Arianespace's mission control has  "lost contact" with an Ariane 5 rocket carrying two commercial  satellites after its lift-off from French Guiana, CEO Stephane  Israel announced today.
The European space workhorse blasted off from the Kourou  Space Centre and was planning to put satellites into orbit for  Luxembourg's SES and the United Arab Emirate's Yahsat.
It was the first launch of 2018 for Arianespace, a  French-headquartered multinational launch service provider  that includes Europe's Galileo navigation project among its  key clients.
Israel apologised to customers for what he described as  an "anomaly". When contacted by AFP, Arianespace promised  further updates.
Since it was founded in 1980, Arianespace has put more  than 550 satellites into orbit.
In September the company aborted the launch of an Ariane  5 rocket carrying two commercial satellites in the final  countdown as the main engine was being ignited.
An Ariane 5 lift-off was also aborted at main engine  ignition ..

Arianespace has 'lost contact' with Ariane 5 rocket

PTI Automatic

At least 15 people were killed in a  blaze at a hospital in South Korea today, authorities said,  with 11 more critically injured.
Video footage and pictures showed a helicopter flying  above the building in Miryang, engulfed by heavy grey smoke  and surrounded by multiple fire trucks.
The national fire agency told AFP that 15 people had been  confirmed dead, 11 were in critical condition, and 40 more  were injured.
"Two nurses said they had seen fire suddenly erupting in  the emergency room," said fire chief Choi Man-Woo, but the  cause of the blaze was not immediately known.
All the patients had been evacuated from the hospital and  a nursing home in the same building, he added.
"The victims came both from the hospital and the nursing  home. Some died on their way to another hospital."
Around 200 people were in the Sejong Hospital building  when the fire broke out, police said.
The fire came only a month after 29 people were killed in  an inferno at a fitness club in the South ...

15 dead in South Korea hospital blaze: firefighters

Four people were killed today when a  private helicopter crashed in central Ukraine, officials said.
The chopper was discovered ablaze on the outskirts of the  town of Kremenchuk, some 250 kilometres southeast of the  capital Kiev.
"As a result of the incident, four crew members were  killed," an emergency state service said in a statement on  Facebook.
It said the Mi-8 helicopter was operated by the private  company Ukrainian Helicopters and crashed while was on a  training flight.
The agency added that the fire was "localised" at 7:35  pm, about half an hour after the crash.

Four dead as helicopter crashes in Ukraine

Chancellor Angela Merkel will today  begin a final stretch of negotiations with Germany's second  biggest party to form a government, four months after an  inconclusive election left the country in political limbo.
Merkel will meet with Social Democrat leader Martin  Schulz and the chief of her Bavarian allies, Horst Seehofer,  at 0800 GMT, sources close to the talks told AFP.
As Germany's European partners are beginning to weary  over the long-running impasse along with many Germans, Schulz  said the negotiations would proceed "full speed ahead...  without getting carried away at all."
He said the SPD was broadly optimistic and determined to  forge an alliance that the party leadership could present to  the rank-and-file "in good conscience".
The formal negotiations bring Germany a step closer to a  new government and come after the SPD on Sunday narrowly  approved a preliminary cooperation blueprint and agreed to  push on with the talks.
But the outcome is still uncertain as the SPD 

Four months after vote, Merkel in final lap of coalition talks

Former Brazilian president Lula  Inacio Lula da Silva, who was planning to travel to Ethiopia,  was not allowed to leave the country, the justice ministry  said today, one day after an appeals court upheld his  conviction on corruption charges.
Lula, once seen as the favorite ahead of October's  presidential election in Brazil, was headed to Addis Ababa for  a meeting organized by the UN Food and Agriculture  Organization, but authorities rescinded his passport, the  ministry said in a statement.
"There is no legal restriction that would prevent former  president Lula from traveling abroad. We already told the  authorities that he would be participating in this event (in  Ethiopia)," one of his attorneys, Cristiano Zanin Martins,  told AFP earlier in the day.
"Lula has the right to come and go."
But a complaint was filed asking that his passport be  rescinded, arguing he posed a flight risk and that he could  ask for political asylum abroad.
Yesterday, the appeals court in Porto ...

