The United States called on Russia to "immediately" observe the cease-fire in Ukraine, accusing combined Russian-separatist forces of targeting international monitors.
	"We call on Russia and the separatist forces it backs to immediately observe the cease-fire, withdraw all heavy weapons, and allow full and unfettered access to the OSCE monitors," the State Department said.

US urges Russia to 'immediately' observe Ukraine ceasefire

PTI Automatic

Several more rounds of Syrian peace talks will be needed to reach any accord, the UN envoy bidding to kickstart the sputtering process has told the rival sides, setting out three key discussion areas.
	In a paper given to both sides, and seen by AFP today, he said that by the end of the current session "we would have a deeper shared understanding of how we can proceed in future rounds" in discussing each area.
	Syrian regime and opposition negotiators are in Geneva for a fourth round of UN-sponsored talks, but they have been overshadowed by deadly attacks on the ground.
	The talks could last until March 5, a couple of days longer than originally scheduled, according to an opposition source. The first full day of talks was Friday.
	Yesterday, suicide attacks in Syria's third city Homs killed dozens of people, leading the Damascus envoy to Geneva to demand that all opposition negotiators condemn the assault or be considered "accomplices of terrorism".
	In the paper handed out in Geneva .

UN envoy sets out framework for sputtering Syria talks

The father of a US Navy SEAL killed in a raid in Yemen criticised President Donald Trump's decision to give the go-ahead and called for an investigation in an interview published today.
	Bill Owens, the father of slain SEAL William "Ryan" Owens, told the Miami Herald he refused to speak with Trump when his son's flag-draped casket was brought home to Dover Air Force Base aboard a C-17 transport plane.
	"I told them I didn't want to make a scene about it, but my conscience wouldn't let me talk to him," Owens said, speaking out for the first time in the interview with the Herald.
	Launched January 29, six days into Trump's presidency, the raid quickly ran into trouble.
	The Navy SEALs received fire from all sides as they attacked the objective, an Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula camp.
	Air cover was called in and a V-22 tilt-rotor aircraft crash-landed during the fight and had to be destroyed on the ground.
	By the time it was over, the 36-year-old Owens was dead along with as many as 

Father of SEAL slain in Yemen calls for investigation

Stargazers applauded as they were plunged into darkness today when the moon passed in front of the sun in a spectacular "ring of fire" eclipse.
	Astronomers and enthusiasts in Argentina were among the first to see the so-called annular eclipse as it crossed South America shortly after 1200 GMT, on course for Africa.
	Staring up through special telescopes, protective glasses or homemade cardboard pinhole devices, they watched the Sun all but disappear briefly as the Moon crossed its path.
	The eclipse was to be most visible in a 100-kilometre band across Chile, Argentina, Angola, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
	More than 100 stargazers gathered today morning in the southern city of Sarmiento, the point in Argentina where the eclipse was expected to be most visible.
	"I have already seen six annular eclipses and each one was different," said Josep Masalles Roman, an enthusiast who came all the way from Barcelona in Spain.
	"This one is going to be very fine and it is ...

Stargazers applaud as moon eclipses sun

Investigators are probing the motives of a 35-year-old German student who rammed his car into a group of pedestrians, killing one person and injuring two others, officials said today, ruling out terrorism.
	The suspect is being formally held on suspicion of murder and attempted murder over yesterday's incident in the picturesque southwestern city of Heidelberg, local police and prosecutors said in a statement.
	The accused, who was shot and wounded by police after fleeing the scene on foot while wielding a knife, is in hospital recovering from surgery.
	A 73-year-old German man died from his injuries hours after being hit by the car.
	A 32-year-old Austrian and a 29-year-old Bosnian woman, both Heidelberg residents, were lightly hurt while a fourth person was able to jump out of the way, according to the statement.
	The driver was questioned by investigators for the first time today after waking up from surgery but did not comment on the accusations against him, the officials ...

German police probe driver's motive in deadly car ramming

A Sudanese female journalist and critic of government policies said today that she is under fire from hardliners who have accused her of "insulting Islam" in one of her columns.
	Shamael al-Nur said she has become a target of a radical Islamist and a section of Sudan's hardline media for criticising government public health policies in a column published on February 2 in Al-Tayar newspaper.
	Nur, 36, wrote that Islamic regimes were increasingly busy with "matters of virtue and women's dress rather than health and education issues".
	"It is easy to cut spending on health in the state budget, but it is very difficult for the ministry of health to distribute condoms," she wrote in the column on a sardonic note.
	Less than three per cent of Sudan's budget was usually allocated for health and education, according to Nur.
	Nur said she has written several articles criticising the government but that this particular column had triggered a campaign against her.
	"I wrote an article about how .

