Tanzania has ordered the extradition to the United States of an alleged drug kingpin said to have overseen a global network smuggling heroin and cocaine, a judicial source said today.
	The ruling on Ali Khatib Haji Hassan, known as Shkuba, and two other Tanzanian associates came Wednesday at a court in Dar es Salaam after a request from the US, according to the source who spoke on condition of anonymity.
	A judge "authorised the extradition of the three men to the United States to answer the charges against them. But they remain in Tanzania until the government organises their transfer," the source told AFP.
	Hassan was designated a "major international drug kingpin" by the United States in 2016.
	The US accuses him of smuggling "multi-ton shipments of heroin and cocaine to Africa, Europe, Asia, and North America via his East Africa-based drug trafficking organisation."
	Hassan was arrested in Tanzania in 2014 for smuggling 210 kilogrammes (462 pounds) of heroin seized two years ...

Tanzania orders 'drug kingpin' be extradited to US

PTI Automatic

Activists feared today for the safety of a young Saudi woman they say was returned to the kingdom against her will, in a case highlighting tight restrictions on women.
	Dina Ali Lasloom, 24, intended to flee to Australia to escape a forced marriage, Human Rights Watch cited a Canadian witness as saying.
	The witness said Lasloom approached her while in transit at the airport in Manila, saying "airport officials had confiscated her passport and boarding pass" for a Sydney-bound flight.
	The Canadian said she helped Lasloom film social media videos about her plight. In one of them she said: "If my family comes they will kill me," HRW said.
	Arranged marriages are the norm in Saudi Arabia, where a "guardianship" system requires a male family member, usually the father, husband or brother, to grant permission for a woman's study, travel and other activities.
	"Lasloom's whereabouts are currently unknown," HRW said in a statement from Manila.
	The Canadian witness, who spent several hours .

Saudi woman's fear: 'They will kill me'

Maria Sharapova hit out at tennis authorities today for failing to warn her that a drug she had been taken had become a banned substance.
     Sharapova, a five-times Grand Slam champion, had an initial two-year suspension by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) reduced to 15 months after she tested positive at the 2016 Australian Open for meldonium.
     This was a medication the Russian had been taking when it was within the rules but which was later reclassified as a prohibited drug.
     "Why didn't someone come up to me and have a private conversation, just an official to an athlete, which would have taken care of the confidentiality problem they talked about later?" Sharapova told The Times.
     However, she did accept she had become "complacent", saying she was responsible for failing the drug test.
     "Ultimately the fault was mine," she added. "I had been getting clearance on everything I was taking for seven years and I became complacent."
     Meldonium was added to 

Sharapova slams ITF for lack of doping warning

Britain's Jenson Button will come out of retirement for "one race only" to replace Fernando Alonso in a McLaren at next month's Monaco Grand Prix, the Formula One team announced today.
     Alonso, like Button a former Formula One world champion, has been allowed to miss the race to compete instead for British-based McLaren at the Indianapolis 500, with both showpiece races taking place on May 28.
     "Owing to Fernando Alonso's commitments with McLaren- Honda-Andretti over the weekend of the Indianapolis 500, which iconic race will take place on the same date (May 28th) as the Monaco Grand Prix, Jenson will take over Fernando's McLaren- Honda MCL32 for one race only: the equally iconic Monaco Grand Prix," said a team statement.
     Button, who had regarded the concluding race of the 2016 campaign in Abu Dhabi as the last of his 17-season career, will be one of McLaren's two drivers at Monaco, with Belgium's Stoffel Vandoorne in their other car.
     The 37-year-old Button remains ..

Button to deputise for Alonso at Monaco Grand Prix

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, the driving force behind a 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, registered today to run for re-election next month, state television footage showed.
	The politically moderate cleric faces a tougher than expected battle for a second term on May 19 as criticism mounts over the continued stagnation of the economy.
	The president appeared in the afternoon at the interior ministry, where registration to stand for the election runs until tomorrow.
	He has made much of his successes in controlling inflation and reaching a landmark nuclear deal with world powers that ended many sanctions.
	"In every aspect that you consider, figures tell us that after the (nuclear deal), there is more space for movement and progress," he told reporters last week.
	Rouhani's support among moderate and reformist lawmakers remains solid, but disappointment with the 68-year-old's administration is palpable on the streets.
	Unemployment is stuck at 12 percent, the promised ...