Brazil authorities prevent former leader Lula from leaving

Russia's culture ministry today  warned cinemas in the country that if they continue to show  banned British comedy film "The Death of Stalin" then they  will face "legal responsibility".
It comes after local media reported that a central Moscow  cinema had screened the film, which satirises the death of the  dictator, despite the ban.
The ministry withdrew permission for the film's release  on Tuesday after Russian officials and arts figures labelled  it offensive and "extremist."
In a statement, the ministry said it "reminds" cinemas  that according to Russian state law on cinematography, showing  a film without permission for release "entails responsibility  in accordance to the law".
The film, directed by British comic Armando Iannucci, had  a world premiere in September and takes a satirical look at  the power scramble after Stalin's 1953 death. It includes  actors playing historical figures such as World War II  commander Marshal Georgy Zhukov.
The ministry said the film's ...

Russia threatens cinemas showing 'Death of Stalin' after ban

US President Donald Trump is set to  visit Britain later this year, after he and British Prime  Minister Theresa May tasked officials today with finalising  the details, her office said.
Following talks between the two leaders at the World  Economic Forum in Davos, officials were set to work on  planning a trip -- something highly likely to be met with  large-scale protests.
Within days of him taking office a year ago, May invited  Trump to pay a prestigious state visit that would include a  red-carpet welcome from Queen Elizabeth II.
Trump had been expected to travel to London earlier this  month for the grand opening of a new, state-of-the-art US  embassy.
But the trip was cancelled against the backdrop of a  Twitter spat between May and Trump over his retweeting of  British far-right propaganda, warnings of mass protests and  his ongoing feud with London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
At their talks in the Swiss ski resort of Davos today,  May and Trump discussed Iran, Syria, Brexit, future ...

Trump set to visit to Britain this year

A collision between a passenger bus  and a taxi in Algeria killed 14 people and injured 22 others  today, authorities said.
The accident occurred at Sfid on a national highway  linking the northwestern areas of Saida and El Bayadh,  according to the emergency services.
The 22 people injured were evacuated to hospital.
Accidents claim around 4,000 lives each year on Algeria's  roads, mainly due to the failure of motorists to comply with  traffic rules.

Crash between bus and taxi kills 14 in Algeria

Chat show icon Oprah Winfrey has  brushed off speculation she might run for US president in  2020, saying in an interview published today she lacks "the  DNA for it."
When Winfrey delivered a rousing speech at the Golden  Globe Awards earlier this month it rekindled longstanding  speculation over the billionaire's political ambitions -- and  a possible run for the Oval Office.
Some Democrats -- still reeling from Hillary Clinton's  shock loss to Donald Trump -- have embraced the idea of having  their own celebrity candidate the next time around.
But in an interview with InStyle, carried out three weeks  before the Globes and published in the fashion magazine's  March issue, the 63-year-old downplayed the idea of a  presidential run, saying: "That's not for me."
"I've always felt very secure and confident with myself  in knowing what I could do and what I could not," said the  self-made entertainment tycoon.
"And so it's not something that interests me. I don't  have the DNA for it," ..

Oprah on presidential bid: 'Not for me'

US Ambassador Nikki Haley  took direct aim at Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas today,  telling the United Nations Security Council that he lacked the  courage needed for a peace deal.
Haley spoke soon after President Donald Trump insisted  that Palestinians had "disrespected" the United States and  issued a new threat to cut aid during a meeting with Israeli  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Davos, Switzerland.
The United States remains "deeply committed" to an  Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, Haley said, "but we will not  chase after a Palestinian leadership that lacks what is needed  to achieve peace."
"To get historic results, we need courageous leaders,"  she said.
The US ambassador, who has strongly defended Israel at  the United Nations, said Abbas had "insulted" Trump and called  for suspending recognition of Israel after the US decision to  recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
Abbas cancelled a planned meeting with US Vice President  Mike Pence to protest the US ...

At UN, US takes swipe at Abbas

An aspiring filmmaker has sued  rap mogul Russell Simmons for allegedly raping her, seeking $5  million as she called for a reckoning in the hip-hop industry  on the mistreatment of women.
The filmmaker, who says Simmons raped her in August 2016,  is the eighth woman publicly to accuse the hip-hop legend of  misconduct but appears to be the first to take legal action,  with most other reported cases taking place years earlier.
Jennifer Jarosik, 37, said she befriended Simmons over  their shared interests in yoga, meditation and a vegan diet --  areas that Simmons had been closely associated with since  stepping back from music production.
Jarosik said that Simmons offered to support a film on  which she was working and invited her to his Los Angeles home,  where instead of discussing the project he asked for sex.
After she said no, Simmons knocked her off his bed and  hit her, and then "pounced on her while she was still in shock  and fear, and proceeded to rape her," said the lawsuit 

