Rescuers find 4 bodies, empty dinghy off Libya

PTI Automatic

Trump set for first meeting with Palestinian president

Outspoken Nigerian emir facing graft probe

Blair announces return to British politics to fight Brexit

US congressional leaders have reached a deal on a federal spending bill which if passed by lawmakers this week will avert a government shutdown, a top lawmaker and congressional aides said.
	The agreement would keep federal operations running through September 30, the end of the fiscal year.
	Congress is expected to vote in the coming days on the package, which aides said includes some USD 1.5 billion in funding for increased border security measures, but no funding for an actual wall.
	They also said it adds USD 2 billion in new funding for the National Institutes of Health, and is expected to increase military spending.
	Comprehensive details were not available Sunday as the measure had yet to be officially finalised and released. Lawmakers have until Friday to get new spending legislation to President Donald Trump's desk.
	"This agreement is a good agreement for the American people, and takes the threat of a government shutdown off the table," Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer ..

Deal reached on US spending, shutdown likely averted

French soldiers killed or captured about 20 jihadists in Mali's restive north where a French soldier was killed on April 5, the French chief of has staff said.
	Troops from Operation Barkhane, a French counterterror operation whose mission is to target jihadist groups operating in the Sahel region south of the Sahara Desert, launched the operation on Saturday south-west of the city of Gao.
	"Since Saturday, the Barkhane force has been engaged in an operation which led to the neutralisation of nearly 20 jihadists in the forest of Foulsare near the border between Mali and Burkina Faso," a statement said.
	They were either killed or captured, spokesman Colonel Patrik Steiger told AFP without giving a breakdown.
	French Mirage fighter jets bombed several arms depots in the forest, a sanctuary for armed terrorist groups.
	Set up in 2014, the operation comprises around 4,000 soldiers who are deployed across five countries -- Mauritania, Mali, Niger, Chad and Burkina Faso. In Niger, it ...

Around 20 jihadists killed or captured in Mali's north

Former prime minister Matteo Renzi won the leadership of Italy's ruling Democratic Party (PD) in a primary election, propelling him back to the forefront of the national political scene.
	Renzi, 42, resigned as prime minister in December after Italians overwhelmingly rejected a constitutional referendum aimed at streamlining the parliamentary system.
	Some two million people voted and Renzi himself had set the bar for success at one million voters.
	Renzi's win yesterday was announced by him and his two rivals -- Justice Minister Andrea Orlando and Michele Emiliano -- well ahead of the end of counting.
	According to preliminary estimates, Renzi bagged 70 percent of the vote.
	"It is a huge responsibility. I thank from the bottom of my heart those men and women who believe in Italy," he tweeted.
	"This is not the second half of the same match, it's a new match," he said in a victory speech. "This is the beginning of a completely new story."
	When he first took over the leadership in ...

Italy's former PM Renzi re-elected head of ruling Democratic

Germany's defence minister today vowed zero tolerance for far-right extremists in the military amid a widening scandal over a soldier who allegedly plotted an attack which he planned to blame on refugees.
	"We can tolerate many things, but not political extremism, right-wing or religiously motivated extremism," the minister, Ursula von der Leyen, told public broadcaster ZDF.
	She was reacting to the strange case of a 28-year-old army lieutenant, named by German media as Franco A, who led what prosecutors called a "double life" pretending to be a Syrian refugee.
	He was arrested on last Wednesday on suspicion of planning a gun attack which he meant to blame on his alter-ego -- a fictitious Damascus fruit seller.
	The scandal widened after news magazine Der Spiegel reported the suspect had expressed far-right views in a 2014 academic paper, but that no disciplinary action was taken against him.
	The military intelligence service is currently investigating around 280 cases of suspected ..

