A North Korean diplomat said today the election victory by left-leaning South Korean President Moon Jae-In reflected the people's "longing" for change.
	The comments by ambassador to Beijing Ji Jae-Ryong were the first official response by the North to Moon's triumph last week, except for a four-paragraph dispatch by the official Korean Central News Agency two days after the vote.
	Moon - who favours engagement with Pyongyang to curb its nuclear ambitions -- won overwhelmingly after his conservative predecessor Park Geun-Hye was ousted over a massive corruption scandal.
	"The South Korean people are longing for new politics, new society and new life and the election was a reflection of this popular sentiment," Ji told reporters in Beijing.
	Park, who advocated a hard line with the North, was arrested in March and is in jail awaiting trial on multiple charges.
	"Anyone who pursues selfish interests by following a foreign power and keeping their distance from their compatriots cannot ...

Moon's win shows 'longing' for change: N Korean envoy

PTI Automatic

Italy has cracked open a mafia ring accused of infiltrating one of the country's largest migrant reception centres and capitalising on asylum seekers with the help of a Catholic association, police said today.
	The Arena clan, a family belonging to the powerful 'Ndrangheta crime syndicate, allegedly made a killing by supplying services for the centre at Isola di Capo Rizzuto and syphoning off money from the state destined for the migrants.
	"Over 500 agents overnight arrested 68 people... Accused of mafia association, extortion, carrying illegal weapons, fraud, embezzlement to the detriment of the state, (and) theft," police in Catanzaro, a city in Calabria, said in statement.
	Their investigation revealed "that the clan controlled, for profit, the management of the reception centre" at Isola di Capo Rizzuto -- which has held up to 1,500 migrants at a time -- and had been doing so for over a decade.
	Police arrested Leonardo Sacco, head of the Catholic Misericordia association which ..

Italy busts mafia clan, Catholic group in migrant scandal

Angelique Kerber displaced Serena Williams at the top of the WTA rankings released today.
     Kerber had assured her place as world number one by her performances in the Madrid Open last week.
     The German, made it to the third round where she faced Eugenie Bouchard and retired with a lower back injury trailing 6-3, 5-0.
     1. Angelique Kerber (GER) 7.035 pts (+1)
     2. Serena Williams (USA) 6.110 (-1)
     3. Karolina Pliskova (CZE) 6.010
     4. Simona Halep (ROM) 5.205 (+4)
     5. Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) 4.480
     6. Johanna Konta (GBR) 4.330
     7. Garbine Muguruza (ESP) 4.287 (-3)
     8. Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) 4.260 (+1)
     9. Agnieszka Radwanska (POL) 4.195 (-2)
     10. Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) 3.915 (+1)
     11. Elina Svitolina (UKR) 3.780 (-1)
     12. Venus Williams (USA) 3.752
     13. Madison Keys (USA) 3.162
     14. Kristina Mladenovic (FRA) 2.965 (+3)
     15. Elena Vesnina (RUS) 2.875 (-1)
     16. Petra Kvitova (CZE) 2.780 (-1)
     17. Anastasia ...

Kerber back on top of WTA rankings

Australia's cricketers union urged a swift resolution to a damaging pay dispute today to avoid any strike disruption to this year's Ashes series.
     Cricket Australia last week threatened not to pay contracted players beyond the June 30 expiry of their current financial deal if they didn't accept a new offer.
     The robust statement prompted warnings of a strike, with pace spearhead Mitchell Starc tweeting: "Makes for an interesting men's and women's ashes..."
     Former Test all-rounder Shane Watson added his support by tweeting: "Well said @mstarc56. It will be an interesting game of cricket without any players."
     Alistair Nicholson, chief executive of the Australian Cricketers' Association, said players wanted the dispute resolved rather than risk damaging the showpiece Ashes series against England, starting in November.
     "It is in our interest to get this done. The players want it done," he told Melbourne radio Monday.
     "They don't want to be in a dispute. They ...

Ashes strike warning over Australia pay row

Gunfire was heard today in the Ivory Coast cities of Abidjan and Bouake, in the grip of a mutiny by ex-rebel soldiers, AFP journalists and witnesses said.
	In the economic capital of Abidjan, shots were heard from two military camps in the east of the city, a nearby resident said. Frequent gunshots were also heard in the country's second city of Bouake, where one person died from bullet wounds on Sunday.

