The Libyan jihadist group Ansar al-Sharia, which is linked to Al-Qaeda and deemed a terrorist organisation by the UN and United States, has announced its "dissolution" in a communique published online.
	Washington accuses the group of being behind the September 11, 2012 attack on the US consulate in the eastern city of Benghazi in which ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans were killed.
	Ansar al-Sharia is one of the jihadist groups that sprung up in Benghazi, Libya's second largest city, in the chaos following the death of dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011. They overran the city in 2014.
	East Libyan military strongman Khalifa Haftar earlier this month launched an offensive to oust jihadist fighters from their two remaining strongholds in Benghazi.
	In its communique Ansar al-Sharia yesterday said it had been "weakened" by the fighting.
	The group lost its leader, Mohammed Azahawi, in clashes with Haftar's forces in Benghazi at the end of 2014.
	Most of its members ..

Libya jihadist group Ansar al-Sharia announces dissolution

PTI Automatic

Demonstrators clashed with Venezuelan police again as they descended on the offices of the state media regulator, the latest in nearly two months of often-violent protests demanding the ouster of President Nicolas Maduro.
	Youth with their faces covered yesterday blocked the main motorway running through Caracas, cutting it off with trucks that they then set on fire. They also erected barricades of rubble.
	Police fired tear gas to disperse the rally, and demonstrators fought back by hurling Molotov cocktails and stones.
	Demonstrations that kicked off in late March have claimed the lives of 58 people, as opposition leaders seek to ramp up pressure on Venezuela's leftist president, whose already-low popularity has cratered amid shortages of food and medicines, among other economic woes.
	Yesterday's protest in Caracas was held to mark 10 years since the government shuttered a popular television station.
	The network, RCTV, was shut down by Maduro's predecessor, the late populist ...

Clashes break out again in Venezuela as protesters seek press

Thousands of Israelis rallied today in Tel Aviv in support of a Palestinian state ahead of the 50th anniversary of Israel's occupation of Palestinian land.
	Banners bearing the slogan "Two states, One Hope" featured in the demonstration organised by supporters of a Palestinian state, including the Israeli NGO Peace Now.
	NGO head Avi Buskila said the rally was a protest against "the lack of hope being offered by a government perpetuating occupation, violence and racism".
	"The time has come to prove to the Israelis, the Palestinians and the entire world that an important segment of the Israeli population is opposed to occupation and wants a two-state solution," he added.
	A message of support from Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas was read out at the rally.
	"It is time to live together in harmony, security and stability," Abbas was quoted as saying.
	"Our duty towards future generations is to conclude a peace of the brave."
	Israeli opposition Labour party leader Isaac Herzog ...

Israelis rally for Palestinian state, end of occupation

Bomb squads and repeated police raids have rattled Manchester residents, who find themselves caught up in a fast-moving terrorism investigation to find those behind Monday's suicide bomb attack.
	As a bomb disposal van drove out of their neighbourhood, residents in the city's southern Moss Side area were dumbfounded that a terror probe had come thundering into their streets.
	"Everyone's just worried aren't they, everyone, no matter where they are... It's scary stuff," said David Bailey, 29, who manages a property one street away from where the bomb squad was brought in.
	He said such drama was never expected "on your doorstep".
	A vast cordon was put in place by police on Saturday morning as they evacuated local residents, while others were told to stay in their homes while the operation continued.
	"I saw someone coming out like a policeman with a small cage, I think they put the cat in," said resident Nicholas Turner, 20, who saw the evacuation under way and was told by police to ..

Manchester residents anxious amid major terror probe

About 10,000 migrants were rescued off the coast of Libya over the previous four days but at least 54 others died, Libyan and Italian officials said today.
	Today, the Tunisian army also rescued 126 migrants from sub-Saharan Africa hoping to reach Italian shores, officials said. They were aboard a flimsy inflatable boat off the coastal town of Ben Gardane, near the Libyan border.
	Yesterday, more than 1,200 migrants were rescued by Libyan ships and taken to Tripoli or Zawiya,  about 50 kilometres (30 miles) west, while the Italian coastguard and commercial boats rescued 2,200 others and took them to Italy.
	At least 10 bodies were also found by the Italian coastguard, officials said.
	Migrants were still disembarking in southern Italy on Saturday.
	Another 6,400 were picked up between Tuesday and Thursday, but at least 44 people died, including 35 who drowned on Wednesday when a powerful wave struck their vessel, pitching them into the sea as a rescue ship was distributing life ...

