German auto giant Volkswagen today said it raced back into the black in 2016 as car sales hit an all-time high, in the latest sign of its "dieselgate" scandal fading into the rearview mirror.
	VW reported a net profit of 5.1 billion euros (USD 5.4 billion) last year, recovering from a stinging 1.6-billion-euro loss in the immediate aftermath of the emissions cheating revelations in 2015.
	"While the past fiscal year posed major challenges for us, despite the crisis the group's operating business gave its best-ever performance," chief executive Matthias Mueller said in a statement.
	The VW group -- which includes the brands Porsche, Audi and Skoda -- beat analyst expectations with record revenues of 217.3 billion euros, up nearly two percent on the year before.
	Underlying or operating profit rose to 7.1 billion euros, from a loss of 4.06 billion in 2015, it said.
	Despite the damage to its reputation by the dieselgate scandal, the group delivered 10.3 million vehicles in 2016, driven .

Shaking off dieselgate, VW races back into profit

PTI Automatic

German car giant Volkswagen today said it was capping its chief executive's pay package at 10 million euros as it moved to rein in top brass salaries in the wake of the "dieselgate" scandal that has cost the company billions.
	Other members of the board will see their annual remuneration capped at 5.5 million euros.
	"This reduces the maximum remuneration theoretically possible by up to 40 per cent compared with the previous system," the group said in a statement after a meeting of the supervisory board at its Wolfsburg headquarters.
	VW's generous pay and bonus system has come under increasing scrutiny since the group admitted in September 2015 to having installed software in 11 million diesel engines worldwide to cheat emissions tests.
	The resulting fallout has already cost VW more than USD 22 billion (20 billion euros) in fines and compensation to drivers, dealers and authorities in the United States alone.
	With the company still facing a string of legal claims around the world, .

VW caps executive pay after dieselgate crisis

Sweden's prime minister said today he wants to curb labour migration to the Scandinavian country to provide more jobs for its own unemployed, including refugees accepted in recent years.
	"Jobs that require little or no education will first be filled by the unemployed who are already in our country," Social Democratic leader Stefan Lofven told reporters in Stockholm.
	In 2016, the country granted work permits to more than 12,000 people from countries outside the EU.
	This figure includes around 4,000 unskilled labourers such as cleaners, chefs, waiters and waitresses and mechanics, according to the Swedish migration board.
	"It's unreasonable for us to have a labour migration that consists of dishwashers (and) restaurant employees when we have capable people who have arrived here as refugees," Lofven added.
	"The first thing we will do is to emphasise that everyone who can work will work," the 59-year-old leader said as he presented the Social Democrats' programme for its party ...

Swedish PM seeks to cut inflow of foreign workers

German car giant Volkswagen today said it was capping the chief executive's pay package at 10 million euros as it moved to rein in top brass salaries in the wake of the "dieselgate" scandal that has cost the company billions.
	Other members of the board will see their annual remuneration capped at 5.5 million euros, VW said in a statement.
	"This reduces the maximum remuneration theoretically possible by up to 40 percent compared with the previous system," it added.

VW puts 10-mn-euro cap on executive pay after dieselgate

Tens of thousands of Syrians have returned home from Turkey since the start of Ankara's military operation inside the country, Turkey's foreign minister said today.
	"Nearly 50,000 Syrians have returned to this area from Turkey since the Euphrates Shield operation started," Mevlut Cavusoglu said.
	He was referring to Ankara's ambitious military operation launched last August in northern Syria to help Syrian rebels oust jihadists.
	They have recaptured several towns from the Islamic State (IS) group, including Jarabulus and Al-Rai near the border after a lightning advance.
	Earlier, the Turkish armed forces said the Turkey-backed fighters had "control of all neighbourhoods in Al-Bab", IS's last stronghold in the northern province of Aleppo.
	The military said work to clear the areas of obstacles, mines and explosives continued in the town, which was taken by them after a more than two-month campaign.
	"I believe after Daesh is cleared from Al-Bab, many people will go back," Cavusoglu ..

