Nepal said today a South African who tried to climb Mount Everest without a permit can go home without paying a USD 22,000 fine, but banned him from mountaineering there for 10 years.
	Ryan Sean Davy, 43, was found hiding in a cave near Everest base camp nearly two weeks ago after being spotted on the world's highest mountain without a USD 11,000 climbing permit.
	The South African, who has no prior mountaineering experience, said he could not afford the hefty permit fee but wanted to scale Everest and document his experience in a book and film.
	"The tourism department has excused me and given me permission to go home," Davy told AFP on Friday.
	The head of the tourism department confirmed that Davy had been let off the heavy fine and just given a 10-year ban on climbing mountains in Nepal.
	"We have imposed a 10 year ban on him against mountaineering in Nepal. No fine has been imposed," said Dinesh Bhattarai, head of the tourism department.
	The department had previously said they ..

Nepal lets Everest permit dodger off USD 22,000 fine

PTI Automatic

The Syrian army is in full control of the highway from Damascus to ancient Palmyra for the first time since 2014 after driving out jihadists, a monitor said today.
	Since troops recaptured Palmyra from the Islamic State group in March, the UNESCO World Heritage site had been accessible via Syria's third city Homs, about 150 kilometres (95 miles) to the west.
	But after major advances on Thursday night, the army now controls the direct road from the capital to Palmyra, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
	With the support of Russian air strikes, regime fighters "pushed IS fighters out of desert territory amounting to more than 1,000 square kilometres (390 square miles)," Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.
	"The jihadists were withdrawing because of how intense the Russian air strikes were," Abdel Rahman said.
	Palmyra's temples, colonnaded alleys and elaborately decorated tombs - some of the best preserved classical monuments in the Middle East - attracted more than 

Syria army takes control of Damascus-Palmyra road: monitor

A 20-year-old British man was sentenced to 15 years in prison today for planting a bomb on a busy London Underground train last year in what he claimed was a Halloween prank.
	Student Damon Smith, who has a form of autism and an obsession with weapons, left the bomb in a backpack on a crowded train in October.
	The abandoned bag was spotted by two members of the public who handed it to the driver, who in turn raised the alarm when he saw wires sticking out.
	Smith was convicted for possession of an explosive substance with intent and sentenced to 15 years in a young offenders' institution, a type of prison.
	The bag was packed with explosives and ball bearings and the device was timed to go off within minutes.
	Judge Richard Marks said there was no "clarity or certainty" as to the motivation for Smith, who was interested in Islam but denied being an extremist.
	"The seriousness of what you did cannot be overstated, not least against the background of the fear in which we all live from 

Briton jailed for 15 years for bomb on train

A US-led coalition air strike on the eastern Syrian town of Mayadeen early today killed at least 80 relatives of Islamic State group fighters, a monitoring group told AFP.
	"The toll includes 33 children. They were families seeking refuge in the town's municipal building," said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

New US-led Syria strike kills 80 relatives of IS fighters:

Two freelance cameramen were killed in rebel shelling of the outskirts of Yemen's third city Taez today as they filmed fighting with government troops, security officials said.
	The clashes came after UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed flew out of the rebel-held capital of Sanaa yesterday without securing agreement on a ceasefire for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan which begins this weekend.
	The government garrison in Taez is almost completely surrounded by Shiite Huthi rebels and their allies, and the city has come under repeated bombardment.
	Security officials named the dead men as Takieddin Hutheifi and Wael al-Abassi. Two other cameramen were wounded.
	Another 16 civilians, including children, have been killed in rebel shelling since Monday, the city's health services chief Abdel Rahim Samai told AFP.
	The rebels overran Sanaa in September 2014 and then seized much of the rest of Yemen, prompting President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi to flee to neighbouring Saudi Arabia in March ...

Two cameramen killed in Yemen's Taez: security officials

Ethiopian journalist Getachew Shiferaw was sentenced to 18 months in prison today for speaking to a dissident, capping a case that rights groups have called an assault on press freedom.
	Getachew has been in jail since his arrest in December 2015, meaning he could be released from custody as soon as next week, his lawyer Ameha Mekonnen told AFP.
	"He shouldn't be convicted at all," Ameha said.
	Getachew was found guilty earlier this week of encouraging revolt for sending a Facebook message to an Ethiopian dissident who had been convicted in absentia of being involved with Ginbot 7, an Eritrea-linked opposition group which has called for the violent overthrow of the ruling party.
	Ethiopia's government considers the outlawed group a terrorist organisation.
	Rights groups Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch said the charges were groundless and merely an excuse to put Getachew, who edited a newspaper linked to the opposition Blue Party, in jail.
	"He was just exercising his ...