Scandal widens over far-right German soldier in 'attack plot'

Former prime minister Matteo Renzi was poised to win the leadership of Italy's ruling Democratic Party (PD) in a primary election today, propelling him back to the forefront of the national political scene.
	Renzi, 42, resigned as prime minister in December after Italians overwhelmingly rejected a constitutional referendum aimed at streamlining the country's parliamentary system.
	In the aftermath of the vote defeat and facing a rebellion from the left wing of his centre-left party, Renzi stepped down as party leader in February with the aim of regaining legitimacy in a future vote.
	Today he was up against two candidates considered further to the left: Justice Minister Andrea Orlando and Michele Emiliano, who heads the southern Puglia region.
	As of noon, about 7,00,000 people had voted in the primary, more than many analysts had expected but fewer than the 9,00,000 who had voted by this time in the party's previous primary contest in 2013.
	The roughly 10,000 polling stations -- ...

Italy's Renzi likely to win Democratic Party election

The new leadership of Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas will be announced in the coming days, officials said today, while it also prepared to unveil a new version of its charter.
	Ismail Haniya, until recently head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, said the results of internal elections will be announced "in the coming days".
	A high-ranking Hamas official told AFP that the new leadership will be announced before May 15.
	The official said Haniya is likely to be named the new head of the movement, replacing Khaled Meshaal who lives in Doha in exile and has completed the maximum two terms in office.
	Hamas runs the Gaza Strip, while the Palestinian Authority dominated by president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party controls the occupied West Bank.
	Tomorrow in Qatar, Hamas will unveil a supplementary charter that will formally accept the idea of a state in the territories occupied by Israel in the Six-Day War of 1967.
	Some analysts say the move is a bid to ease Hamas's international ...

New Hamas chief to be announced soon: officials

Rafael Nadal romped to his 10th Barcelona Open title today as he swept aside Austria's Dominic Thiem 6-4, 6-1 for a 51st clay-court crown.
     The Spaniard has made the perfect start to the clay-court season and will aim for a 10th French Open next month after also claiming his 10th title at the Monte Carlo Masters last week.
     Nadal won in Barcelona between 2005-2009, 2011-13 and now in the last two years.
     The 14-time Grand Slam champion looks like the man to beat in Paris as on the court newly baptised in his name he failed to drop a set all week.
     Thiem had shocked world number one Andy Murray in Saturday's semi-finals and showed some early resistance.
     The world number nine even had his only break point of the match in the first game.
     But Nadal, returning to top form at age 30, upped his intensity at the crucial moment and took the set with the only break in the 10th game.
     The second set was a procession as Thiem's frustration at his inability to break ..

Red-hot Nadal wins 10th Barcelona Open

Swiss climber Ueli Steck, one of the most feted mountaineers of his generation and famed for his speed ascents of iconic Alpine routes, died on Mount Everest today, officials said.
     "Today morning, he had an accident on the Nuptse wall and died. It seems he slipped," Ang Tsering Sherpa, head of the Nepal Mountaineering Association, told AFP.
     Steck, 40, was on Everest to acclimatise before attempting in May to summit the world's tallest peak followed by neighbouring Lhotse, connecting a series of ridges to design a never before climbed route.
     Everest and neighbouring peak Nuptse share a common ridge, which is where Steck slipped and fell, according to a government official.
     "He skidded off about 1,000 metres from (Mt Nuptse) camp two early morning on Sunday. Other climbers ascending Everest saw him and asked for his rescue," said Dinesh Bhattarai, director general at the Department of Tourism.
     Steck was climbing alone when he died. His partner, Tenji Sherpa, had 

Famed Swiss climber Ueli Steck dies on Everest: officials

Scoreboard at lunch on the opening day of the second Test between the West Indies and Pakistan at Kensington Oval in Barbados today:
     West Indies 1st Innings
     K Brathwaite        c Ahmed b Amir     9
     K Powell        not out               29
     S Hetmyer        c Ali b Abbas         1
     S Hope        c Ahmed b Shah           5
     R Chase        not out                23
     Extras (LB-4, W-1)                     5
     Total (For 3 wkts in 27 overs)        72
     Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-13, 3-37.
     Bowling: M. Amir 8-3-6-1, M. Abbas 6-1-16-1, Y. Shah 9-1 -32-1, S. Khan 4-1-14-0.