54 dead,some 10,000 migrants rescued off Libya coast in 4 days

Tunisian security forces today rescued 126 sub-Saharan migrants including seven pregnant women who had been trying to reach Europe from Libya, a Red Crescent official said.
	Fishermen had alerted the authorities to the presence of a vessel in distress off Ben Guerdane in southern Tunisia near the border with Libya, Dr Mongi Slim told AFP.
	Among the migrants were 48 women, seven of them pregnant, and three children.
	Those rescued were mainly from Nigeria, Mali and Gambia, and had set off from Libya, he added.
	They were taken to the Tunisian port of Zarzis to be given first aid before later being transferred to nearby Medenine, he said.
	People traffickers have exploited the chaos that has ravaged Libya since the 2011 revolution that toppled and killed Moamer Kadhafi to expand their lucrative trade.
	Each year they send desperate migrants seeking a better life in Europe on the dangerous voyage to Italy, often aboard boats in too poor a condition to complete the trip.
	On Friday, more 

Tunisia rescues 126 migrants who set off from Libya

The air force loyal to Libya's strongman Khalifa Haftar said today it took part in Egyptian air strikes on jihadist positions in the country after a deadly attack on Egypt's Copts.
	Egypt launched six air strikes on jihadist camps in Libya's eastern city of Derna yesterday, hours after masked gunmen attacked a bus carrying Coptic Christians south of Cairo, killing at least 29 people.
	The Islamic State group today claimed responsibility for the attack, the latest in a series of IS strikes that have killed more than 100 Copts in Egypt since December.
	Haftar's forces carried out a "joint operation" with Egypt in Derna, the air force said in a statement carried by the LANA news agency loyal to Libya's eastern administration.
	Egypt used French-built Rafale fighter jets to target military camps and the headquarters of the pro-Al-Qaeda Majlis Mujahedeen Derna, which controls the city, it said.
	"The operation was a success and the losses of the Al- Qaeda terrorists were heavy in ...

Pro-Haftar air force says took part in Egyptian raids

G7 leaders today described North Korea's recent nuclear and missile tests as a grave threat and said they were ready to take new measures to contain it.
	"North Korea, a top priority in the international agenda, increasingly poses new levels of threat of a grave nature to international peace and stability and the non-proliferation regime through its repeated and ongoing breaches of international law," the club of industrialised democracies said in a statement at the end of a two-day summit here.
	"North Korea must immediately and fully comply with all relevant UN Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs) and abandon all nuclear and ballistic missile programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner.
	"Condemning in the strongest terms North Korea's nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches, we stand ready to strengthen measures aimed at achieving these objectives and strongly call on the international community to redouble its efforts to ensure the sustained, comprehensive and 

G7 warns on North Korea

Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told his US counterpart Rex Tillerson that jihadists who attacked a Christian convoy had trained in Libyan militant camps, a statement said today.
	Egypt carried out a number of air strikes on Islamist militant targets in Libya yesterday after jihadists shot dead 29 people heading in buses to a monastery south of Cairo.
	Shoukry said "there was enough information and evidence of the terrorist elements involved in the (attack) having trained in these camps", a foreign ministry statement said.

Egypt FM says those behind Copt attack trained in Libya

G7 nations today hit deadlock over climate change and strived to finesse divisions over trade, as US President Donald Trump rebuffed pressure to toe the collective line in the club of powerful democracies.
	Trump tweeted that he would reveal his hand only next week as to whether he will keep the United States in the Paris accord, a global pact on curbing carbon emissions that he vowed to jettison when campaigning for the White House.
	The Group of Seven leading economies, in an extraordinary summit statement, acknowledged that six members were committed to upholding the 2015 accord while the United States stood apart.
	"The United States of America is in the process of reviewing its policies on climate change and on the Paris Agreement and thus is not in a position to join the consensus on these topics," the statement said in highly unusual language.
	German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who also crossed swords with Trump on free trade at the G7, complained that the US president was ...

