Second blast hits Damascus after court attack: state TV.

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Millions of Dutch voters went to the polls today in an election overshadowed by a blazing diplomatic row with Turkey, with all eyes on the fate of far-right anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders.
	Following last year's shock Brexit referendum, and Donald Trump's victory in the US, the Dutch vote is being closely watched to gauge support for populism in Europe ahead of other elections this year.
	Wilders voted in a primary school in The Hague, mobbed by television cameras, just after final opinion polls showed he was slipping behind the Liberal VVD party of outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
	"Whatever the outcome of the election today the genie will not go back into the bottle. And this patriotic revolution, whether today or tomorrow, will stay," Wilders said, dismissing media comparisons with Trump.
	"I see this rightwing populist making gains and I will not live in such a world," said Esther Zand, 52, who voted in the same school for Labour and against Wilders.
	"He's a rather irritating ...

Dutch vote in key test for far-right

Dinesh Chandimal rode his luck to score an unbeaten half-century for Sri Lanka against Bangladesh in Colombo Wednesday after the tourists made a dream start to their 100th Test match.
     The home side reached 238-7 before bad light stopped the opening day's play, recovering from 70-4 on a turning pitch at the P. Sara Oval, owing mainly to Chandimal's patient 86 not out.
     Chandimal shared a 66-run stand with Dhananjaya de Silva and then added 44 and 43 runs with Niroshan Dickwella and captain Rangana Herath to halt what had been a quick procession of wickets.
     Chandimal, who faced 210 balls and hit four fours in his knock, was given out lbw on 38 off the bowling of left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan but the decision was overturned following a review.
     He then top-edged another left-arm spinner Taijul Islam to fine leg on 46 but was given a benefit of the doubt by the third umpire as TV replays on whether Mehedi Hasan had caught him cleanly were inconclusive.
     Coming ...

Gritty Chandimal lifts Sri Lanka against Bangladesh

A suicide bomber today attacked a courthouse in the centre of the Syrian capital, killing at least 25 people and wounding others, state media reported.
	"The preliminary toll in the terrorist suicide bombing at the old palace of justice building is 25 dead and a number of wounded," state news agency SANA reported, citing a Damascus police source.
	An AFP correspondent at the scene in the Hamidiyeh neighbourhood said security forces had cordoned off the area and roads leading to it were blocked as ambulances and firefighters rushed to the building.
	The courthouse contains both an Islamic religious tribunal charged with personal matters, and a criminal court.
	"We were terrified because the sound of the explosion was enormous," a lawyer in the building during the attack said.
	"We took refuge in the library which is on a higher floor," the lawyer added, speaking on condition of anonymity.
	"It was a bloody scene."
	A local prosecutor told state television: "The terrorist targeted ...

Suicide bomber kills 25 at Damascus courthouse: state media

OPEC countries are complying with a landmark deal to reduce a worldwide glut in oil, but it will take some time yet before the oil market feels the full impact of the reduction in output and prices stabilise, the International Energy Agency said today.
	"The implementation of the OPEC production agreement appears in February to have maintained the solid start seen in January, the IEA said in its latest monthly report.
	"OPEC kept up robust adherence to its ... Supply cut. For the first two months of the deal the compliance rate averaged 98 percent," it said, adding that "global oil supplies rose in February as (both) OPEC and non-OPEC producers pumped more."
	At the end of November, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries agreed to cut output by 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) from January 1, initially for a period of six months.
	Then in December, non-OPEC producers led by Russia agreed to cut their own output to 558,000 bpd.
	The aim was to reduce a glut in global oil ...

Impact of OPEC oil cuts will take time to be felt: IEA

Afghanistan's defense ministry today shrugged off allegations that insiders were involved in a catastrophic insurgent attack on the country's largest military hospital, as it faces scathing public criticism over the assault.
	Gunmen disguised as doctors stormed Sardar Daud Khan hospital in Kabul last Wednesday, with multiple surviving staff telling AFP that insiders including two interns were among the attackers.
	The carnage inside the heavily guarded hospital points at a spectacular intelligence failure and spotlights how insurgents have managed to infiltrate top government and military institutions in Afghanistan.
	"We have no evidence it was an insider job," Deputy Defense Minister Helaludin Helal, head of a government investigation team, told reporters.
	"The attackers entered the hospital using a Corolla car. One blew himself up and four others entered the building."
	He said 24 hospital and military officials accused of "negligence of duty" are being prosecuted.
	Helal said 50 .