Woman scribe says being targeted by Sudan Islamic hardliners

Britain's four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah today insisted he was "a clean athlete" after a leaked United States Anti-Doping Agency report suggested that his coach had "almost certainly" broken anti-doping rules.
     "I am a clean athlete who has never broken the rules in regards to substances, methods or dosages and it is upsetting that some parts of the media, despite the clear facts, continue to try to associate me with allegations of drug misuse," Farah said in a statement.
     "As I've said many times before we all should do everything we can to have a clean sport and it is entirely right that anyone who breaks the rules should be punished."
     The USADA on Saturday confirmed it had compiled a dossier on controversial coach Alberto Salazar following a report accusing the athletics guru of dangerously using drugs to boost the performance of his athletes.
     Britain's Sunday Times said the dossier -- obtained by the Fancy Bears hacking group -- had found Salazar abused ...

'I'm a clean athlete' insists Mo Farah

France's presidential frontrunners Francois Fillon and far-right leader Marine Le Pen can expect no let-up in legal investigations targeting them ahead of elections two months away, the justice minister said today.
	The independence and neutrality of the justice system is under scrutiny ahead of a two-stage presidential election in April and May amid several high-profile probes into Fillon and Le Pen.
	Both are accused of misusing public money by using fake parliamentary aides, while Le Pen faces a separate investigation into the funding of election campaigns in 2014 and 2015.
	They deny wrongdoing and have sought to portray the investigations as politically motivated, saying they should be delayed or abandoned altogether.
	"Imagine that during the presidential campaign you can't investigate?" Justice Minister Jean-Jacques Urvoas told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper.
	"There is no law allowing a suspension like that. What would be the reason? In the name of what exception? In my ...

No legal relief as French candidates face probes

Thousands of film buffs were expected to gather in London's Trafalgar Square Sunday for a screening of "The Salesman" by Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, who is boycotting the Oscars over US President Donald Trump's policies.
	Just hours before the Oscar ceremony in Los Angeles, where the film is in the running for the Best Foreign Language Film award, the iconic central London landmark will transform into a giant open-air cinema for the 4.30pm (1630 GMT) showing.
	"It will be a great opportunity to showcase how London is an international hub of creativity and a global beacon for openness and diversity," said London mayor Sadiq Khan, who will speak before the screening.
	The Iranian filmmaker will not attend the Oscars in protest at Trump's executive order banning visitors from seven Muslim-majority countries.
	Farhadi thanked Khan and the cinema community "for this generous initiative", adding he appreciated "this invaluable show of solidarity."
	"The gathering of the audience around 

London open-air screening backs Oscar boycott director Farhadi

For the past three decade, Emilio Lopez Bautista has risen before dawn and headed to work in the farm fields of California, earning an honest living, buying a house, and steering clear of trouble.
	But today, the 66-year-old, who entered the US illegally from Mexico 30 years ago with his wife and six children, says nothing feels safe or predictable anymore.
	Lopez Bautista lives in constant fear that he or a relative could fall victim to President Donald Trump's immigration crackdown.
	"We are afraid when we step out of the house at five in the morning to go work in the fields, we are afraid while driving, we are afraid at work and we are afraid at home," said Lopez Bautista, who lives in the Coachella Valley, a rich agricultural region in southern California that is home to tens of thousands of undocumented immigrants employed as farm laborers.
	He said since Trump's immigration policies were unveiled on Tuesday, anxiety has spread like wildfire among community members.
	"I am very ..

Anxiety, tears and prayers in California's immigrant community

China's stock market regulator today denounced the "crocodiles" that prey on small investors, at a time when Beijing is trying to reassure retail investors following the crash of summer 2015.
	"In the capital market, being a financial tycoon is only a half step away from being a financial crocodile," said Liu Shiyu, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).
	China in recent days has announced investigations into insurance companies, including Evergrande Life and Foresea Life, for alleged market manipulation.
	The president of PICC, the country's first non-life insurance company, is being probed for corruption, the disciplinary organ of the ruling Communist Party said Thursday.
	Liu late last year denounced insurers engaged in debt-fuelled stock market acquisitions as "barbarians" and "thieves"
	The former banker was appointed in early 2016 with the mission of restoring confidence in financial markets after the debacle the previous summer, when the Shanghai marlet .

