US President Donald Trump's special envoy Jason Greenblatt has met Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, as the White House put out feelers on reviving Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
	The US State Department described the yesterday's visit by Trump's special representative for international negotiations as an orientation trip to enable him to get a sense of how "we can create a climate that leads to eventual peace negotiations".
	"I hope that we can do some good things together," Netanyahu told Greenblatt at the start of their meeting, according to a video posted by the premier's office.
	Greenblatt replied: "I think we're gonna do great things together."
	He is due to meet Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah on Tuesday.
	In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters Greenblatt would be doing "a lot of listening, discussing the views of the leadership in the region, getting their perspectives on the ..

Trump envoy meets Netanyahu in Jerusalem

PTI Automatic

Turkey has halted high level relations with the Netherlands, citing the Dutch government's barring of Turkish politicians from holding rallies ahead of a referendum on a new constitution.
	"Until the Netherlands compensates for what it has done, high level relations and planned meetings at a ministerial and higher level have been suspended," said Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus after a cabinet meeting in Ankara yesterday.

Turkey suspends high level relations with Netherlands

Millions of Americans braced for potentially the worst winter storm of the season with blizzards forecast to dump up to two feet of snow on the East Coast tomorrow, closing schools and spelling travel chaos.
	The looming storm forced the postponement of the first Washington meeting between President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel from tomorrow until Friday, White House spokesman Sean Spicer announced.
	The National Weather Service issued a 24-hour blizzard warning from midnight today for New York, America's financial capital and largest city, stretching north into Connecticut and south into New Jersey.
	Additional winter storm warnings were posted from southern Maine to Virginia, south of Washington, where the National Park Service warned that the extreme cold could wipe out up to 90 per cent of the city's famed cherry blossoms.
	Thousands of flights have been cancelled over the next two days, with airports in New York, Boston, Baltimore, Washington and Philadelphia .

Millions in US Northeast brace for major snowstorm

At least 65 people were killed in a giant landslide at Ethiopia's largest rubbish dump this weekend, officials said today, in a tragedy that saw entire families including children buried alive.
	"The rescue operation is still ongoing, security personnel and rescuers are trying their level best" to locate any possible survivors, while searching for the dead, Communication Minister Negeri Lencho said.
	Police and firefighters combing a "vast area" at the dump outside Addis Ababa found bodies throughout the day, Lencho told AFP.
	The disaster on Saturday at the dump flattened dozens of homes of people living in the Koshe dump when part of the largest pile of rubbish collapsed.
	"The number of dead has reached 65," said Dagmawit Moges, head of the city communications bureau.
	Many of the victims were squatters who scavenged for a living in the 30-hectare (74-acre) dump.
	"Those at the top (of the dump) were taken by this pile, because it split and people could not make (their) way out of .

Ethiopia rubbish landslide death toll soars to 65

A suicide car bomber rammed into a bus carrying employees of one of Afghanistan's biggest telecom companies during rush hour today, just days after a deadly insurgent assault on the country's largest military hospital.
	At least one woman was killed and 19 others wounded in the powerful blast, which left the Roshan Telecom bus badly mangled and the area littered with smouldering debris and twisted metal.
	No group has so far claimed responsibility for the assault, but it comes as the Taliban step up attacks even before the official start of the annual spring offensive.
	"Kabul Police have arrested three suspects related to an explosion in which 19 civilians, including four women, were wounded and one woman was killed," interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said on Twitter.
	A Roshan official confirmed to AFP that a number of employees were wounded in the attack, but declined to say whether their vehicle was the intended target.
	Security officials cordoned off the area as ...

Blast destroys telecom company bus in Kabul rush hour

Costa Rican authorities seized three quarters of a ton of cocaine jettisoned from a boat by its five-man crew, the public security ministry said today.
	The vessel was intercepted during a weekend operation off the southern Pacific coast of the Central American country.
	In waters nearby, authorities recovered 20 floating bundles found to contain 773 kilograms of cocaine.
	The five suspects arrested carried no identity documents. They have been detained and face charges of international drug trafficking.
	Central America is one of the main routes for drugs headed from South America to the United States and Europe.

