the Puerto ...

Steven Spielberg to remake 'West Side Story'

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan  today threatened to expand Turkey's offensive in Syria against  a Kurdish militia, despite rising concern and calls for  restraint from the US and other Western allies.
In the seventh day of the operation against the Syrian  Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia, Erdogan vowed  to "clean up" the Syrian city of Manbij.
The United States has raised concerns over the deadly  offensive, and analysts say direct military conflict between  the two NATO powers is possible since the US has a military  presence in Manbij.
Turkey launched operation "Olive Branch" against the YPG  on Saturday, supporting Syrian rebels with ground troops, air  strikes and artillery fire.
While the YPG is still working closely with Washington  against the Islamic State (IS) extremist group in Syria,  Ankara views the YPG as a terror organisation allied to the  outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) inside Turkey.
The PKK is blacklisted by Ankara and its Western allies  as .

Erdogan threatens to expand Syria offensive despite criticism

The United States imposed  sanctions today on Russian officials who supplied turbines to  a power plant in annexed Crimea, along with several  "ministers" from the breakaway region in eastern Ukraine.
The turbines were built by German engineering giant  Siemens for delivery to Russia but were later sent to Crimea  -- which Russia seized from Ukraine and annexed in 2014 -- by  its Russian partner.
No US action has been taken against the Munich-based  firm, which says it was not aware the equipment would be  diverted and attempted to sue the Russian state energy firm  for breach of contract.

US sanctions Russian officials over Crimea power plant

Around 50 baboons escaped from their  enclosure in Paris's main zoo today, forcing wardens to  evacuate visitors while order was restored, the zoo said.
A worker at the attraction in the Vincennes area of the  French capital spotted the breakout in the late morning when  the primates were seen gathering in a service corridor used by  personnel.
"Since then the baboons have been returned to their  enclosure, except for four of them which have been located in  this service zone and are being rounded up," the zoo said in a  statement to AFP.
The baboons did not reach public areas and the evacuation  was ordered as a precaution, the zoo said.

Mass baboon breakout shuts Paris zoo

A mass grave containing the  remains of dozens of civilians and security personnel  apparently executed by jihadists has been found in northern  Iraq's Kirkuk province, its governor said today.
Rakan Said al-Juburi told AFP it was the 14th such  discovery in the area.
"Local residents and shepherds guided security forces to  the mass grave which appears to contain the remains of more  than 75 civilians and security personnel," he said.
The governor said the victims had been "savagely executed  by jihadists who occupied Hawija", one of the last urban  centres held by the Islamic State (IS) group before its ouster  last year by Iraqi security forces.
The corpses found near Ryadh village, 45 kilometres west  of the city of Kirkuk, had been shot in the head with their  hands bound behind their backs, he said.
Residents fear that many missing relatives and friends,  especially members of the security forces, have probably  suffered the same fate.
Security forces have discovered dozens of ..

Dozens of bodies found in Iraq mass grave

Belgium today handed Mohamed  Bakkali, a key suspect in the deadly 2015 attacks in Paris,  over to French authorities, the federal prosecutor's office in  Brussels.
"Mohamed B was handed over to the French judicial  authorities today," a statement said. Bakkali was arrested in  Belgium after the Paris attacks on November 13, 2015, which  left 130 people dead.

Belgium hands Paris attacks suspect Bakkali over to France

A huge fire tore through a South  Korean hospital today killing at least 37 people, the  government said, in the country's worst blaze for a decade.
Around 130 others were hurt in the fire, which comes just  weeks before thousands of athletes and foreign visitors are  expected in the country for the Winter Olympics.
While South Korea has risen to become the world's 11th-  largest economy, some of its infrastructure was built rapidly  and it has a history of preventable disasters.
It was the country's second major blaze in a month, and  officials admitted there was no sprinkler system installed at  the hospital.
Videos posted on social media showed a patient hanging on  to a rope dangling from a helicopter above the hospital in  Miryang, in the far south, and another crawling out of a  window to climb down a ladder.
The death toll rose rapidly throughout the morning as  some of those initially pulled from the blaze succumbed to  their injuries. At one point the presidential Blue House .