Gunfire in two ICoast cities in grip of mutiny

North Korea said today it had successfully tested a new type of rocket in its latest missile launch, as analysts said it showed an unprecedented range that brought US bases in the Pacific within reach.
	Yesterday's launch was of a "new ground-to-ground medium long-range strategic ballistic rocket" named the Hwasong-12, the official Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) said.
	Leader Kim Jong-Un personally oversaw the test, it said, and "hugged officials in the field of rocket research, saying that they worked hard to achieve a great thing".
	The isolated North is under multiple sets of United Nations sanctions over its nuclear and missile programmes, which have triggered global alarm.
	The missile was launched on an unusually high trajectory, with KCNA saying it flew to an altitude of 2,111.5 kilometres and travelled 787 kilometres before coming down in the Sea of Japan (East Sea).
	That suggests a range of 4,500 kilometres or more if flown for maximum distance, analysts said.
	Aside from .

N Korea's 'new missile' has unprecedented range: experts

The fight for the La Liga title will go down to the last day of the season after convincing wins for Real Madrid and Barcelona on Sunday left them locked together on 87 points at the top of the table.
	   Madrid remain in the driving seat after the European champions saw off Sevilla 4-1 as they have two games remaining to Barca's one.
	   However, Barca remain on top thanks to their better head-to-head record with Neymar scoring a hat-trick as they also won 4-1 at Las Palmas.
	   Madrid visit Celta in their game in hand on Wednesday and then travel to Malaga, whilst Barca host Eibar on the final day next Sunday.
	   Sevilla's defeat at the Bernabeu also guarantees they will finish fourth and Atletico Madrid, who drew 1-1 at Real Betis, qualify automatically for next season's Champions League in third.
	   At the bottom, Sporting Gijon joined Granada and Osasuna in being relegated despite winning 1-0 at Eibar as Deportivo la Coruna secured safety in a 0-0 draw at Villarreal.
	   "It is 

Real Madrid, Barca set up final day title showdown

Pakistan won a thrilling third and final Test with six balls to spare to clinch a first series victory in the West Indies and give a fitting farewell to the retiring captain Misbah ul Haq and veteran Younis Khan.
     Roston Chase's unbeaten 101, his second hundred of the series, proved in vain as the home side, set a target of 303 at Windsor Park in Dominica, slipped to 93 for six before the lower order almost rescued a dramatic draw.
     "This was just incredible," said a breathless Misbah after Shannon Gabriel dragged a wide delivery from Yasir Shah onto his stumps with just six balls left in the game to trigger Pakistani celebrations as the West Indies were dismissed for 202 to lose the series 2-1.
     "There were so many things happening in that last session -- dropped catches, appeals, no-ball dismissals -- it looked for a while as if it wasn't going to happen.
     "I am thankful for myself, the team and all supporters of Pakistan cricket that we were able to pull it off."
   

Pakistan win thriller for first Windies series victory

Final scoreboard on the
fifth day of the third and concluding Test between the West Indies and Pakistan at Windsor Park in Dominica.
     Pakistan 1st Innings: 376
     West Indies 1st Innings: 247
     Pakistan 2nd Innings: 174 for 8 declared
     West Indies 2nd Innings (overnight 7 for 1)
     K Brathwaite c Hasan Ali b Shah     6
     K Powell c Masood b Shah            4
     S Hetmyer b Amir                   25
     S Hope lbw Hasan Ali               17
     R Chase not out                   101
     V Singh c Azam b Shah               2
     S Dowrich c Azam b Shah             2
     J Holder lbw Hasan Ali             22
     D Bishoo c Masood b Abbas           3
     A Joseph c Ahmed b Hasan Ali        5
     S Gabriel b Shah                    4
     Extras: (NB-3, W-2, B-6)           11
     Total: (all out; 96 overs)        202
     Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-22, 3-47, 4-66, 5-76, 6-93, 7- 151, 8-181, 9-197.
     Bowling: M. Amir 15-8-22-1, M Abbas 20-9-31-1, Y Shah 37 ...

Roseau (Dominica), May 15 (AFP) Final scoreboard on the

A new round of Syrian peace talks opens in Geneva tomorrow, overshadowed by a competing process in Astana and with rebels reeling from a major setback in Damascus.
	Since it broke out in March 2011, Syria's conflict has killed more than 320,000 people, displaced millions and ravaged the country's economy and infrastructure.
	Efforts to end the war are now proceeding along two rival tracks: the formal political peace process hosted at United Nations headquarters in Geneva and, since January, parallel talks in Kazakhstan brokered by Russia, Iran and Turkey.
	Observers say the UN appears to be scrambling to match Astana's momentum after a landmark deal signed in Kazakhstan on May 4 that would create four "de-escalation" zones across some of Syria's bloodiest battlegrounds.
	Since the deal came into effect a week ago, fighting has slowed across swathes of the country.
	But in Damascus, which is not included in the deal, the government has secured the evacuation of three rebel-held ...