Iran's Rouhani registers to run for re-election

Flights between Beijing and Pyongyang operated by Air China, the only foreign carrier operating regular commercial flights into North Korea, will be suspended from Monday, state broadcaster CCTV said today on its official website.
	The news comes as the North Korean army on Friday vowed a "merciless" response to any US provocation, according to the country's official news agency KCNA.
	Reports of activity at a nuclear test site in North Korea ahead of tomorrow's 105th anniversary of the birth of the country's founder Kim Il-Sung have fuelled speculation it could imminently carry out a sixth test.
	The last Air China flight between the two capitals arrived in Beijing at 6 pm today, CCTV said, without elaborating on the suspension.
	It noted however that the thrice-weekly route, first established in 2008, was often cancelled because of lack of passengers, as well as being subject to "seasonal adjustments" such as cancellations or reductions in frequency during the low-demand ...

Air China to suspend Beijing-Pyongyang flights

North Korea's army today vowed a 'merciless' response to any US provocation, as tensions soar over Pyongyang's nuclear programme and speculation mounts that it is preparing a fresh weapons test.
	Pyongyang's rogue atomic ambitions have come into sharp focus in recent weeks, with United States President Donald Trump vowing a tough stance against the North and threatening unilateral action if China failed to help curb its neighbour's nuclear programme.
	As hostilities in the region surge Trump has sent an aircraft carrier-led strike group to the Korean peninsula to press his point, while the North has launched a flurry of rockets.
	In a statement on official news agency KCNA, the North's Korean People's Army said Trump had "entered the path of open threat and blackmail against the DPRK".
	Citing Washington's recent missile strike on Syria, the typically bombastic statement boasted that US military bases in South Korea as well as Seoul's presidential Blue House "would be pulverised ...

N Korea army vows 'merciless' response to US provocation

Air China flights between Beijing and Pyongyang will be suspended from Monday, state broadcaster CCTV said today on its official social media account.
	The news comes amid reports of activity at a nuclear test site in North Korea ahead of tomorrow's 105th anniversary of the birth of the country's founder Kim Il-Sung, fuelling speculation it could carry out a sixth test.

Air China suspends Beijing-Pyongyang flights starting Monday

North Korea's army vowed a 'merciless' response to any US provocation, the official news agency reported today, as tensions soar over Pyongyang's rogue nuclear programme.
	A statement on KCNA, which cited Washington's recent missile strike on Syria, said the administration of President Donald Trump had "entered the path of open threat and blackmail against the DPRK".

N Korean army vows 'merciless' response to any US provocation

A 23-year-old British female tourist was stabbed to death in Jerusalem today and her attacker arrested, police said.
	The attack took place on the tram close to the Old City, where Christian commemorations were under way for Good Friday as Jews marked the week-long Passover holiday.
	Israel's domestic security agency Shin Bet said the suspected attacker was a 57-year-old Palestinian resident of east Jerusalem.
	Police had been on high alert for Passover when tens of thousands of Jews pray at the Western Wall inside the Old City and some visit the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound above it.
	The compound, which is the third holiest site in Islam and the holiest site to Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount, is the source of constant tensions.
	Jews are allowed to visit but not pray at the site.
	Palestinian fears that Israel will seek to change those rules have been the source of repeated violence.
	A wave of unrest which erupted in October 2015 has claimed the lives of 260 ...