Dozens dead in South Korea hospital blaze

At least 30 African migrants drowned  when their boat capsized off war-torn Yemen this week with  reports of gunfire being used against those on board, the  United Nations said today.
At least 152 Somalis and Ethiopians were aboard the  overcrowded vessel which left Aden in southern Yemen on  Tuesday, the UN refugee and migration agencies said in a joint  statement.
"The vessel is believed to have been operated by  unscrupulous smugglers who were attempting to take refugees  and migrants to Djibouti, while also trying to extort more  money from these refugees and migrants," according to the  statement.
The boat turned back and "capsized amid reports of  gunfire being used against the passengers", it said, adding  that it was working with the Yemeni coast guard to try to  establish what happened.
"At least 30 people have died in this tragic incident"  which occurred near the coast.
More than 9,200 people have been killed in Yemen since a  Saudi-led military coalition intervened in 2015 

30 migrants drown after boat sinks off Yemen: UN

Travis Head, promoted to the top  of the order, led Australia to a drought-breaking win over  England in the fourth one-day international, here today.
Replacing injured opener Aaron Finch, Head anchored a  shaky Australian run chase with a polished 96, falling just  shy of a deserved century and with victory imminent.
England were dismissed for 196 after being sent in to bat  in bowler-friendly conditions, losing four of their top six  batsmen for ducks as the possibility of a record low score in  one-day cricket briefly loomed.
In reply, Australia reached the modest target with 13  overs to spare, finishing on 197 for seven, but the chase was  not without concerns as they struggled to win their first game  in the five-match series and turn around their dismal recent  one-day form.
England had already secured the series by taking an  unbeatable 3-0 lead in Sydney last Sunday, and that result had  left the current World Cup holders with just one win in their  past 11 completed ...

Head guides Australia to victory in fourth England ODI

Brexit minister David Davis will  seek to reassure eurosceptics about the government's strategy  for leaving the EU today after fresh splits emerged in the  ruling Conservative party.
Prime Minister Theresa May rebuked her finance minister,  Philip Hammond, on Thursday after he suggested Britain would  only move "very modestly apart" from the EU's economy after  Brexit.
Meanwhile backbench MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, who leads a group  of more than 50 Brexit-supporting Conservative MPs, warned  ministers against being too "timid".
Tensions are rising as the other 27 EU countries prepare  to approve guidelines next week for talks on the terms of a  two-year transition period requested by Britain after Brexit.
They will be followed by discussions on Britain's future  trading relations, but -- just over a year from Brexit in  March 2019 -- London has yet to set out exactly what it wants.
In his speech Friday, Davis will promise: "As an  independent country, no longer a member of the European ...

Davis promises independent UK amid fresh Brexit tensions

Israeli Holocaust survivors are  pleading with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel his  plan to forcefully expel tens of thousands of African  migrants, citing their own experiences as outcasts.
"We, who know precisely what it's like to be refugees, to  be homeless and bereft of a state that preserves and protects  us from violence and suffering, cannot comprehend how a Jewish  government can expel refugees and asylum seekers to a journey  of suffering, torment and death," the 36 signatories wrote in  an open letter published in English by Haaretz newspaper  today.
The appeal came on the eve of International Holocaust  Remembrance Day.
On January 3, Netanyahu announced implementation of a  plan to deport about 38,000 migrants who entered Israel  illegally, mainly Eritreans and Sudanese, and gave them until  the end of March to leave voluntarily or face jail and  eventual expulsion by force.
He defended his decision at the weekly cabinet meeting  last Sunday, denying that the ..

Israeli Holocaust survivors ask Netanyahu not to expel

A growing sexual assault and  harassment scandal surrounding German TV director Dieter Wedel  took on a political dimension today as accusations of a  cover-up hit a public broadcaster.
A cascade of allegations against Wedel mark the first in  Germany since the global #MeToo movement against sexual  misconduct gained momentum in the wake of the disgraced  Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein's downfall in October.
In two high-profile articles, respected weekly Die Zeit  has reported accusations levelled by several women against  Wedel, 75, ranging from pressure for sex from female staff to  rape over more than four decades.
This week state-funded television channel Saarlaendischer  Rundfunk (SR) admitted that it was aware of sexual misconduct  allegedly committed by Wedel in the 1980s and continued  working with him.
SR chief Thomas Kleist said he was "very upset" by the  information about an attempted rape of a show's star he found  in the broadcaster's files and pledged an internal  ...

