Nicola Sturgeon

Scotland voted to remain in the EU in last year's referendum

Scotland makes formal request to UK on second independence vote

Press Trust of India

South African telecoms giant MTN has paid nearly USD 100 million of a USD 1.7 billion fine for failing to disconnect unregistered SIM cards in Nigeria, officials said today.
	"MTN has paid 30 billion naira (USD 98 million, 92 million euros) as part of the fine," Tony Ojobo, spokesman for Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC) told AFP.
	"The payment is in furtherance of the agreed timetable for payment of the total fine."
	He said MTN had already paid 80 billion naira of the total fine of 330 billion naira.
	Ojobo said MTN was expected to pay the next tranche of the fine "based on the payment schedule agreed by the two parties."
	An MTN source in Nigeria confirmed the payment.
	"Yes, we have made another payment. It's in fulfilment of our financial obligations to the NCC regarding the fine," he said, without giving details.
	MTN was initially hit with a USD 5.2 billion fine in October 2015 for failing to cut off 5.1 million unregistered SIM cards as requested by the Nigerian ...

MTN pays USD 98 million part of Nigerian fine: officials

PTI Automatic

Belgium has opened an investigation into the suspected involvement of Belgian fighter planes in air strikes in west Mosul that killed dozens of civilians, prosecutors said today.
	Iraqi authorities believe more than 130 civilians were killed in strikes over several days in Mosul's al-Jadida area, and attention has focused on one allegedly particularly deadly strike on March 17.
	"We have opened a preliminary investigation to establish... Whether all procedures were observed during two incidents," prosecutors' spokesman Eric Van Der Sypt told AFP.
	"If rules of engagement were properly observed... It is possible that no crime was committed," Van Der Sypt said.
	Belgian MP Wouter De Vriendt told Flemish broadcaster VRT the case involved strikes carried out by Belgian F16 fighter jets on March 17.
	The coalition had previously said it carried out a strike on March 17 in an area of west Mosul in which civilian casualties were reported, and that it had opened an investigation.
	Belgium ...

Belgium probes Mosul airstrikes that killed civilians

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for mid-March bomb attacks on a courthouse and restaurant in Syria's capital Damascus that killed 32 people and were denounced by rebel groups.
	The March 15 attacks were a rare assault in the heart of the Syrian capital, which remains under government control and has been insulated from much of the worst of the war's violence.
	The latest issue of IS's Al-Nabaa magazine, issued late yesterday, cited a security source saying a first suicide bomber entered one of the city's courthouses and opened fire before detonating a suicide bomb belt.
	The magazine said the second attacker blew himself up in a restaurant, according to the magazine, which is distributed via social media sites.
	At least 32 people were killed in the attack at the courthouse, with 100 wounded, and another 25 people were hurt in the restaurant blast, police said at the time.
	Syria's powerful rebel group Ahrar al-Sham issued a rare statement condemning "in the ...

Islamic State group claims deadly Damascus court bomb

Germany's armed forces Saturday launch a cyber command, with a status equal to that of the army, navy and air force, meant to shield its IT and weapons systems from attack.
	Military planners fear that wars of the future will start with cyber attacks against critical infrastructure and networks, extensive online espionage and sabotage.
	The Bundeswehr's new Cyber and Information Space (CIR) Command, based in the former West German capital of Bonn, will start off with 260 IT specialists but grow to 13,500 military and civilian personnel by July.
	With the new digital force, Germany is taking a leading role among NATO allies, its new commander, Lieutenant General Ludwig Leinhos, told news weekly Focus.
	Leinhos said the main tasks would be to operate and protect the military's own IT infrastructure and computer-assisted weapons systems, as well as surveillance of online threats.
	He said the centre would also develop and war-game offensive capabilities because "in order to be able to ...