China regulator raps stock market 'crocodiles'

Iran's ex-president Mahmud Ahmadinejad published today an open letter to Donald Trump, welcoming his criticism of the US political system but taking issue with his visa ban and attitude to women.
	Many Iranians see the new US president as cut from the same cloth as Ahmadinejad, who shocked the establishment with his sudden rise to power in 2005, combining hardline rhetoric and populist economic policies to win a powerful following among Iran's lower classes.
	At times in the long and rambling letter, published in English and Farsi on his website, he appears to find a kindred spirit in Trump.
	"Your Excellency (Trump) has truthfully described the US political system and electoral structure as corrupt and anti-public," he writes.
	But much of the letter is spent exhorting Trump to end interventions in the Middle East and ditch the "arrogance" of past US administrations.
	Ahmadinejad also takes issue with Trump's visa ban on seven Muslim-majority countries, including Iran.
	"The presence 

Iran's Ahmadinejad writes open letter to Trump

Kim Jong-Nam was dead within 20 minutes of being attacked and would have suffered a "very painful death" as his major organs shut down, Malaysia's health minister said today.
	The estranged half-brother of the North Korean leader was killed with lethal nerve agent VX, police have revealed, after he was ambushed at Kuala Lumpur airport on February 13.
	Two women can be seen shoving something into Kim's face in leaked CCTV footage of the brazen assassination before he seeks help.
	"He died in the ambulance. He fainted in the clinic," Health Minister S Subramaniam told reporters.
	"From the time of the onset (of the attack) he died within 15 to 20 minutes."
	Autopsy results suggested the 45-year-old died from "very serious paralysis" due to a lethal nerve agent, Subramaniam said earlier Sunday.
	Police are holding two women suspected of staging the attack as well as a North Korean man.
	They want to speak to seven other North Koreans including a senior embassy official, but four of the ..

'Kim suffered painful death within 20 minutes of attack'

Russia today released a prominent opposition activist from jail, after a court quashed a sentence that made him the only person convicted under a tough law against public protests.
	Ildar Dadin, 34, emerged from a Siberian penal colony after some 15 months behind bars for repeatedly holding unsanctioned rallies against President Vladimir Putin's rule.
	Dadin -- who was declared a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International -- has complained of torture and abuse behind bars, and his case became a cause celebre for those who oppose the Kremlin.
	"I will continue to fight against Putin's fascist regime," Dadin said in footage broadcast online by the independent Dozhd channel.
	"I will fight so that human rights are respected in Russia."
	Russia's Supreme Court on Wednesday overturned Dadin's December 2015 imprisonment and ordered he be freed.
	He was originally sentenced to three years in jail, but that sentence was reduced and he currently had some six months left to run.
	Dadin's ..

Russia frees opposition activist jailed for protesting

France is to send a contingent of counterterror forces to help the army in Niger after militants ambushed a military patrol killing 16, the defence ministry said.
	The decision, announced late Saturday, was taken following a request from President Mahamadou Issoufou after Wednesday's attack near the border with Mali.
	The deadly ambush, which took place in an area some 200 kilometres (120 miles) north of Niamey, the capital, also wounded another 18 Niger troops, with the army blaming "terrorist elements".
	Following talks with Issoufou, French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said France was preparing to send a detachment of troops "to help our Niger colleagues."
	A French military source said it would include 50 to 80 troops, most of them special forces, who would be operational in the area "within three days." They would be equipped with aerial support capacity to provide backup for Niger forces on the ground.
	The troops are part of Operation Barkhane, a French counterterror ...

France sends backup to Niger after 16 troops killed

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani has decided to run for re-election in May, the vice-president for parliamentary affairs said today, according to state news agency IRNA.
	"In recent weeks, Mr Rouhani has reached a conclusion to take part in the presidential elections," Hosseinali Amiri told reporters.
	Rouhani, a 68-year-old moderate who has pushed for greater social freedoms and improved ties with the West, has been widely expected to run for a second term but has yet to formally announce his candidature for the May 19 election.
	He remains popular for stabilising the economy and ending sanctions through a nuclear deal with world powers, although many feel the economic benefits have not trickled down and he has failed in his efforts to release political dissidents from jail.
	The conservative camp has so far failed to settle on an obvious challenger to Rouhani, who sits atop a relatively unified coalition of moderates and reformists.
	Iran has no formal political parties, just loose ..