Rap mogul Simmons hit with USD 5 million rape suit

Twenty-four people including mothers  and babies were killed today when their vehicle ran over a  landmine in central Mali, local residents said.
The deaths brought the number of fatalities linked to  Mali's jihadist insurgency to 33 in 24 hours, most of them  civilians.
The victims had been travelling from neighbouring Burkina  Faso for a weekly market in Boni, local officials said.
The blast occurred nine kilometres (five miles) from the  town.
"The final toll is 24, including four babies with their  mothers. There are no survivors," said Boni resident Abdoulaye  Cheick, who described himself as a relative of one of the  dead.
Local officials had earlier given a provisional toll of  13 dead, made up of civilians from Mali and Burkina Faso.
"Terrorists use these mines to spread fear," a Malian  security source said, adding that the victims had been killed  instantly.
Another unnamed local official said that the vehicle was  carrying seven traders from Burkina Faso as well as ...

Landmine kills 24 in fresh Mali attack

Reigning world outdoor high jump  champion Mariya Lasitskene is among 18 Russian athletes  cleared to compete so far this year as neutrals, the IAAF said  today.
The sport's governing body said that while the Russian  national federation remained banned for state-sponsored  doping, Lasitskene and 17 other athletes had "met the  exceptional eligibility criteria to compete in international  competition as neutral athletes in 2018".
The IAAF said it had received 80 applications from  Russian athletes to be considered neutrals, but the 18 cleared  so far were given priority because they want to compete in the  World Indoor Championships in the British city of Birmingham  on March 1-4, and in other IAAF indoor meetings.
Russia was banned from international athletics in  November 2015 over claims of state-sponsored doping,  preventing its team from competing at the 2016 Rio Olympics  and last year's World Championships in London.
The IAAF maintained its suspension of Russia in November,  ...

18 Russians cleared to compete in 2018

Russia's short track speed skating  star Victor An has been banned from next month's Pyeongchang  Winter Olympics after being implicated in allegations of  state-sponsored doping, Russian media reported yesterday.
An, the world's most successful short track speed skater,  has been accused in the World Anti-Doping Agency-sponsored  McLaren report, TASS news agency reported.
"An has been suspended from participating in the  Olympics," TASS said.
A Russian lawyer said An's inclusion in the report was  "unexpected" because he was not on a list of Russian  competitors already barred from the Games over the scandal.
Mikhail Prokopets told Sport Express daily that An would  have to miss Pyeongchang because he would have insufficient  time to lodge an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport  (CAS) before the Olympics begin on February 9.
"We had the names of those suspended beforehand and An  was not on this list," Prokopets said.
"CAS this week will consider the affairs of our  ...

Russian speed skater An 'banned from Games for doping'

Kyle Edmund became only the  fourth British man to reach the Australian Open semi-finals in  the post-1968 Open Era with an impressive win over world No.3  Grigor Dimitrov at the Australian Open today.
The unseeded Edmund, ranked 49, won 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in  2hr 49min on Rod Laver Arena and will face either 16-time  Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal or Marin Cilic for a place in  the final.
By winning Edmund also became only the sixth British man  to make the last four at a Grand Slam. It also marked his  first victory against a top-five ranked player.
With another British Grand Slam semi-finalist Tim Henman  watching on in the stands, Edmund kept Dimitrov under pressure  with his powerful forehand and serve.
"I am loving it right now, just the way I'm playing. I'm  23 years old, my first Grand Slam semi-final. First time I  played on one of the biggest courts in the world," Edmund  said.
"To beat a quality of player like Grigor. They're great  feelings. You don't obviously play in ..

Edmund joins British greats with Dimitrov upset

Skipper Graeme Cremer led an inspired  Zimbabwe bowling attack to restrict Bangladesh to 216 for nine  in the fifth one-day international of the tri-nation  tournament today.
Cremer claimed four wickets with his leg-spin to trigger  a Bangladesh collapse as the hosts slipped from 147-2 to 170-  8. Paceman Kyle Jarvis took three wickets.
Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal top-scored with 76,  providing a strong start with a 106-run second wicket  partnership with Shakib Al Hasan, who made 51, after electing  to bat first.
It was Tamim's third successive half-century in as many  matches of the tournament. The left-handed batsman also became  the first Bangladeshi to amass 6,000 ODI runs during his 105-  ball stay.
Number-10 batsman Mustafizur Rahman struck an unbeaten 18  to take Bangladesh past the 200-run mark and survive their  full quota of 50 overs.
Zimbabwe would join Bangladesh in the final on  Saturday if they can win the contest.