German military to launch cyber command

Authorities in Europe and Australia announced a sweeping tax evasion probe today reportedly targeting Credit Suisse clients and senior employees, as investigators detailed arrests and the seizure of artworks and gold.
	There was no definitive confirmation that Credit Suisse was the main target of the fraud investigations, run by at least four European countries and Canberra and apparently involving hundreds of suspects.
	The Swiss financial giant simply confirmed that its offices in London, Paris and Amsterdam had been visited by local authorities on Thursday "concerning client tax matters".
	"We are cooperating with the authorities", Switzerland's number-two bank said in a statement.
	Dutch prosecutors said dozens of people who allegedly concealed millions of euros were being probed for tax fraud and money laundering and that records were seized on Thursday from "a Swiss bank" which they did not name.
	Similar operations were carried out in Britain, France, Germany and Australia, all 

Credit Suisse apparent target of massive tax fraud probe

Greece will toughen rules on voluntary repatriation to combat alleged abuses by economic migrants seeking refugee status, the migration ministry said today.
	A ministry source told AFP new rules would be adopted "in the coming days" to withhold cash subsidies for repatriation from those migrants who appeal against the rejection of their asylum claim.
	Organised by the International Organisation for Migration, the repatriation programme has returned some 7,000 people since European states shut their borders to migrants early last year.
	Participants are also given 500 euros ($537) as an incentive to return home and to help them with reintegration.
	For the time being, those stuck on Greek islands under last year's EU-Turkey migration pact also are given 1,000 euros.
	Under the new rules, migrants who came to Greece from 2015 onwards will have five days to apply for voluntary IOM repatriation once their asylum requests are turned down.
	If they fail to do so, they will no longer be ...

Greece to crack down on asylum claim 'abuse'

German police are investigating a Syrian doctorate student in detention for having allegedly planned a bomb attack, local media reported today.
	The 36-year-old man was previously already probed over suspected ties to the Islamic State group, said public broadcaster Hessischer Rundfunk.
	Prosecutors have broadened their investigation after finding bomb-making instructions in his possession.
	The suspect, who was studying for a doctorate at western Germany's Darmstadt Technical University, was detained last year over a video broadcast online in which he allegedly voiced his support for the IS group.
	Investigators had confiscated his mobile phone and other electronic devices, and subsequently found the bomb-building instructions.
	But his lawyer has argued that the man downloaded those instructions in 2014, and that this did not qualify as proof he was planning an attack.
	Germany is on high alert for jihadist attacks following a string of assaults last year, the deadliest of which was 

German police probe Syrian student over bomb plot: report

UN chief Antonio Guterres appealed today for more aid for the people of Mosul, as he visited a camp for Iraqis displaced by the battle to retake the second city from jihadists.
	Iraq is nearly six months into the operation to oust the Islamic State group from its most populous bastion -- a battle that has sparked major humanitarian concerns.
	More than 200,000 civilians have fled IS-held west Mosul since last month, while the fighting has taken a devastating toll among the hundreds of thousands more still trapped in the battleground.
	"We don't have the resources that are necessary to support these people and we don't have the international solidarity that is needed," Guterres told journalists during a visit to the Hasan Sham Camp.
	"Unfortunately, our programme here is only funded at eight percent. That shows how limited our resources are," he said.
	"These people have suffered enormously, and they go on suffering. We need more solidarity from the international community."
	Guterres .

At Iraq camp, UN chief urges more aid for people of Mosul

Berlin strongly protested today a move by the United States to slap punitive "anti-dumping" duties on steel plate products from companies in Germany and six other nations.
	Germany said the EU should consider filing a complaint with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in what threatens to turn into a major trade row under US President Donald Trump, who has promised protectionist measures to put "America First".
	German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said the step breached global trade rules and unfairly disadvantaged suppliers in Germany, as well as in Austria, Belgium, France, Italy, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.
	The former economy minister warned that to deliberately violate WTO rules "is a dangerous step" and that "Europeans cannot accept this".
	He said he had noted "with utter incomprehension" the decision by the US Commerce Department on imports of carbon and alloy steel plate products that impacts German companies Salzgitter AG and Dillinger Huette.
	"Despite our efforts and .

Germany protests US steel duties against seven countries

Venezuela today rejected accusations that a Supreme Court move to seize the powers of the opposition-majority legislature amounted to a coup, lashing out at its critics as "imperialists."
	International condemnation poured in after the high court's decision late Wednesday, which effectively dissolved the legislature and tightened socialist President Nicolas Maduro's grip on power.
	The United States, the European Union, the head of the Organization of American States (OAS) and a host of Latin American countries all condemned the move.
	Venezuela accused its neighbors of being beholden to the United States, which Maduro accuses of plotting to oust him.
	"Venezuela repudiates this onslaught by intolerant, right-wing and pro-imperialist governments in Latin America under the orders of the US State Department," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
	"It is false that there has been a coup d'etat in Venezuela. On the contrary, its institutions have adopted corrective legal measures to .