Ethiopian journalist jailed for talking to dissident

Fierce clashes erupted today between rival armed groups in the Libyan capital Tripoli, seat of the country's UN-backed unity government.
	Tripoli has been gripped by a power struggle between dozens of militias since a NATO-backed uprising toppled longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011.
	AFP journalists heard explosions and artillery fire as fighting broke out in the Abu Slim, Al-Hadhba and Salaheddin districts in the south of the city.
	Witnesses said tanks had been deployed.
	British ambassador Peter Millett tweeted that he could hear explosions and artillery in south Tripoli.
	He condemned "action by these militias who threaten security" in the run-up to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins on Saturday in Libya.
	Groups hostile to the Government of National Accord said they attacked loyalist forces.
	The fighting started around a complex of luxury villas that until March served as the headquarters of militias loyal to former prime minister Khalifa Ghweil.
	Ghweil was ...

Rival militias clash in Libya capital

The UN today urged all nations bombing jihadist targets in Syria to better distinguish between civilian and military targets, following reports that US-led coalition strikes killed dozens of non-combatants.
	Air raids on Islamic State group targets in Syria have left hundreds of civilians dead since 2014.
	The latest strikes that hit a series of residential buildings yesterday in Mayadeen, a town in Syria's eastern province of Deir Ezzor, killed at least 35 civilians, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
	UN human rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said "all states" whose air forces are active in the anti-IS missions needed "to take much greater care to distinguish between legitimate military targets and civilians."
	The rights office had no specific information about yesterday's bombings.
	Zeid's spokesman Rupert Colville told reporters in Geneva that identifying the air force responsible for civilian deaths is often difficult given the number of countries in the ...

Nations bombing IS failing to protect civilians: UN

A military court in Gaza today held the first hearing of three men accused of assassinating a Hamas military leader, naming the chief suspect for the first time.
	Hamas has accused Palestinian "collaborators" of working with Israel to commit the murder.
	"In Gaza today, the first hearings were held for three (men) accused of killing Mazen Faqha," Assistant Military Attorney General Fadl al-Jadili said in a statement carried by a local news agency.
	He named Ashraf Abu Leila as the chief suspect in shooting dead Faqha, a senior Hamas official killed near his home on March 24.
	Two other accused men faced a separate session, with Jadili saying they had been tasked by the Israeli security service with tracking Faqha's movements in the period prior to his killing.
	Abu Leila was arrested about two weeks after the assassination, a security source said.
	The source added Abu Leila had allegedly been a member of Hamas's military wing, Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, for a number of years before 

Hamas names chief suspect in commander killing

Gunmen believed to be Fulani cattle herders killed 20 farmers praying inside a mosque over a land dispute in central Nigeria, a police spokesman said today.
	The attackers opened fire at the place of worship in Etogi village during morning prayers on Saturday, Niger state police spokesman Bala Elkana said.
	"The gunmen opened fire on the worshippers inside the mosque during morning prayers and killed all the 20 worshippers," Elkana said.
	"They later shot sporadically on the village, injuring eight people."
	The shooting was a revenge attack after farmers killed one herder in a clash days earlier, the spokesman added.
	The herders, who were raising cattle and farming, had settled near Etogi village on the condition that they would give a portion of their harvest to the community every season.
	But the herders reneged on the agreement this year, refusing to pay the tax and instead claiming that the land belongs to them, according to the police.
	"This led to a clash in which one herder 

Nigeria: 20 farmers killed in suspected herdsman attack

A 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck off Papua New Guinea today, the US Geological Survey said, but no Pacific-wide tsunami warning was issued.
	The shallow tremor struck in waters near the sparsely populated New Britain island, 450 kilometres northeast of the capital Port Moresby, the agency reported.
	The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center did not issue a widespread tsunami warning.
	New Britain, the largest island of the Bismarck Archipelago, is east of mainland New Guinea and has a population of around 500,000.
	It lies on the 4,000-kilometre Pacific-Australia plate, which forms part of the "Ring of Fire", a hotspot for seismic activity due to friction between tectonic plates.