Cremer restricts Bangladesh to 216-9 in tri-series ODI

A powerful earthquake of  magnitude 8.2 struck off the southern coast of Alaska early  today, prompting tsunami warnings.
The quake struck at 0931 GMT in the Gulf of Alaska, 280  kilometers southeast of the town of Kodiak, the US Geological  Survey said. The epicenter was 10 kilometers under the seabed.
Tsunami warnings were issued for Alaska and the west  coast of Canada, the National Tsunami Warning Center said.
Less-ominous tsunami watches were issued for the US west  coast -- the entire coasts of California and Oregon and part  of Washington state.
In Alaska, authorities urged coast dwellers to seek  safety.
"If you are located in this coastal area, move inland to  higher ground," the Anchorage Office of Emergency Management  said.
"Tsunami warnings mean that a tsunami with significant  inundation is possible or is already occurring. Tsunamis are a  series of waves dangerous many hours after initial arrival  time. The first wave may not be the largest.

8.2 magnitude quake hits off Alaska: USGS

The EU removed eight countries  including Panama from its new tax haven blacklist today after  they pledged to address its concerns, in a move swiftly  condemned by activists.
The United Arab Emirates, Tunisia, Mongolia, Macau,  Grenada and Barbados were also lifted from the list by finance  ministers, in a move that comes just weeks after the bloc  unveiled its original list of 17 non-EU nations.
The decision drew criticism from campaigners including  Oxfam who say the EU's commitment to tackle tax avoidance  after the "Panama Papers" leak last year has now been watered  down.
"Eight jurisdictions have been removed from the EU's list  of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes, following  commitments made at a high political level to remedy EU  concerns," an EU statement said.
French finance minister Bruno Le Maire tweeted that  "European pressure has brought its first results!"
The eight countries will now be on a "grey list" of  countries that have made unspecified ...

EU takes Panama, seven others off tax haven list

Over 100 baby turtles have  hatched on a Singapore beach before being released into the  sea, authorities said today, in a boost for the critically  endangered creatures.
A nest of Hawksbill turtle eggs was discovered in  November on Sentosa, a popular resort island south of  Singapore's main island.
A barrier was erected to keep the nest safe from  predators, and officials carried out regular checks, said  Sentosa Development Corporation, which manages the island.
On Friday 106 eggs hatched and, after officials carried  out tests, the baby turtles were sent off scurrying down the  beach and into the sea.
It was the third time that Hawksbill turtle eggs had  hatched on Singapore's beaches since August and the first time  in eight years on Sentosa, the Straits Times newspaper  reported.
Hawksbills get their names from their narrow pointed  beaks and are found throughout the world's tropical oceans,  mainly around coral reefs.
They are threatened by damage to their natural habitats  by .

Over 100 endangered turtles hatch in Singapore

Almost 1,500 people were evacuated  from a hotel and night club in central London overnight and  two train stations were closed following a gas leak,  authorities said today.
"A ruptured gas main was discovered using detection  equipment and high levels of natural gas were detected in the  atmosphere," a London Fire Brigade spokesman said.
"As a precaution, approximately 1,450 people have been  evacuated. They are from a hotel and a night club."
Charing Cross and Waterloo East train stations, which  brings commuters into the capital, were also closed, while  Tube trains were not stopping at Charing Cross.
The Strand, a major road running from Trafalgar Square to  Waterloo Bridge, was also closed and people were asked to  avoid the area.
The Fire Brigade said they did not yet know the cause of  the gas leak, but engineers were attending.
A spokesman for the Cadent Gas company said: "We are  working with the emergency services and as a safety precaution  an exclusion zone has been put ..

Hotel evacuated, stations closed after London gas leak

Microsoft is to open four data  storage centres in France to meet strong customer demand for  cloud computing, the head of the software giant's French  operations said today.
"There's strong demand from our clients. A lot of them  prefer to have (cloud computing) infrastructures and their  data in their home territory," Carlo Purassanta said.
He did not reveal the size of the planned investment, but  said that three of the centres would be located in the Paris  region and the fourth in Marseille.
France would become the fourth European country -- after  Germany, Ireland, and the Netherlands -- to host Microsoft  cloud data storage facilities.
The centres would be opened by the end of this quarter,  it added.
Companies that hadn't yet moved into cloud computing "are  those which were waiting for the arrival of data storage  facilities in France," Purassanta said.
"We already have several thousand that have signed up for  the centres," he said.
Microsoft, which opened its "AI Factory" ..

AFP

AFP

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