Stormy climate at G7 as Trump goes his own way

The heavy-handed arrest and detention by Moscow police of a 10-year-old boy who had touched passersby by reading poetry on the street shocked Russians today.
	Officers were shown bundling the screaming boy into a police car in central Moscow as he shouted "Save me!" in distressing cell phone footage aired on Russian television.
	Police claimed the boy, named by media as Oskar Mironov, had been "begging" on the street on Friday evening. They held him at a police station until the early hours.
	The boy's father told Russian media his son had been reading poetry aloud while his stepmother sat on a bench nearby.
	The boy's detention came after riot police were criticised for heavy-handed tactics as they detained dozens of teenagers in March at a Moscow demonstration organised by opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
	The Investigative Committee of Moscow, which probes serious crimes, said it would check the police's handling and the parents' actions. Moscow police said they were also carrying 

Russians shocked as police detain boy reciting poetry

Kimi Raikkonen secured his first pole position for nine years today when he outpaced his Ferrari team-mate Sebastian Vettel in a dramatic qualifying session for Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix.
     The 37-year-old Finn, who had not taken pole position for 128 races stretching back to the French Grand Prix of 2008, dominated the afternoon's action to clock a fastest lap of one minute and 12.178 seconds.
     That left him 0.043 seconds ahead of the world championship leader and three-time champion Vettel who in turn was just two-thousandths of a second faster than third placed Valtteri Bottas of Mercedes.
     The Finn's Mercedes team-mate Briton Lewis Hamilton failed to make progress from Q2 and missed the cut for the top ten shootout, qualifying 14th after a miserable afternoon.
     "Obviously, it's great," said a mumbling and softly- spoken Raikkonen afterwards, showing little emotion. "We'll try to make the best of it tomorrow... Yes, of course it is good, but here it is all about the 

Formula One: Raikkonen on pole for Ferrari, Vettel second

A fishing vessel, initially believed to have been hijacked off the Somalian coast early today, was confirmed to be operating as normal, the South Korean foreign ministry said.
	The Mongolian-flagged ship -- with a South Korean captain, and two South Korean and 18 Indonesian crew members -- successfully outdistanced a suspicious boat that had pursued it for more than an hour in an apparent attempt to capture it, the ministry said in a statement.
	The ship had raised the alarm that it was being chased before contact was lost, prompting a South Korean anti-piracy naval ship in the area to sail to its rescue.
	"Contact has been re-established with the (South Korean) skipper and it has been confirmed the crew are all safe", the ministry's statement added.
	Somali pirates hijacked an Iranian fishing boat with a crew of up to 20 on Tuesday. There have been at least eight attacks by Somali pirates in recent months and three successful hijackings.
	Last week the Indian navy thwarted an ...

S Korean-skippered vessel outruns Somali 'pirates'

G7 nations including the United States said today that they stood ready to strengthen sanctions imposed against Russia after its annexation of Crimea if Moscow's actions warranted it.
	"We recall that the duration of sanctions is clearly linked to Russia's complete implementation of its commitments in the Minsk Agreements and respect for Ukraine's sovereignty. Sanctions can be rolled back when Russia meets its commitments," a G7 statement read.
	"However, we also stand ready to take further restrictive measures in order to increase costs on Russia should its actions so require," it said, while stressing this did not rule out cooperation in other parts of the world.
	"We maintain our commitment to assisting Ukraine in implementing its ambitious and yet necessary reform agenda and commend Kiev for its progress to date," the statement said.
	"Despite our differences with Russia, we are willing to engage with Russia to address regional crises and common challenges when it is in our ...

G7 says ready to beef up Crimea sanctions against Russia

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte came under fire today for making a second joke about rape, with Chelsea Clinton leading online outrage and a rights group branding his sense of humour "sickening".
	In a speech at a military camp yesterday aimed at lifting troops' spirits after he imposed martial law across the southern Philippines, Duterte told them they were allowed to rape up to three women.
	"I will be imprisoned for you. If you rape three (women), I will say that I did it. But if you marry four, son of a whore you will be beaten up," he said.
	Duterte, who uses profanities regularly, also attracted controversy last year when during an election campaign speech he joked that he had wanted to rape a "beautiful" Australian missionary who had been murdered in a Philippine prison riot.
	Clinton joined many people on social media on Saturday to criticise Duterte, who has also carried out a war on drugs that has left thousands of people dead and rights groups say may be a crime ...

Philippines' Duterte under fire over 'sickening' rape joke

Defending champions China will face three-time winners South Korea in the final of the mixed teams Sudirman Cup after fighting off a stern Japanese challenge here today.
     The 10-time winners needed victory in the fifth match by women's doubles pair Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan to seal a 3-2 win over the 2015 finalists Japan.
     Chen and Jia prevailed 21-12, 21-19 over the Japanese duo Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi after a 49-minute tussle.
     South Korea, who beat China for their last Sudirman Cup title in Eindhoven in 2003, won the other semi-final 3-1 over Thailand.
     Japan took China all the way with wins in the mixed doubles through Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino 21-12, 14- 21, 21-19 over China's Zheng Siwei and Chen Qingchen and in the women's singles with Akane Yamaguchi over Sun Yu 21-17, 21-15.
     Dual Olympic and five-time world champion Lin Dan fought off Kenta Nishimoto 21-19, 21-16 in the men's singles while Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen took out the men's 