Syria talks open overshadowed by rival track, rebel losses

Seventeen prisoners have been shot dead after a mass breakout at a jail in Papua New Guinea, reports said today, with 57 still on the run.
	Inmates from the Buimo jail in the Pacific nation's second largest city Lae made a dash for freedom after breaking out of their compound on Friday, with prison warders opening fire.
	The PNG Post-Courier and The National newspapers both cited local police as confirming 17 were killed, three were caught and 57 were still at large.
	"These are undesirable people and will be a threat to the community," Lae police metropolitan commander Chief Superintendent Anthony Wagambie Jr said of the escapees, warning the public to be vigilant.
	"The majority of those who escaped were arrested for serious crimes and were in custody awaiting trial.
	"A good number were arrested by police last year for mainly armed robberies, car thefts, break and enter and stealing."
	It is the same prison where police shot dead 12 inmates during a jailbreak last year.
	Crime and .

17 shot dead in PNG prison breakout: reports

New French President Emmanuel Macron is set to name a prime minister and visit German Chancellor Angela Merkel on his first full day in office.
	   The 39-year-old centrist leader laid out his ambitious plans for France as he took power yesterday, promising to restore France's shattered self-confidence and help rebuild the flagging European Union.
	His choice of prime minister will be crucial for the first task, with the 46-year-old centre-right Edouard Philippe from the Republicans party seen as the favourite for the job.
	Picking him would send a clear signal that Macron hopes to attract other young modernisers from the Republicans to his new centrist party, Republic on the Move (REM), which will contest parliamentary elections in June.
	"If the prime minister comes from the right, Emmanuel Macron will be able to attack the parliamentary elections by dynamiting the right, in the same way he has done to the left," political expert Philippe Moreau-Chevrolet told AFP.
	Macron, who was .

France's Macron to name PM on first full day in office

The United States and Japan today called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on North Korea after Pyongyang carried out its latest missile test, diplomats said.
	The meeting has been scheduled in principle for Tuesday afternoon, according to the UN mission of Uruguay, which currently holds the council's presidency.
	North Korea launched a ballistic missile early today in what was seen as a challenge to South Korea's new President Moon Jae-In, a liberal who has said he wants to ease tensions with the North.
	It was the North's second missile firing in two weeks, and came amid mounting international concern over Pyongyang's progress in developing nuclear weapons that could be carried by long-range missiles.
	The latest projectile, launched from a military base in Kusong near the country's northwest coast, traveled some 435 miles (700 kilometers) before landing in the Sea of Japan.
	"There are no excuses that justify N. Korea's actions," Nikki Haley, the US ...

US, Japan request emergency UN Security Council session on N Korea: diplomats

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today challenged US concerns over moving the American embassy to Jerusalem, in what Haaretz newspaper called his "first public dispute" with the Trump administration.
	US President Donald Trump had promised during his campaign to move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, whose status is one of the thorniest issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
	But there has been no movement on that pledge so far.
	The Palestinians and the Arab world fiercely oppose a move, and the international community has warned that it could spark fresh unrest.
	US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told NBC's "Meet the Press" today that Trump was still seeking to assess whether relocating the embassy would help or harm chances for Israeli-Palestinian peace.
	"The president is being very careful to understand how such a decision would impact a peace process," Tillerson said, going on to suggest that Israel itself might be less than fully committed to a ...

Israel dismisses US concern over embassy move to Jerusalem

Austria's new centre-right leader Sebastian Kurz called today for snap elections, heralding the imminent collapse of the ruling coalition after months of in- fighting.
	Setting up another nail-biting vote in Europe, that could see the populist far-right win power. Kurz said his party's coalition with the centre-left could not continue.
	"The major decisions on the direction that this country takes must be taken by voters," Kurz told reporters in Vienna after being appointed head of his People's Party (OeVP).
	He said that he would meet tomorrow with Chancellor Christian Kern and the president to propose a joint parliamentary motion for elections to be held "after the summer".
	Austria's unhappy "grand coalition" between Kern's centre-left Social Democrats (SPOe) and the centre-right OeVP is meant to govern until late 2018.
	But after months of failing to agree much in the way of reforms to boost Austria's lagging economy, the head of the OeVP, Reinhold Mitterlehner, resigned last ...