Bridgetown (Barbados), Apr 30 (AFP) Scoreboard at lunch on the opening day of the second Test between the West Indies and Pakistan at Kensington Oval in Barbados today:

West Indies' vulnerable top-order batting was again exploited by Pakistan as the home team reached 72 for three at lunch after choosing to bat first on the opening day of the second Test at Kensington Oval today.
     Despite a surface that offered very little assistance to the faster bowlers, the Caribbean team lost their first three wickets after just over an hour before the pair of opening batsman Kieran Powell and Roston Chase navigated their way to the interval without any further casualties.
     Powell, top scorer with 49 amid the West Indies' second innings capitulation in the first Test in Kingston, will resume in the afternoon session on 29 with Chase on 23, their partnership worth 35 runs in conditions which appeared increasingly easy for batting as the morning wore on.
     Mohammad Amir was the first to strike for Pakistan against a batting line-up that was surprisingly unchanged from the seven-wicket defeat in Jamaica, the selectors resisting calls for to bring in ...

West Indies top order exposed again by Pakistan

A top aide today defended President Donald Trump's invitation to his Philippines counterpart to visit Washington, saying the need to rally Asian allies over North Korea overshadowed concerns about President Rodrigo Duterte's brutal war on drugs.
	Yesterday, the White House said Trump had invited Duterte in a "friendly" call in which the leaders discussed the Filipino president's fight against drugs and the two countries' alliance.
	The statement touched only lightly on Duterte's brutal crackdown on crime, which has claimed thousands of lives and drawn international condemnation.
	But when White House chief of staff Reince Priebus was asked today why Trump was "honouring" Duterte with the White House invitation, he told ABC, "I'm not so sure it's a matter of honouring this president."
	"The issues facing us, developing out of North Korea, are so serious that we need cooperation at some level with as many partners in the area as we can get," he said.
	That way, Priebus added, "if ...

US says invitation to Filipino leader is mostly about Korea

US President Donald Trump offered some backhanded praise for North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, calling him "a pretty smart cookie" in a television interview that aired today.
	Trump's almost admiring remarks came amid soaring tensions with North Korea over its missile and nuclear programmes, with an alarmed Washington looking to China for help in reining in Kim.
	Trump said he had "no idea" whether Kim was sane or not, but said the North Korean leader had faced a formidable challenge in taking over the country at a reported age of 27 after his father's death in 2011.
	"He's dealing with obviously very tough people, in particular, the generals and others. And at a very young age, he was able to assume power," Trump said in the interview with CBS's "Face the Nation".
	"A lot of people, I'm sure, tried to take that power away, whether it was his uncle or anybody else. And he was able to do it.
	"So obviously, he's a pretty smart cookie," he said.
	"But we have a situation that we just ...

Trump says North Korea's Kim is 'a pretty smart cookie'

Chelsea looked every inch champions in taking a significant step towards the Premier League title today with victory at Everton, while the Manchester clubs stumbled in the race for the top four.
     A superb second-half strike by Pedro and late goals from Gary Cahill and Willian stretched Chelsea's lead at the top over Tottenham to seven points as they emphatically ended Everton's run of eight successive home wins.
     The 3-0 win by Antonio Conte's relentless side turned the pressure firmly back on Spurs ahead of their derby with Arsenal later on Sunday.
     Arsenal badly need three points to stay in the race for a Champions League spot, but their hopes were boosted with Manchester City and United both held to surprise draws against relegation strugglers.
     Chelsea took time to settle but once Pedro scored their opener -- his first goal in nine matches -- the floodgates opened and they became an irresistible force against their hosts.
     Cahill's eighth of the season and ...