Costa Rica seizes three-quarters of a tonne of cocaine

A group of environmental activists vandalised President Donald Trump's luxury ocean-front golf course in southern California, carving a message into the grass near the fifth hole, police said today.
	The group, which calls itself an "anonymous environmental activist collective", sent The Washington Post a video showing four people scaling a fence at the Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes, around 50 kilometres south of downtown Los Angeles.
	The intruders are seen in the grainy 64-second video wearing dark clothing and using gardening tools to carve six-foot letters into the grass reading: "NO MORE TIGERS. NO MORE WOODS."
	They sent a statement to the newspaper explaining the vandalism was a response to the Trump administration's "blatant disregard for the environment".
	Lt David Sprengel of the Lomita Sheriff's Station told AFP the vandalism had occurred around 8:30 am (1530 GMT) yesterday.
	The 18-hole course, ranked among the country's top 100 by Golf Magazine, is ...

Trump golf course in California vandalised: Police

German Chancellor Angela Merkel regards accusations by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that she supports "terrorists" as "clearly absurd", her spokesman Steffen Seibert said late today.
	"The chancellor has no intention of taking part in a game of provocation," Seibert said in a brief written statement. "These accusations are clearly absurd."
	Erdogan, whose government is embroiled in a spiralling row with European governments over the cancellation of pro-Ankara rallies on their soil, had shortly earlier asked Merkel why she was "hiding terrorists" in her territory, accusing Berlin of not responding to 4,500 dossiers sent by Ankara on terror suspects.
	"Mrs Merkel, why are you hiding terrorists in your country?... Why are you not doing anything?" Erdogan said in an interview with A-Haber television. "Mrs Merkel, you are supporting terrorists," he added.
	The scathing broadside against Merkel came hours after the European Union urged him to avoid inflammatory rhetoric in a ...

Merkel says Erdogan terror comments 'absurd'

Syria's future will be decided only after "getting rid of extremists" and achieving political reconciliation, the country's President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview published today.
	As the war that has ravaged his country approaches its seventh year, Assad told reporters it was "still early to talk about" his vision for Syria's future.
	"It's a luxury now to talk about politics while you're going to be killed maybe in a few minutes, you have terrorist attacks," he told a group of Western journalists, state news agency SANA said.
	"So this is the priority, getting rid of the extremists, the political reconciliation in the different areas, this is another priority," he added.
	"When you achieve these two, you can talk about every discussion you want to regarding any issue."
	SANA did not specify which outlets the Western journalists were from.
	Assad's comments come ahead of the six-year anniversary of Syria's conflict, which began in March 2011 with anti- government ...

'Fighting extremism' top priority: Syria's Assad

Intel will buy Israeli car tech firm Mobileye for more than USD 15 billion, the companies said today, in a deal signalling the US computer chip giant's commitment to technology for self-driving vehicles.
	Israeli media reported that the deal worth approximately USD 15.3 billion was the largest ever cross-border acquisition for an Israeli tech firm.
	It comes with Intel and Mobileye previously collaborating with German automaker BMW to develop self-driving cars.
	Intel and Mobileye said they expected to combine to become a global leader in "autonomous driving" that could provide the technology at a lower cost.
	"The combination is expected to accelerate innovation for the automotive industry and position Intel as a leading technology provider in the fast-growing market for highly and fully autonomous vehicles," it said.
	"Intel estimates the vehicle systems, data and services market opportunity to be up to USD 70 billion by 2030."
	Last year, BMW announced that it was joining forces ...

Intel buying Israeli car tech firm Mobileye for USD 15 bn

Victims of Croatia's pro-Nazi World War II regime and their relatives are seeking USD 3.5 billion in damages in a suit filed in the United States, local media and officials said today.
	The group wants compensation from the Croatian government for property seized from ethnic Serbs, Roma and Jews, as well as for their suffering during the war, state-run HRT television reported.
	The suit was filed in a Chicago court last May. Croatia's foreign ministry confirmed to AFP that it had received a "note from the US embassy in Zagreb regarding the suit" on February 27 and Zagreb was given a two-month deadline to respond.
	Local legal experts said the case was unfounded as the Croatian government is not the legal heir to the wartime Independent State of Croatia (NDH) and cannot be held responsible for the damages inflicted by it.
	The foreign ministry said in a statement that it "stresses that Croatia is not a successor" to the regime.
	After World War II and the collapse of the pro-Nazi ...