Afghan military rejects insiders aided hospital attack

Forces loyal to Libya's UN-backed unity government overran the headquarters of a rival militia today as artillery exchanges rocked the capital for a third day, a security source said.
	Libya has experienced years of violence and lawlessness since the NATO-backed ouster of longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011, with rival parliaments and governments trading barbs and militias fighting over territory and the country's vast oil wealth.
	Militia loyal to former prime minister Khalifa Ghweil, whose administration was replaced by the UN-backed Government of National Accord last year, have stepped up a campaign of defiance against its authority.
	But overnight, government forces launched an assault on the militia's headquarters in the Guest Palace, a complex of luxury villas in the city centre, and overran it after heavy fighting.
	"It's over. Ghweil's forces have pulled out and GNA forces have taken control of the area," a witness told AFP.
	A security source confirmed the militia's ...

Libya government forces overrun Tripoli militia HQ

EU chiefs today blasted Turkey's Nazi comparisons with the Netherlands and Germany as "detached from reality" and incompatible with its ambitions to join the bloc.
	The EU comments came as Dutch voters went to the polls in a key test of right-wing populist strength ahead of elections in France and Germany later this year.
	But the Dutch vote has been overshadowed by a blazing diplomatic row after the government banned Turkish ministers from addressing a pro-Ankara rally in Rotterdam.
	European Union president Donald Tusk said no one could make comparisons between events in Rotterdam and the Nazi period, when the city was "brutally destroyed" by the Germans.
	"If anyone sees fascism in Rotterdam, they are completely detached from reality. We all show solidarity with the Netherlands," Tusk told the European Parliament in the French city of Strasbourg.
	Tusk repeated the statement in Dutch to applause from MEPs.
	European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said he was "scandalised" by .

EU says Turkey Nazi jibes 'detached from reality'

Courthouse suicide bombing kills at least 25 in the

State prosecutors in southern Germany said today they had searched offices belonging to carmaker Audi over parent company Volkswagen's diesel emissions cheating scandal.
	Investigators from Bavaria, Baden-Wuerttemberg and Lower Saxony states searched "sites belonging to Audi AG and seven other locations" on suspicion of "fraud and illegal advertising", Munich prosecutors said in a statement.
	The investigation relates to some 80,000 vehicles fitted with Audi 3.0-litre V6 diesel engines sold in the United States between 2009 and 2015, prosecutors said.
	"There is suspicion that devices were built into these vehicles to manipulate emissions readings and conform to US emissions limits, without the buyers being informed," they continued.
	"Prosecutors from Munich and Stuttgart searched offices at our sites in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm," an Audi spokesman confirmed to AFP, adding that "we are cooperating fully with the authorities."
	Audi parent Volkswagen admitted in late 2015 to ...

German prosecutors search Audi offices over 'dieselgate'

Finance ministers from the world's top nations gather in Germany on Friday as fears grow that US President Donald Trump could upend the global economic order with his America First policy.
	Within two months of moving into the White House, Trump has already torn up the trans-Pacific free trade pact, threatened punitive tariffs against multinationals with factories outside the United States and attacked "currency manipulation" by export giant China.
	US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin makes his first official foreign foray when he joins the G20 gathering of finance ministers and central bankers from Friday in the western German spa town of Baden-Baden.
	The former Goldman Sachs banker faces scrutiny by Washington's key trading partners for clues on whether the world's biggest economy fully intends to abandon its long- standing support of open markets and free trade.
	Germany adopted a conciliatory tone ahead of the meeting, shrugging off Trump's attacks against Berlin over its ...

G20 finance ministers to meet under America First shadow

Dinesh Chandimal rode his luck to score an unbeaten half-century for Sri Lanka against Bangladesh in Colombo Wednesday after the tourists made a dream start to their 100th Test match.
     The home side reached 149-5 by tea on the first day, recovering from 70-4 on a turning pitch at the P. Sara Oval, owing mainly to Chandimal's 54 not out at the interval.
     Chandimal shared a 66-run stand with Dhananjaya de Silva to halt what had become a quick procession of wickets in a slow-scoring innings.
     Chandimal was given out lbw on 38 off the bowling of left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan but the decision was overturned after the batsman asked for a review.
     He then top-edged another left-arm spinner Taijul Islam to fine leg on 46 but was given a benefit of doubt by the third umpire as TV replays regarding whether Mehedi Hasan had caught him cleanly were inconclusive.
     Coming into the side for Lahiru Kumara as Sri Lanka's only change from their 259-run win in the first Test in ...

Chandimal lifts Sri Lanka against Bangladesh

Four female suicide bombers blew themselves up near a bus station in northeastern Nigeria today, killing two people, the country's disaster agency said.
	The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said the blasts occurred at about 1:15 am (local time) in the Usmanti area on the outskirts of Maiduguri, a city which has been hit by several similar attacks in recent weeks.
	"Two men were killed due to the explosion while about 16 injured people were administered first aid," the agency's spokesman for the northeast, Ibrahim Abdulkadir, said in a statement.
	Usmanti is near a sprawling camp for people who have been driven from the remote countryside by Boko Haram violence and, increasingly, the need for food.
	The Islamist group has frequently used young women and girls as human bombs.
	On Saturday, civilian militia members assisting the military with security shot and killed two female bombers, who NEMA said were 18-years-old, as they tried to enter Maiduguri, the capital of Borno ...