Venezuela rejects coup accusations

A Palestinian prisoner freed after 17 years in an Israeli jail for a murder he was later acquitted of said he felt reborn today, after returning to his family in Gaza.
	Hatem al-Maghari was arrested and convicted of murder after the brutal lynching of two Israeli soldiers in 2000, but was released this week after new evidence emerged, the Israeli army said.
	He arrived in Gaza overnight, he said, and returned to his family in Rafah in the south of the Palestinian enclave.
	"The feeling of freedom is indescribable," he told AFP by phone from his family home. "I didn't kill anyone."
	"I am reborn, I felt major injustice and oppression in prison."
	Maghari said he was working as a police officer in the Palestinian city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank when two Israeli reservists drove into the city by mistake.
	They were taken to a police station for their own safety but images filmed by an Italian television channel showed the crowd storming the station.
	Later, the crowd was seen .

Palestinian 'reborn' after Israel murder sentence revoked

Michael Flynn has "a story to tell," his lawyer has said, amid reports that the ousted US national security advisor has offered to testify in exchange for immunity about potential ties between Donald Trump's presidential campaign and Russia.
	Flynn proposed his deal to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the House and Senate intelligence committees, The Wall Street Journal reported late yesterday.
	A close advisor of Trump's 2016 campaign, Flynn was forced to step down just weeks into the security job last month.
	His resignation came after it emerged that he made misleading statements about talks he held with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the presidential transition concerning Washington's sanctions on Moscow.
	Trump himself appeared to offer legal advice on the issue, tweeting: "Mike Flynn should ask for immunity in that this is a witch hunt (excuse for big election loss), by media & Dems, of historic proportion!"
	The Journal said it wasn't clear what exactly ...

Ex-Trump advisor Flynn offers testimony for immunity: report

The sacking of South Africa's respected Indian-origin finance minister Pravin Gordhan in a cabinet purge pitched the ruling ANC party into chaos today, creating one of its biggest tests since leading the fight against apartheid.
	The country's Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa launched a unprecedented verbal attack on President Jacob Zuma, whose midnight reshuffle sent the rand currency plunging and triggered accusations that he was promoting graft.
	Zuma's axing of finance minister Gordhan also unleashed a wave of opposition in the African National Congress, which came to power under Nelson Mandela in the euphoric 1994 elections but has suffered declining support.
	Gordhan was widely seen as a competent manager of one of the world's most important emerging economies.
	Ramaphosa went public with his anger, openly attacking his boss.
	"I told him that I would not agree with him," Ramaphosa told reporters.
	"There are quite a number of other colleagues and comrades who are unhappy about .

Sacking triggers civil war in S Africa's ruling ANC

Germany's upper house of parliament today approved a controversial law imposing tolls on the country's famous Autobahns (motorways), in the face of objections from neighbouring countries who say it discriminates against foreign drivers.
	Austria immediately announced it would file a legal challenge with the European Court of Justice.
	The law is the result of a compromise struck with the European Commission last month, after it threatened to take Germany to court if the toll project was not made fairer to foreigners.
	It includes lower costs for the short-term passes most likely to be used by visitors, with prices for a 10-day pass now starting at 2.50 euros (USD 2.67) for the most environmentally friendly cars.
	The price for an annual pass will be capped at 130 euros for German and foreign cars, but German-registered drivers will essentially be refunded the money thanks to a matching reduction on their motor vehicle tax bill.
	Berlin's plans have angered neighbouring Austria, ...

German parliament passes controversial Autobahn toll

FIFA said today that it had sent a 1,300-page internal report to Swiss authorities investigating corruption and that Bern will share the findings with US officials also probing graft in football.
     Open criminal investigations in both countries targeting former football executives prevented FIFA from disclosing details of its investigation, the body said in a statement.
     But a source familiar with the FIFA report told AFP it "contains a lot of emails, contracts (and) will be helpful to the authorities".
     FIFA began its investigation in June 2015, one month after Swiss police acting on a US warrant raided a Zurich hotel and arrested seven football executives, triggering the largest corruption scandal in the history of the sport.
     The recently-completed FIFA report is based on a review of more than 2.5 million documents, interviews with "key witnesses" and is focused on "issues of primary concern to the Swiss and US authorities", the statement said.
     US prosecutors in 