Victims of Croatia WWII regime seek billions in damages

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today accused German Chancellor Angela Merkel of "supporting terrorists", in a spiralling row with EU states after the blocking of poll rallies by ministers.
	"Mrs Merkel, why are you hiding terrorists in your country?... Why are you not doing anything?" Erdogan said in an interview with A-Haber television, accusing Berlin of not responding to 4,500 dossiers sent by Ankara on terror suspects.
	"Mrs Merkel, you are supporting terrorists," he added.
	Erdogan said Germany, which Turkey has long accused of harbouring Kurdish militants and wanted suspects from the failed July 15 coup, was "giving support to terror in a ruthless way".
	He also lambasted Merkel for her public backing of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in the diplomatic crisis sparked by The Hague's refusal to let Turkish ministers hold rallies in the country ahead of an April 16 referendum on expanding Erdogan's powers.
	German authorities had also last week blocked rallies from taking .

Erdogan accuses Merkel of 'supporting terrorists'

President Donald Trump's meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel has been postponed from tomorrow until Friday due to a major snow storm closing in on the US East Coast, the White House said.
	"The president spoke to the Chancellor of Germany. They agreed due to the weather that the meeting should be postponed, rescheduled to March 17th," Trump's spokesman Sean Spicer told reporters.

Snow postpones Trump-Merkel talks until Friday

Queen Elizabeth II will host leaders from around the Commonwealth in 2018, London announced today, as Britain seeks to boost trade with its historic allies as it leaves the EU.
	The biennial summit in April next year will take place in London and Windsor, west of the capital, and will be staged for the first time at Buckingham Palace.
	The 90-year-old queen is the symbolic head of the Commonwealth and the 2018 summit might be the last one she attends in person, having discontinued long-haul travel for the summits.
	As Britain leaves the European Union and becomes free to strike its own trade deals, it is openly looking to its historic partners in the Commonwealth and the 2018 summit will likely focus on commerce.
	Commonwealth trade ministers met for the first time in 11 years last week in a push to boost business by capitalising on their shared legal systems, regulation and language.
	The Commonwealth brings together around a third of the world's population and a quarter of its ...

Eyeing post-Brexit trade, Queen to host Commonwealth heads

Two civilians and two Malian soldiers were killed today in an attack blamed on jihadists in the country's restive north.
	Mali's defence ministry confirmed two soldiers were killed and two injured during the assault by armed men close to the village of Fafa, which lies near the border with Niger.
	Reinforcements were on their way to the area, the ministry said.
	A security source reached by AFP from the nearby town of Ansongo said two civilians also lost their lives.
	"We have unfortunately lost two men. Two civilians were also killed. Two army vehicles were taken," the source said, blaming jihadists for the attack.
	The soldiers were in the area to protect stallholders, according to the same source.
	In 2012, Mali's north fell under the control of Tuareg-led rebels and jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda who were largely ousted by a French-led military operation in January 2013.
	The implementation of a 2015 peace accord between militias and the government has however been piecemeal, .

'Jihadists' kill civilians, soldiers in north Mali

South Africa and Nigeria today said they would launch a jointly run "early warning" system to track and deter xenophobic attacks against Nigerian migrants.
	South African foreign minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane met her Nigerian counterpart Geoffrey Onyeama in Pretoria in a bid to diffuse soaring tensions over a recent string of attacks on migrants living in the rainbow nation.
	"The early warning centre would allow us keep each other abreast of issues and help prevent violence," Nkoana-Mashabane said.
	There were several incidents last month of South African locals attacking migrants from Africa and elsewhere and their businesses in both the administrative capital Pretoria and the commercial capital Johannesburg.
	Many locals have alleged that the targets were brothels and drug dens being run by migrants from elsewhere in Africa, including Nigeria.
	More than 20 shops were targeted in Atteridgeville, outside Pretoria, while residents in Rosettenville, south of Johannesburg, attacked ..