Female suicide bombers kill two in Nigeria

New Zealand bowling spearhead Trent Boult has been ruled out of the second Test starting in Wellington tomorrow, lifting South Africa's chances of going one up in the series.
     Boult pulled up lame during South Africa's second innings in the drawn first Test in Dunedin to be the second senior player to be sidelined after Ross Taylor suffered a calf tear.
     Neither side had finalised their line up on Wednesday for what should be a seam-friendly Basin Reserve wicket, but South African captain Faf du Plessis said the absence of Boult and Taylor would hurt New Zealand.
     "If you lose two key players like that you definitely feel you're a little bit light," he said.
     "For a new (batsman) coming in it's important for us to put pressure on him and not make him feel comfortable. From a bowling perspective Boult is a huge loss."
     With the first Test drawn, Wellington is effectively the start of a two-Test series which du Plessis said heightened the need to get a result.
     ..

South Africa buoyed as New Zealand lose Boult

Bangladesh made a strong start to their 100th Test today as they reduced Sri Lanka to 70-4 at lunch on the opening day of their match in Colombo, with teenage off-spinner Mehedi Hasan taking two wickets.
     Fast bowlers Mustafizur Rahman and Subashis Roy also each claimed a wicket apiece as the visitors made early inroads in their quest to draw level in the second match of a two-Test series.
     Mustafizur gave the visitors a dream start in the milestone Test when he forced an edge from opener Dimuth Karunaratne, having cranked up the pressure on the batsmen by bowling three successive maidens.
     Mehedi took a brilliant catch at gully as Karunaratne departed after making just seven runs.
     Mehedi then struck in his third over, enticing Kusal Mendis out of his crease before Mushfiqur Rahim completed the stumping.
     Mendis was man-of-the-match in the first Test in Galle after scoring 194 but he departed this time having scored just five.
     Sri Lanka's troubles deepened ...

Bangladesh leave Sri Lanka struggling in second Test

OPEC countries are complying with a landmark deal to reduce a worldwide glut in oil, but global supplies nevertheless increased in February, the International Energy Agency said today.
	"The implementation of the OPEC production agreement appears in February to have maintained the solid start seen in January. For the first two months of the deal the compliance rate averaged 98 per cent," the IEA said in its latest monthly report, adding that "global oil supplies rose in February as (both) OPEC and non-OPEC producers pumped more.

Global oil supplies up, but OPEC abides by output cut: IEA

Global oil supplies up in February, but OPEC abides by

The EU will not bow to "threats" from Britain that it is prepared to walk away from Brexit talks without a deal, the bloc's president Donald Tusk said today.
	"We will not be intimidated by threats and I can assure you they simply will not work," Tusk told the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France.

EU 'will not be intimidated by threats' on Brexit: Tusk

Malaysia has used a DNA sample from one of Kim Jong-Nam's children to confirm the identity of the assassinated half-brother of North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Un, the deputy prime minister said today.
	Investigators "confirmed the identity of the body as Kim Jong-Nam based on the sample obtained from his child", said Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, without elaborating further.
	The 45-year-old was poisoned with the deadly nerve agent VX in a brazen Cold War-style assassination on February 13 in Kuala Lumpur International Airport.
	Seoul has blamed Pyongyang for his death, but the North has rejected those claims and has never confirmed the identity of the victim, who was carrying a passport bearing the name of Kim Chol when he was attacked.
	Malaysia officially confirmed his identity on Friday, but refused to say whether authorities had obtained a DNA sample from next-of-kin.
	Police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said at the time that concerns "for the security of the witnesses" ...

Kim's identity confirmed using child's DNA: Malaysia

Indonesia today vowed to take action after a British-owned cruise ship smashed into pristine coral reefs and caused extensive damage, as residents of the popular tourist site lamented "paradise" had been ruined.
	The foreign ministry in Jakarta said the damage caused by Caledonian Sky could amount to a criminal act, and that authorities may try to seek the extradition of the ship's captain to Indonesia.
	Raja Ampat in eastern Indonesia is one of the most biodiverse marine habitats on Earth, and attracts intrepid travellers and divers to its palm-fringed islands surrounded by coral and fish.
	The accident happened this month when the 4,200-ton ship smashed into the reefs at low tide around Kri, one of hundreds of small islands in Raja Ampat, after taking tourists on a bird-watching expedition.
	The boat, which was carrying 102 passengers and 79 crew, became grounded on the reefs and only refloated later on a high tide. Numerous attempts to free it using a tug boat failed, and only ...

AFP

AFP

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