FIFA sends internal graft probe to Swiss prosecutors

Iran has banned some of its women players from billiard sports competitions for a year for violating the Islamic codes of conduct at a tournament in China, sporting authorities announced.
	The Disciplinary Committee of Bowling, Billiard and Boxing Federation did not reveal the nature of the alleged offences, saying it would name the transgressors later.
	"Women sent to China Open (billiard) competitions will be banned from all domestic and foreign competitions for one year for violating the Islamic code," it said late yesterday, according to the ISNA and Tasnim news agencies.
	The category of billiard sports includes billiards, pool and snooker.
	Since the 1979 revolution, Iran has required women to wear the Islamic headscarf in public.
	The Islamic code also forbids women touching, dancing or singing with men outside their families.
	Women are only allowed to show their face, hands and feet in public and are supposed to wear only modest colours.
	Over the years, however, women have ..

Iranian women players snookered for 'un-Islamic' acts

Ukraine's army said today it has suffered more losses in the fight against pro-Russian insurgents in the east as tensions in the three-year conflict simmered.
	The latest deaths were announced as US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said he would be holding talks with NATO allies in Brussels about Russia's "aggression" in Ukraine.
	Two Ukrainian servicemen were killed and 13 others injured over the past 24 hours when their positions came under rebel fire, the the Ukrainian military said in a statement.
	The deaths bring the military casualty toll to eight since the start of the week.
	Ukraine's security service also said a colonel had been killed in a car blast in the government-controlled city of Mariupol, located near the frontline. The local prosecutor's office branded it a "terrorist act".
	Two civilians were also killed in shelling in the city of Yasynuvata, just north of the separatist stronghold of Donetsk, the rebel news agency reported.
	Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko ...

Five killed in east Ukraine as tensions simmer

Spain must have a say over whether any deal after Brexit applies to the British territory of Gibraltar, over which London and Madrid have rowed for 300 years, EU guidelines said today.
	"After the United Kingdom leaves the union, no agreement between the EU and the United Kingdom may apply to the territory of Gibraltar without the agreement between the Kingdom of Spain and the United Kingdom," the guidelines released by EU president Donald Tusk say.
	The tiny British overseas territory on Spain's southern tip has long been the subject of an acrimonious sovereignty row between London and Madrid, which wants Gibraltar back after it was ceded to Britain in 1713.
	Spain has proposed that Gibraltar be allowed to remain in the EU in exchange for shared sovereignty with Britain over the Rock.
	But residents overwhelmingly voted to remain with Britain in two sovereignty referendums in 1967 and 2002.
	The leaders of the remaining 27 EU countries -- including Spain but excluding Britain -- are .

Spain must have say over Gibraltar after Brexit: EU guidelines

Hungary's combative Prime Minister Viktor Orban deepened his row with George Soros today, saying a prestigious Budapest university founded by the US billionaire was cheating students by breaking rules.
	Orban has long accused Hungarian-born Soros of meddling in central and eastern Europe and of seeking to undermine the continent by backing mass immigration.
	"Cheating is cheating... It doesn't matter if you are a billionaire, you are not above the law," Orban said during an interview on public radio.
	The Central European University (CEU), set up in 1991 after the end of communism and part-funded by Soros, said in a statement that it "utterly rejects" Orban's allegations.
	The 53-year-old far-right premier personally received a Soros grant in the 1980s to study abroad. He has been a leading opponent in the EU of immigration, calling it a threat to Europe's Christian identity.
	His anti-Soros quest intensified on Tuesday with the publication of proposed legislation that would tighten ..

Soros-backed university is 'cheating', says Hungary PM

Britain's commitment to EU security is "unconditional" and will not be used as leverage in its negotiations to leave the bloc, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said today.
	In formally notifying the EU this week of Britain's intention to leave, Prime Minister Theresa May upset European capitals with her warning that failure to clinch a deal on trade would weaken the fight against terrorism.
	"I want to stress the UK's commitment to the defence and security of this region, Europe, is unconditional," Johnson said upon arriving for talks with NATO foreign ministers in Brussels.
	"It is not some bargaining chip in any negotiations that may be taking place elsewhere in this capital. We make an unconditional commitment to the defence and security of Europe."
	He added: "We profoundly believe it is in the interest of the stability and prosperity of the whole transatlantic area."
	The row came as some of the EU's top leaders fleshed out their strategy for the tough talks ahead as the ..

AFP

AFP

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