South Africa, Nigeria to form xenophobia-busting monitor

Bangladesh will be looking to overcome their recent dismal form as the perennial minnows try to make their 100th Test appearance an occasion to celebrate against Sri Lanka here.
     Test cricket's newest entrants have showed occasional promise since they were drafted into the elite cricket competition in 2000 but have mostly embarrassed their loyal fans with a series of below-par performances in the game's most enduring format.
     They go into Wednesday's Test at the P Saravanamuttu Stadium trailing the two-match series 0-1 after last week's crushing 259-run loss at Galle -- their 76th defeat and the fourth in a row in 99 Test matches.
     No other Test-playing country has lost so many times in their first 100 Test matches and the dubious honour highlights Bangladesh's struggle in the five-day format over the past 17 years.
	So far they have won only eight Test matches, one more than New Zealand, who had only seven wins in their first 100 Tests, though the Kiwis managed to eke out 

Bangladesh hope to break losing streak in 100th Test

Two experts from the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo have been kidnapped in the violence-wracked central Kasai region, UN and Congolese sources said today.
	The two have been missing since yesterday, according to Charles-Antoine Bambara, the spokesman for the MONUSCO peacekeeping mission.
	One of the victims is a US national, the other a Swede, Congolese government spokesman Lambert Mende told AFP.
	"They were kidnapped at a bridge over the Moyo river and taken to the forest by unknown assailants," Mende said.
	Four Congolese nationals - three motorcycle-taxi drivers and an interpreter - were also taken hostage, he added.
	The Congolese and UN officials said efforts to locate the victims were under way.
	A Uruguayan peacekeeper was shot and injured last week in the same region, which has been wracked by a rebellion since September.
	The uprising erupted after government forces in August killed a tribal chief and militia leader, Kamwina Nsapu, who had ...

2 foreign UN experts kidnapped in DR Congo

China's top securities regulator has pledged to speed up approvals of initial public offerings (IPOs), as the government seeks to attract capital and boost domestic growth.
	Buoyed by the capital market's recovery from a 2015 rout, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) yesterday indicated it would loosen its grip on the nation's stock markets.
	The CSRC decides which companies offer shares and when, as well as setting guidelines for the number of shares and their price -- all of which are determined by the market in other countries.
	Regulators responded to the equities rout in the summer of 2015 by freezing new IPOs in an effort to stabilise stock prices, but CSRC chairman Liu Shiyu vowed to end this practice and introduce "new progress and breakthroughs".
	More than 600 companies seeking to list in the market have struggled with long wait times, followed by seemingly arbitrary approvals.
	Liu said faster approvals, particularly for companies in poverty-stricken counties, 

China pledges to speed up approval of stock listings

Indonesian police shot dead a man linked to the Islamic State (IS) group during a firefight at a government office today after a small bomb was set off nearby.
	No one apart from the attacker was hurt in the incident in the city of Bandung on Java island, which started with a pressure cooker bomb exploding in a park before the gunbattle erupted in the office opposite.
	Police said the attacker was a former terror convict from an IS-supporting network called Jamaah Ansharut Daulah, which has been blamed for a series of recent attacks in the Muslim-majority country including an assault in Jakarta last year.
	After the blast at about 8:30 am, the attacker fled into a building belonging to local authorities opposite the park and set it ablaze.
	Police exchanged fire during an hour-long standoff with the man. He was shot in the stomach and died later in hospital.
	Everyone was evacuated from the building unhurt. Police seized guns and two backpacks carried by the attacker but did not say ..

IS-linked Indonesian shot dead after bomb attack

Thailand's generals took centre stage today at a ceremony blessing the start of construction of an enormous funeral pyre for the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej, a vivid illustration of the army's intimate links to the palace.
	Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha, a former army chief who seized power in 2014, led the ceremony, which saw a crane erect the first of a series of giant steel pillars that will form the cornerstones of what will be a largely wooden pyre next to Bangkok's sprawling Grand Palace.
	The ceremony was infused with the religious ritual that permeates palace life with Buddhist monks chanting mantras and Hindu Brahmin priests blowing conches as workers in hard hats fixed the pillar to a concrete plinth.
	Royal cremations in Thailand are grand events. No budget has been publicly released but authorities are spending millions of dollars giving Bhumibol a huge send off.
	Few Thais have ever seen a monarch's funeral.
	The widely admired Bhumibol was the world's longest serving 

AFP

AFP

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