6.2-magnitude quake hits off PNG: USGS

Saudi King Salman today expressed hope a "historic" summit to be held Sunday between Arab and Muslim nations and US President Donald Trump will enhance ties and promote tolerance.
	The summit will be one of three forums held during a visit by Trump, who is making Saudi Arabia his first overseas stop since assuming office in January.
	Trump has frequently been accused of fuelling Islamophobia but aides described his decision to visit Saudi Arabia as an effort to reset relations with the Muslim world.
	Along with the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), at least 18 other Muslim nations have been invited to the summit, including Turkey, Azerbaijan, Niger and Indonesia, which has the world's largest Muslim population.
	Saudi Arabia's regional rival Iran is not invited.
	Salman told a cabinet meeting in the Red Sea city of Jeddah that the meeting "comes in light of the challenges and sensitive situations that the world is going through".
	According to the official Saudi Press Agency, 

Saudi king hopeful over 'historic' Muslim-US summit

A conservation group said today it has chosen the name Alba for a rare albino orangutan rescued from captivity in Indonesia after receiving a flood of suggestions from the public.
	The name means "dawn" in Spanish and "white" in Latin, and the Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Foundation said the choice carried great significance.
	"Hopefully a new dawn will come for these precious animals," the group, which is caring for the critically endangered ape, said in a statement.
	BOS Foundation launched an appeal last week for members of the public to pick a name for the female Bornean orangutan, and said they had received thousands of suggestions from around the world.
	The white-haired, blue-eyed animal was rescued on the Indonesian part of Borneo island last month from villagers who had been keeping her in a cage.
	The BOS Foundation says it is the first time in its 25- year history that it has taken in an albino orangutan.
	The five-year-old was in poor condition after being rescued but ..

Albino orangutan named 'Alba' after global appeal

An Israeli patrol boat fired at Palestinian fishermen accused of breaching the blockade off the northern Gaza Strip today, leaving one of them dead, officials said.
	Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza have fought three wars since 2008 and the strip has been under an Israeli blockade for 10 years.
	Fishing off the northern part of the strip, adjacent to Israel, is limited to six nautical miles offshore and the Israeli navy regularly fires at Palestinians at the zone's outer limit.
	Such incidents rarely result in deaths.
	Fishermen's union head Nizar Ayash said that the shooting and the arrest of four other crewmen happened in one incident and two more arrests were made when the military boarded another Gaza boat overnight.
	The dead man's family identified him as Mohammed Majed Bakr, 25.
	An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed the shooting but did not speak of additional arrests.
	"A vessel deviated from the designated fishing zone in the northern Gaza Strip," the spokeswoman 

Israeli navy shoots dead Gaza fisherman after 'blockade

Palestinians marching to remember those displaced at the time of the 1948 founding of Israel clashed with Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank today, leaving several wounded.
	Annual marches are held on May 15 to mark what Palestinians call the "Nakba," or catastrophe in Arabic.
	At a checkpoint on the outskirts of Ramallah, dozens of Palestinian youths hurled rocks at Israeli soldiers, who responded with rubber bullets and the foul-smelling riot control spray known as skunk.
	A Palestinian emergency worker said that 11 Palestinians were taken to hospital, most of them wounded by rubber bullets. The extent of their injuries was not known.
	Earlier, thousands of people carrying Palestinian flags marched through the city, many carrying large keys to symbolise their claims to the homes they lost in 1948.
	"I come every year to commemorate this anniversary, this catastrophe," said Salha Orabi, a descendant of refugees and now a resident of the nearby Jelazoun refugee camp.
	"The Nakba 

Clashes erupt as Palestinians mark 'Nakba'

Heavy gunfire rang out today in Abidjan and Bouake, Ivory Coast's two biggest cities, witnesses said, as a mutiny by disgruntled soldiers demanding bonuses entered its fourth day.
	It was the latest in a series of armed protests which have gripped the country since January, with troops angered by an unresolved dispute over wages and demanding the government of President Alassane Ouattara pay up.
	"This is not a coup. We want our bonuses. The president signed a paper saying he agreed with our bonuses. When he pays up, we'll go home," said a spokesman for troops at Bouake barracks, the centre of the latest four-day protest.
	"We'll fight to the end. We won't lay down arms," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity from the city where the protest movement began earlier this year.
	"8,500 of us brought Ouattara to power, we don't want him to leave but he's got to keep his word. It's that simple," he added as a group of soldiers, some wearing masks, let off a rattle of ...