Chelsea throw down gauntlet to Spurs, Manchester misery

The owner of a leading Persian- language satellite entertainment channel based outside of Iran was shot dead by unknown individuals in Istanbul in an unexplained assassination, Turkish media reports said today.
	Said Karimian, the owner of the GEM TV Group and a British citizen of Iranian origin, was gunned down late yesterday along with a Kuwaiti business partner in the upscale Maslak district of Istanbul, the Hurriyet newspaper said.
	Initial reports yesterday had said two Iranians had been killed, without giving the identities.
	In a statement on its Facebook page, GEM TV confirmed that Karimian had died but without making clear the circumstances of the death.
	"With great sorrow and regret, we announce the death of Said Karimian," it said, describing him as a "great man who with a pure and kind spirit spent his life with honesty and sincerity for the dignity of Iran".
	Kuwait's state-run KUNA news agency quoted the Kuwaiti consul general in Istanbul as saying that a Kuwaiti ...

Persian satellite TV channel owner 'shot dead' in Istanbul

Ukraine is still suffering from the trauma of the world's worst civil nuclear accident at Chernobyl but has nonetheless turned the hazardous fuel into the backbone of its energy portfolio.
	The crisis-torn country now uses atomic power for more than half of its electricity needs as it struggles through a coal shortage sparked by a three-year war against Russian- backed insurgents in the separatist east.
	And that figure shot up to nearly three-quarters of all power consumed during natural gas price disputes with its eastern arch foe and energy superpower Russia from 2014 to 2016.
	Ukraine Wednesday marked 31 years since the disaster in which thousands died with the country extending the lifespan of its communist-era nuclear reactors and turning atomic power into a workhorse that will be around for generations to come.
	The Chernobyl plant's fourth reactor in the north of former Soviet Ukraine exploded in 1986 after a safety test went horribly wrong at 1:23 am on April 26.
	Some ...

Ukraine clings to nuclear power despite Chernobyl trauma

Britain's Anthony Joshua defeated veteran Ukrainian Wladimir Klitschko in a world heavyweight title fight epic in front of 90,000 people at Wembley, taking victory on an 11th round stoppage.
     Joshua added the WBA title to his IBF belt but only after being knocked to the canvas by the 41-year-old Klitschko in the sixth round.
     The Ukrainian was also sent crashing to the floor in the fifth round and twice more in the pivotal 11th as the 27- year-old British fighter took his record to 19 wins in 19 fights.
     "What can I say? 19-0, three and a half years in the game. As I said, I'm not perfect but I'm trying and if you don't take part you're going to fail," said Joshua who was put on the canvas for the first time in his career.
     "As boxing states, you leave your ego at the door and you respect your opponent. So a massive shout out to Wladimir Klitschko."
     A third defence of his IBF world heavyweight title also earned Joshua the vacant WBA belt as he became the first ...

Boxing: Joshua defeats Klitschko in world heavyweight epic

Maria Sharapova said more tough matches are her priority after losing in the semi- finals in Stuttgart on her controversial comeback from a 15- month doping ban.
     Sharapova, a five-time Grand Slam winner and former world number one, lost 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 to Kristina Mladenovic in a gruelling two-hours, 38-minute showdown.
     "I'm not angry, I'd have loved to have used the opportunity when I was ahead in the second set, so I had a bit of a let down which allowed her to get back in the match, gain confidence and play well," said Sharapova, who was playing her first tournament after testing positive for meldonium at the 2016 Australian Open.
     "I didn't keep putting that pressure on her and if you allow that to happen to a player like her, it becomes dangerous."
     Sharapova also has wild cards for the Madrid and Rome tournaments and leaves Stuttgart with a world ranking of 260 having arrived here on zero following her ban.
     She will learn on May 16 whether she will be given .

AFP

AFP

Page 1146 - Afp