Austria heads for snap elections

One person died today after mutinous soldiers took to the streets in Ivory Coast's central second city Bouake as fresh tensions gripped the world's top cocoa grower.
	The fatality was among five men and a mother-of-three who were hospitalised after being struck by warning shots fired to keep residents inside their homes, an AFP photographer saw.
	About 15 others were treated for minor injuries.
	"(He), Issouf Diawara, finally died from his bullet wounds," his brother Souleymane Diawara told AFP. "I am a distraught man."
	Diawara died after he was shot and seriously wounded yesterday amid clashes between former rebels, some of whom have been integrated into the army, and those who were disarmed but have not integrated.
	The mutinous soldiers -- those who have been integrated into the army -- were clashing with former fellow rebels over government payments.
	Under a deal negotiated with the government in January, struck after the soldiers' first mutiny, they were to be paid bonuses of ..

One dead as mutinous I.Coast soldiers cut off key city

Emmanuel Macron promised full and enthusiastic support for Paris' bid to host the 2024 Olympic Games after his inauguration as French president today.
	As an International Olympic Committee (IOC) assessment team began a three-day bid inspection, Macron told Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo the plan stimulated the kind of optimism he was hoping to generate during his mandate.
	"I'm right with you on your venture for the Olympics, Paralympics and the 2024 objective," Macron told supporters at Paris City Hall.
	Paris bid co-chairman and three-time Olympic slalom canoe champion Tony Estanguet revealed his team had been invited to the Elysee Palace -- the French president's official residence -- on Tuesday.
	"Our team has a new member - the new president of the Republic Emmanuel Macron," he enthused.
	"He'll be with us on this adventure all the way to Lima, and hopefully, beyond," Estanguet said in reference to the September meeting when the IOC will nominate Paris or Los Angeles as host of the ...

Olympics: Macron vows full backing for Paris 2024 bid

The United States and Japan today called for an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council on North Korea after Pyongyang carried out its latest missile test, diplomats said.
	The meeting has been scheduled in principle for Tuesday afternoon, according to the UN mission of Uruguay, which currently holds the council's presidency.
	North Korea launched a ballistic missile early today in what was seen as a challenge to South Korea's new President Moon Jae-In, a liberal who has said he wants to ease tensions with the North.

US, Japan request emergency UNSC session on N Korea: diplomats

Scoreboard at lunch on
the fifth day of the third and final cricket Test between the West Indies and Pakistan at Windsor Park, here today.
     Pakistan 1st Innings: 376
     West Indies 1st Innings: 247
     Pakistan 2nd Innings: 174 for 8 declared
     West Indies 2nd Innings: (Overnight 7 for 1)
     K Brathwaite c Hasan Ali b Shah     6
     K Powell c Masood b Shah            4
     S Hetmyer b Amir                   25
     S Hope lbw Hasan Ali               17
     R Chase not out                    19
     V Singh not out                     1
     Extras: (W-1)                       1
     Total: (for 4 wkts in 33 overs)    73
     Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-22, 3-47, 4-66
     Bowling: Amir 5-3-8-1, Abbas 10-6-12-0, Shah 13-3-43-2, Ali 5-2-10-1.

Roseau (Dominica), May 14 (AFP) Scoreboard at lunch on

Wal-Mart Stores, the 800-pound gorilla of retail, is running hard to catch up in an increasingly crucial segment where it is neither the biggest nor the best: e-commerce.
	The company, founded in 1962 by Sam Walton, has been gobbling up smaller and niche players in e-commerce in an effort to reach online shopping market leader Amazon.
	Whether those efforts are paying off will be a focal point when Wal-Mart Stores reports quarterly earnings on Thursday.
	A bit more than half of all funds spent online in the United States now goes to Amazon, according to the bank Macquarie.
	Part of Amazon's success stems from its breadth of offerings, which includes the Kindle that people use for reading and the Prime service that broadcasts popular television shows, said Krista Fabregas, e-commerce staff writer at FitSmallBusiness.Com.
	"It's because Amazon has been doing such a great job at injecting itself into our everyday life," she told AFP.
	"Wal-Mart is not part of everyday life, nor is ...

Wal-Mart pushing hard to catch Amazon in e-commerce

More than 2,200 civilians and rebels evacuated an opposition district in Damascus today, state media said, bringing the government closer to cementing its control over the Syrian capital.
	The evacuations from the Qabun district in northeast Damascus follow similar departures from the Barzeh and Tishrin neighbourhoods earlier this week.
	"The first phase of the agreement in the Qabun district has been completed with the evacuation of 2,289 people, including 1,058 armed men," Damascus governor Beshr Assaban was quoted as saying by the official SANA news agency.
	He said the aim of the evacuation was to "end the presence of armed forces in the neighbourhood".
	An AFP correspondent inside Qabun saw around a dozen white buses carrying out residents and fighters, after a deal for the neighbourhood was announced late yesterday following heavy fighting.
	At the edge of the district, two women embraced and wept as they faced the prospect of parting ways.
	Suad, 22, was leaving behind her ...

AFP

AFP

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