Heavy gunfire as mutiny grips I Coast's main cities

Russia had nothing to do with a massive global cyberattack, President Vladimir Putin said today, criticising the US intelligence community for creating the original software.
	Hundreds of thousands of computers in more than 150 countries have been hit by the ransomware attack, which has been described as the largest-ever of its kind.
	It began Friday and struck banks, hospitals and government agencies among a variety of other targets, exploiting known vulnerabilities in older Microsoft computer operating systems.
	"As for the source of these threats, Microsoft's leadership stated this directly, they said the source of the virus was the special services of the United States," Putin said.
	He was referring to a weekend blog post by Microsoft president Brad Smith stating that the US National Security Agency had developed the code being used in the attack.
	It was leaked as part of a document dump, according to researchers.
	"A genie let out of a bottle of this kind, especially created by 

Putin says Russia not involved in cyberattack, blames US

Germany must act to reduce the massive trade surplus that has stoked friction with European neighbours and the United States, the International Monetary Fund warned today.
	"In 2016 Germany's current account surplus was the world's largest in dollar terms," IMF economists noted in a report.
	"Policies that boost public and private investment and reduce the need for private saving ... Would accelerate the necessary external rebalancing process."
	US President Donald Trump and EU partners have criticised Germany's trade surplus -- the amount by which its exports outweigh its imports -- saying that it is costing growth and jobs in their own economies.
	IMF staff praised "prudent management" in Germany's public finances but repeated a long-standing call for policies "encouraging investment, promoting labour supply and boosting productivity".
	Berlin has in recent years booked massive surpluses in tax income even as it pays down debts under the no-new- borrowing policy of Finance Minister .

Act now to reduce trade surplus, IMF tells Berlin

France's new President Emmanuel Macron named Edouard Philippe, a little-known centre-right mayor, as prime minister today, in his first major decision since taking power on a promise to lead a French "renaissance".
	Philippe, a 46-year-old MP and mayor of the northern port of Le Havre, comes from the moderate wing of the rightwing Republicans party and is seen as a pragmatist.
	His appointment was seen as a strategic move by 39-year- old Macron, a former minister in the outgoing Socialist government who is trying to woo modernisers of all stripes to his new centrist party, La Republique en Marche (Republic on the Move, REM).
	France's youngest ever president has already attracted dozens of Socialist MPs to his side, triggering a major realignment in French politics that has left the traditional parties floundering.
	Like Macron, Philippe is a product of France's elite ENA college for senior public servants and worked for a while in the private sector.
	Relatively unknown outside his ..

France's Macron appoints centre-right PM to widen appeal

Tehran mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf withdrew from Iran's presidential race today, paving the way for a head-to-head battle between President Hassan Rouhani and his leading hardline challenger in this week's election.
	Ghalibaf called on his supporters to back conservative cleric and jurist Ebrahim Raisi in Friday's vote, saying it was vital for the "preservation of the interests of the people, the revolution and the country".
	Unofficial polls still show Rouhani, a moderate cleric who has sought to improve civil liberties and rebuild ties with the West, as the front-runner.
	But he has faced a harder-than-expected challenge from the conservatives due to the continued stagnation of the economy.
	Raisi, a former prosecutor-general and close ally of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has called for a more assertive approach to the West and a focus on building a self-sufficient "resistance economy".
	This had been Ghalibaf's third bid for the presidency, having been runner-up to ...

Conservative Ghalibaf withdraws from Iran election

Germany warned France's new President Emmanuel Macron today to hold off on his push for radical EU reforms, saying that far-reaching action requiring treaty changes was currently "not realistic".
	Macron has said he favours setting up a separate budget for the eurozone, the 19 countries that use the common currency, and also proposes giving the bloc its own parliament and finance minister.
	But European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker had pointed out that "a major change with a eurozone finance minister and a budget would require a change in the EU's main treaty," said Friederike von Tiesenhausen, finance ministry spokeswoman.
	Amending the treaty would require approval from all 28 countries within the bloc, "which is at the moment not realistic," she said.
	Foreign Ministry spokesman Martin Schaefer also said: "There is agreement within the government that, given the difficult situations we in Europe are confronted with, a plan with treaty changes is not a good idea."
	While ...

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