Badminton: China to play South Korea in Sudirman Cup final

Pope Francis earned a rapturous reception on a visit to a struggling steel factory in northern Italy today as he denounced financial speculators and demanded dignity for working people.
	"Without work for all there will not be dignity for all," the pontiff told several thousand uniformed and hard-hatted workers at the Ilva plant in the northwestern city of Genoa.
	"The progressive transformation of the entrepreneur into a speculator is an economic illness," he said. "The speculator is the same as a mercenary who has no company and sees workers only as a means to make profits."
	The assembled gathering responded with applause and cries of "Francesco, Francesco" as the Argentinian pope blasted the "faceless" nature of parts of today's economy.
	Taking questions from several of those gathered, including a CEO and an unemployed woman, Francis praised the honour and dignity of "the good worker" and the good boss who would share out the fruits of their respective labours.
	He contrasted ...

Pope hits out at financial speculators

Ben Stokes made South Africa pay for dropping him twice in his first two balls with a century that powered England to 330 for six in the second One-day International here.
     There had been some doubt over whether Stokes would play today after briefly leaving the field with left knee trouble during England's 72-run win at Headingley on Wednesday. But ahead of next week's Champions Trophy tournament in England, the all-rounder showed no discomfort with the bat.
     His 79-ball innings, just his second century in 55 matches at this level, featured 11 fours and three sixes.
     Stokes, the Indian Premier League's record two-million- dollar-man, shared stands of 95 with skipper Eoin Morgan and 77 with Jos Buttler.
     After Stokes fell, wicket-keeper/batsman Buttler kept up the attack with a typically dashing 65 not out as England looked to go 2-0 up with one to play in this three-match series.
     South Africa, the world's top-ranked ODI side, dropped six catches during a sloppy ...

Stokes century punishes South Africa

Scoreboard of the second One-
day International between England and South Africa here today.
     England:
     J Roy b Rabada                      8
     A Hales c de Kock b Pretorius      24
     J Root run out (Pretorius)         39
     E Morgan c de Kock b Rabada        45
     B Stokes c Miller b Maharaj       101
     J Buttler not out                  65
     M Ali c de Kock b Phehlukwayo      33
     Extras: (B-1, LB-6, W-8)           15
     Total: (For 6 wkts; 50 overs)     330
     Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-70, 3-80, 4-175, 5-252, 6-330.
     Bowling: Rabada 10-0-50-2, Morris 10-0-66-0, Pretorius 10-0-61-1, Maharaj 10-0-72-1, Phehlukwayo 10-1-74-1.

Southampton, May 27 (AFP) Scoreboard of the second One-

The UN raised "serious concerns" today over the fate of a Turkish man deported by Myanmar and Thailand this week for alleged links to Fetullah Gulen, the cleric accused of plotting a failed coup against Turkey's president.
	Muhammet Furkan Sokmen, an accountant who had been working at an international school in Yangon, is at least the sixth person in recent months to be deported from Southeast Asia over alleged connections to Gulen, the UN said.
	"The UN Human Rights Office has serious concerns for their safety in Turkey where there are substantial grounds to believe that they would face an imminent risk of grave human rights violations, including torture," the UN's Southeast Asia office said in a statement.
	Turkey has accused Gulen of orchestrating the July 2016 attempt to oust President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The US-based preacher strongly denies the allegation.
	Since the failed putsch Turkish authorities have carried out an unprecedented crackdown on suspected Gulen supporters, ...

UN slams Myanmar, Thailand for deporting Turk

More than 3,400 migrants were rescued off the coast of Libya today, bringing to about 10,000 the total number rescued over four days, according to Libyan and Italian officials.
	At least 10 bodies were also found by the Italian coastguard, officials said. No vessels were reported in distress today.
	Yesterday, more than 1,200 migrants were rescued by Libyan ships and taken to Tripoli or Zawiya, about 50 kilometres (31 miles) west, while the Italian coastguard and commercial boats rescued 2,200 others and took them to Italy.
	Migrants were still disembarking in southern Italy today.
	Another 6,400 were picked up between Tuesday and Thursday, but at least 35 people drowned on Wednesday when a powerful wave struck their vessel, pitching them into the sea as a rescue ship was distributing life jackets.
	The unloading of passengers in Sicily was halted all week due to the G7 summit in the eastern hilltop town of Taormina, which lengthened rescue ships' journey by 24 hours and delayed their 

AFP

AFP

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