Iran's Rouhani to run for second term: vice-president

On a sunny Sunday afternoon, Molly Sheridan is hard at work in front of a Starbucks coffee shop in Chicago.
	The 13-year-old is playing her ukulele and, along with her five-year-old sister Edie, singing about Girl Scout cookies -- boxes of which she has arranged for sale on a table.
	"Singing with my ukulele, I think that brings in people," Molly says.
	It is Girl Scout cookie season, a uniquely American tradition marking its 100th year. This time of year is eagerly anticipated by the millions of Americans who crave the sweets that can only be purchased a few weeks each year, and can't be found in stores.
	Some fans take home a pile of boxes and squirrel them away in the freezer to enjoy all year until cookie season rolls around again.
	The cookies aren't made by the scouts, but rather are marketed and sold by members of the service organization between January and April -- the local weather determines the timing -- to raise money for their activities.
	Molly said selling cookies has .

US Girl Scouts mark 100 years of their iconic cookies

Philippine boxing hero Manny Pacquiao and British fighter Amir Khan confirmed separately today that they would face each other on April 23 after weeks of conflicting reports.
     Pacquiao tweeted: "Negotiations between team Pacquiao and team Khan have come to terms for the April 23 bout as this is what the fans wanted.#PacquiaoKhan"
     Khan, 30, a few minutes later posted on his official Twitter feed: "My team and I have agreed terms with Manny Pacquiao and his team for a super fight #pacquiaokhan #April23rd"
     Neither of them gave a venue for the match but Pacquiao's American promoter, Bob Arum, has previously been quoted as saying on the ESPN website, that "Manny is trying to get a fight done in the United Arab Emirates, and the people there favour him fighting Amir Khan."
     Spokesmen for the World Boxing Organization welterweight champion Pacquiao could not immediately be contacted for comment.
     Pacquiao, 38, previously confirmed on Twitter that he was "in ...

Pacquiao to fight Britain's Khan in April

A veteran opposition leader in Kyrgyzstan was arrested on corruption charges, security services said today, as political tensions mount in the Central Asian country ahead of a November presidential poll.
	The State Committee for National Security (GKNB) said Omurbek Tekebayev, who leads the nominally socialist Ata-Meken party, was detained today after landing at the country's airport.
	The opposition leader, a bitter adversary of incumbent President Almazbek Atambayev, will be held for at least 48 hours in connection with an investigation into corruption at a key telecoms company, the statement said.
	While ex-Soviet Kyrgyzstan is the most democratic country in a region dominated by long-ruling strongmen, it has also been the most politically volatile in recent times.
	The country experienced two revolutions that unseated presidents in 2005 and 2010 followed by ethnic violence that left over 400 dead.
	Tekebayev's arrest comes after two of his party colleagues were questioned for four 

Kyrgyz opposition party leader arrested on corruption charges

Australia and Indonesia announced the full restoration of military ties today as the countries' leaders held talks following a brief spat over teaching material deemed offensive to Jakarta.
	Indonesia had reported the suspension of all military cooperation with Australia from December before clarifying that only language training had been put on hold.
	Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said after two hours of talks that he and Indonesian President Joko Widodo had "agreed to the full restoration of defence and training activities".
	On his first visit as head of state to Australia, Widodo told reporters the two neighbours had also agreed to seal a major economic partnership deal.
	"We are both committed to concluding a high quality bilateral free trade agreement, the Indonesia-Australia comprehensive economic partnership, by the end of this year," Turnbull told reporters.
	But there were few details on the deal.
	The military row between the neighbours erupted after a visiting Indonesian 

Australia-Indonesia restore full military ties

The United States Anti-Doping Agency confirmed it had compiled a dossier on controversial coach Alberto Salazar following a report accusing the athletics guru of dangerously using drugs to boost the performance of his athletes.
     Britain's Sunday Times said a USADA report -- obtained by the Fancy Bears hacking group -- had found Salazar abused prescription drugs and experimented with infusions of a research supplement based on the amino acid L-carnitine at his Oregon base.
     The newspaper said it had seen documents showing Salazar, who coaches Britain's four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah, gave intravenous drip infusions to Farah and to half a dozen top US runners and that USADA had concluded the treatments of the Americans "almost certainly" broke anti-doping rules.
     However, USADA said Saturday that no conclusion had been reached.
     "USADA can confirm that it has prepared a report in response to a subpoena from a state medical licensing body regarding care given by a ...

AFP

AFP

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