#MeToo moment hits Germany with TV director abuse scandal

US President Donald Trump today asked  the African Union chairman to pass on his "warmest regards" to  other regional leaders at a summit this weekend, after  sparking outrage with a reported slur against Africans.
The outspoken US leader congratulated Rwandan President  Paul Kagame on taking over as chair of the African bloc, which  Trump said was a "great honour".
"I know you're going to your first meeting shortly.  Please give my warmest regards," Trump told Kagame after they  held a one-on-one meeting at the World Economic Forum in  Davos, Switzerland.
The US president ignored questions shouted by journalists  about his reported dismissal this month of African nations as  "shithole countries", during a meeting on immigration with  congressional leaders.
The reported remark drew outrage around the world and  prompted several African governments to demand explanations  from their US ambassadors.
The 55-nation African Union chaired by Kagame demanded an  apology, although Trump has ..

Trump sends 'warmest regards' to African leaders after

Roger Federer hailed Chung Hyeon  as a future top 10 player Friday after the South Korean's  Australian Open came to a painful end at the hands of the  Swiss maestro.
The defending champion was leading 6-1, 5-2 and in full  control when Chung retired with foot blisters, bringing the  curtain down on a breakout tournament in which he announced  himself as a future star in the making.
The 21-year-old sent 12-time Grand Slam winner Novak  Djokovic packing in the quarter-finals, although the Serb was  carrying an injury and not at his best.
But he also accounted for fourth seed Alexander Zverev in  his best Grand Slam showing so far.
In 20 years at the top, Federer has seen plenty of  players come and go and only had praise for the youngster.
"I think he is already a great player, but we are talking  next level excellence and I think he will achieve that," said  Federer, who is into his 30th Grand Slam final as he chases a  20th major title.
"We will see much more of him. Top 10 for ...

Federer hails Chung as future top 10 player

Schools have shuttered and some  clinics exhausted their vaccine stocks as a deadly measles  outbreak hits Ukraine, where anti-vaccine sentiment and  interrupted supplies have led to a resurgence of the virus.
Parents, including those who for years refused  vaccinations for their children, are queueing at clinics after  schools extended their holidays or refused to let unvaccinated  students attend lessons.
In a public children's hospital in central Kiev, the door  slammed constantly as concerned parents rushed in.
"We vaccinated 150 children (in a single day)... This is  three to four times more than we usually do," said Oksana  Gutova, head of the hospital where staff now have to work  overtime and weekends.
A paediatrician from a private medical centre in Kiev  said all but three of his 15 patients on a recent Saturday had  come for immunisation.
"We have exhausted our stock of measles, mumps and  rubella vaccines for three months in two days," he told AFP.
In 2017, almost 4,800 ...

Ukraine parents overcome jab fears amid deadly measles

Defending champion Roger Federer  eased into his seventh Australian Open final in a bitter-sweet  win after South Korean young gun Chung Hyeon retired injured  in their last four showdown Friday.
The Swiss great was leading 6-1, 5-2 when Chung called it  quits with foot blisters, and he will now face Marin Cilic in  his 30th Grand Slam final on Sunday.
Chung, the first South Korean man or woman to play in a  semi-final at one of the four majors, was treated in a medical  timeout for the left foot problem just two games earlier.
But it came as a big surprise when the 21-year-old walked  to the net at 30-30 and trailing 2-5 after 62 minutes in the  second set to throw in the towel.
It pitched Federer into his seventh Australian final as  he chases his sixth Melbourne title and a record 20th Grand  Slam victory.
He leads 2014 US Open champion Cilic 8-1 in their  meetings.
"This feels bitter-sweet. Obviously I'm incredibly happy  to be in the finals, but not like this," Federer said of ...

Federer into 7th Aussie final as Chung retires

Hundreds of Hong Kong students  protested today as tensions escalate on campuses over  compulsory testing of Mandarin -- the dominant language of  mainland China.
The first language of Hong Kong is Cantonese and  proposals from education chiefs to put more emphasis on  learning Mandarin have tapped into fears about the  "mainlandisation" of the semi-autonomous city's culture and  identity.
Anger has mounted since two students from Baptist  University were suspended this week for confronting and  swearing at staff over the requirement to pass an exam in  Mandarin before being able to graduate.
Their suspension comes as concern grows that academic  freedoms are being squeezed by Beijing, and that freedom of  speech as a whole is under threat.
Protesters from a range of universities gathered Friday  afternoon in a public square at Baptist to support suspended  pair Andrew Chan and Lau Tsz-kei, chanting: "Shame on student  suppression!"
"Never mind if we have been suspended, but what if ..

AFP

AFP

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