British woman stabbed to death in Jerusalem: police

Smoking-related diseases will claim 200 million lives in China this century and plunge tens of millions into poverty, a report said today.
	China is the world's largest consumer and producer of tobacco, and the industry provides the government with colossal sums.
	In 2015, it recorded 1.1 trillion yuan (USD 160 billion) in profits, up 20 per cent year-on-year.
	But a report by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said today that the Asian giant will suffer an economic toll if it does not urgently reduce its smoking population.
	The paper - called "The Bill China Cannot Afford" - estimated that the total annual economic cost of tobacco use in the country in 2014 was 350 billion yuan, up tenfold from 2000.
	"If nothing is done to reduce [the death rate] and introduce more progressive policies, the consequences could be devastating not just for the health of people across the country, but also for China's economy as a whole," WHO China ...

Smoking to kill 200 million in China this century: WHO

Uzbekistan today said the suspect in last week's deadly Stockholm truck attack had ties to Islamic State jihadists and the West had been warned about him, Russian media reported.
	Rakhmat Akilov, a 39-year-old Uzbek national, is in custody on suspicion of mowing down a crowd on a busy street in the Swedish city. The attack killed four people.
	Uzbekistan Foreign Minister Abdulaziz Kamilov said Akilov was radicalised after moving to Sweden in 2014 and the Central Asian nation's intelligence service had passed on information about him.
	"During his stay abroad, he was recruited through the internet by emissaries of the international terrorist organisation the Islamic State," Kamilov said at a press briefing in Tashkent, the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported.
	"Information about the wrongful acts of Rakhmat Akilov was transferred via the special services to one of our Western partners to further inform the Swedish side," he added.
	There were no more details on which country 

Uzbekistan says Stockholm suspect had ties to IS: report

An Israeli woman was stabbed and seriously wounded in Jerusalem today and her attacker arrested, a police spokeswoman said.
	The attack took place on the light railway close to the Old City, where Christian commemorations were under way for Good Friday as Jews marked the week-long Passover holiday.
	The woman, who is her 20s, was in a "critical condition", the emergency services said.
	Police had been on high alert for Passover when tens of thousands of Jews pray at the Western Wall inside the Old City and some visit the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound above it.
	The compound, which is the third holiest site in Islam and the holiest site to Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount, is the source of constant tensions.
	Jews are allowed to visit but not pray at the site.
	Palestinian fears that Israel will seek to change those rules have been the source of repeated violence.
	A wave of unrest which erupted in October 2015 has claimed the lives of 260 Palestinians, 41 Israelis, two ..

Israeli stabbed in Jerusalem, attacker arrested: police

The opposing sides in Turkey's tightly-contested referendum on expanding President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's powers made a last push for votes today as the arrest of five suspected jihadists fuelled security concerns.
	Opinion polls - usually treated with caution in Turkey - have predicted a tight outcome on Sunday despite the considerable advantages of the 'Yes' campaign in both airtime and campaign resources.
	The referendum will take place under a state of emergency that has been in place since last summer's failed coup which has seen some 47,000 arrested in the biggest crackdown in Turkey's history.
	Analysts regard the referendum as a turning point in the modern history of the country that will affect not just the shape of its political system but also its relations with the West.
	If the new system is passed, it will abolish the office of prime minister, enabling the president to centralise all state bureaucracy under his control and also to appoint cabinet ministers.
	Supporters ..

Turkey in final referendum push as jihadists detained

Hordes of revellers armed with plastic water guns poured onto Thai streets today for a second day of watery warfare to ring in the kingdom's traditional new year.
	Known as Songkran, the Thai holiday is celebrated by paying respect to elders and sprinkling water over Buddha figures at local temples.
	But the festival has also become one of the world's biggest - and booziest - water fights.
	Every April rowdy street parties erupt across the nation as hundreds of thousands of Thais and tourists don floral shirts and drench each other with brightly-coloured water pistols.
	Similar but smaller water festivals are also held in neighbouring Buddhist countries like Myanmar and Laos.
	The burst of colour was especially striking this year in Bangkok, where many Thais have worn only black and white for the past six months to mourn the October death of the deeply revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
	"At its peak I think there were hundreds of thousands of people in Silom," city official Vallop ...

Thais soak in new year with nationwide water fight

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's comments that last week's chemical weapons attack was a fabrication to justify a US military strike are "100 per cent lies", French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said today.
	"It's 100 per cent lies and propaganda," Ayrault said during a visit to Beijing, responding to an exclusive AFP interview with Assad on Wednesday.
	"It's 100 per cent cruelty and cynicism."
	The French minister mirrored language used by Assad himself, who dismissed the allegation that his regime perpetrated the attack that left 87 civilians dead, including many children.
	"Definitely, 100 per cent for us, it's fabrication," Assad said in the interview.
	The Syrian leader questioned whether the attack had in fact occurred, claiming that "fake videos" and "propaganda" were being used against his government.
	He also accused the United States of colluding with terrorists and "fabricating the whole story in order to have a pretext" for a cruise missile strike on a Syrian air ...

Assad comments on chemical attack '100% lies': French FM

French prosecutors have asked the European parliament to lift the immunity of far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen over an inquiry into alleged fake parliamentary jobs, legal sources said Friday.
	The revelation comes just nine days before France heads to the polls for a highly-unpredictable presidential election with Le Pen, who heads the eurosceptic Front National (FN), one of the frontrunners in the April 23 first round.
	The demand was made at the end of last month after she invoked her parliamentary immunity in refusing to attend questioning by investigating magistrates on March 10.
	The case is linked to an expenses inquiry in which the European Parliament has accused Le Pen's FN of defrauding it to the tune of some 340,000 euros (USD 360,000).
	The parliament believes the party used funds allotted for parliamentary assistants to pay Le Pen's personal assistant Catherine Griset and her bodyguard Thierry Legier for party work in France.
	French investigators leading the 

France asked EU parliament to lift Le Pen immunity

The US military's largest non- nuclear bomb killed at least 36 militants as it decimated a deep tunnel complex of the Islamic State group, Afghan officials said today, ruling out any civilian casualties.
	"As a result of the bombing, key Daesh (IS) hideouts and deep tunnel complex were destroyed and 36 IS fighters were killed," the defence ministry stated of the strike in eastern Afghanistan yesterday.

Huge US bomb kills dozens of IS militants: Afghan officials

Civilians and fighters began evacuating four towns besieged by rebels and government forces today under a deal brokered by opposition backer Qatar and regime ally Iran.
	An AFP correspondent in rebel-held Rashidin, west of Aleppo city, said at least 80 buses arrived in the region from government-held Fuaa and Kafraya in Idlib province . A rebel source in Idlib told AFP "the implementation of the deal started in the morning".
	The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the beginning of the evacuation.
	Madaya resident Amjad al-Maleh, who spoke to AFP on the phone from one of the buses leaving opposition-controlled Madaya and Zabadani at around 6:00 am (0300 GMT), said: "We just left now, around 2,200 persons in around 65 buses".
	More than 30,000 people are expected to be evacuated under the deal, which began on Wednesday with an exchange of prisoners between rebels and government forces.
	All 16,000 residents of Fuaa and Kafraya are expected to leave, heading to government-held 

Residents, fighters evacuate from four besieged Syria towns

Massive US bomb kills at least 36 IS militants: Afghan

Borussia Dortmund face the difficult challenge of recovering from Tuesday's frightening bomb attack on their team bus as they prepare to host Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga this weekend.
     Players and staff alike were badly shaken after their team coach was rocked by three explosions on the way to Signal Iduna Park ahead of their Champions League tie against Monaco.
     Defender Marc Bartra underwent emergency surgery on a fractured wrist and to remove glass that became planted in his arm after the blast shattered windows on the Dortmund bus.
     His team-mates also felt the psychological effects, losing 3-2 to Monaco after their quarter-final first leg was pushed back to Wednesday.
     Many in the Dortmund squad said they had not wanted to play, while manager Thomas Tuchel railed at the decision to reschedule the match less than 24 hours after the planned kick-off.
     "Unless you experienced it, you can't understand how bad it was for us," said defender Sokratis ...

AFP

AFP

Page 1158 - Afp