Ankara says nearly 50,000 Syrians have returned home

The economy is crumbling and street protests are turning violent, but Rio de Janeiro put all worries aside for the opening of carnival today.
	The annual extravaganza marking the last days before Lent in mostly Catholic Brazil was to kick off officially with the handing over of the city keys to the carnival king, a jolly, samba dancing figure known as Rei Momo.
	The first samba parades were to get underway at the Sambodromo stadium shortly afterwards, climaxing with the elite contests running through Sunday and Monday nights.
	For days, Rio and cities across the country have been gearing up for the party.
	Streets are gradually emptying, most businesses are closing until next Thursday, and even the usually raucous chamber of Congress in the capital Brasilia was deserted as the clock ticked down.
	The chance to have fun can't come soon enough for Rio, which is reeling from a cocktail of crises that make the glory days of hosting South America's first Olympic Games six months ago feel ..

Rio sets aside recession, violence fears for carnival

Donor countries today pledged USD 672 million in emergency aid for people threatened by famine after eight years of Boko Haram violence in the Lake Chad region, but the sum is just a fraction of what the UN says is needed.
	Fourteen countries meeting in Oslo agreed -- with the US conspicuously absent -- to contribute the USD 672 million (634 million euros) over three years, including USD 457 million for 2017 alone.
	But the United Nations has estimated the Lake Chad region, which includes Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad, needs USD 1.5 billion this year.
	UN aid chief Stephen O'Brien was nonetheless optimistic that the target would eventually be met.
	"In one morning we have raised a third of that," he said.
	Boko Haram took up arms in 2009 in pursuit of an Islamic state in northern Nigeria.
	Its insurgency has since spread to neighbouring states bordering Lake Chad, with frequent suicide bomb attacks.
	Still, the hardest hit area has been northeast Nigeria, where at least seven ...

Aid donors pledge USD 672 mn to prevent Lake Chad famine

Belgium's government approved special help for terror victims today, as the country prepares to mark the first anniversary of deadly Islamic State-claimed attacks in Brussels which killed 32 people.
	Under the proposed "national solidarity" law, victims will get financial and medical aid linked to the seriousness of their injuries, a statement said.
	Belgians and residents classified as "having suffered injury, physical or mental, as a result of a terrorist act" will benefit, it said.
	The attacks on the Brussels metro and its busy airport on March 22 last year by home-grown jihadists left hundreds of people injured, many of them seriously and who now require long term health care and rehabilitation.
	In the immediate aftermath of the attacks, the government provided emergency financial assistance for the victims.
	The new law, expected to be approved by parliament in coming months, will also apply to Belgian citizens hurt in attacks overseas, the statement said.

Belgium to offer terror attack victims special help

US President Donald Trump intensified his verbal attacks on Sweden, France and Germany today, painting swaths of Europe as a jihadist-infested hellscape.
	Firing-up victory-drunk conservatives at a rally outside Washington, Trump trashed long-time allies as he sought to justify his own controversial crackdown on immigrants.
	"Take a look at what's happening in Sweden. Take a look at what's happening in Germany. Take a look at what's happened in France. Take a look at Nice and Paris," he said.
	Trump trained his sights on Paris in particular, recounting the story of a friend who used to visit every year.
	"I have a friend, he's a very, very substantial guy. He loves the City of Lights," he said.
	After not seeing his friend for a few years, Trump asked him "'How is Paris doing?'"
	The US leader said his friend responded "Paris? I don't go there anymore. Paris is no longer Paris. That was four years, four or five years, he hasn't gone there."
	Trump also defended contentious comments ...

Trump badmouths Sweden, Germany, Paris

The UN Security Council met behind closed doors today to discuss chemical weapons use in Syria as the United States, France and Britain pushed for sanctions on those responsible for the attacks.
	US Ambassador Nikki Haley said she hoped a draft sanctions resolution which has been under discussion for months could be put to a vote in the Security Council.
	Russia is expected to use its veto to block the measure if it comes up for a vote. That would be the seventh time that Moscow has resorted to its veto to shield its military ally, Syria.
	"We have worked with the UK and France to make sure this resolution comes on board and then we will find out which countries have an excuse for chemical weapons and which ones are really going to say this is a problem," Haley told reporters on her way into the meeting.
	British Deputy Ambassador Peter Wilson said the proposed text would be put to a vote "in the coming days".
	The draft resolution follows a joint investigation by the United Nations ..

UN weighs sanctions on Syria over chemical attacks

The UN sought painstakingly today to get a new round of Syrian peace talks off the ground, but there were few signs of progress as dozens more civilian deaths underlined the scale of the challenge.
	The UN's Syria envoy Staffan de Mistura, who brought rival regime and opposition delegates symbolically together late yesterday, held separate meetings with them today to hammer out the format for the meetings.
	But there appeared to be no discussion of substance, either with the UN and certainly not between the rival parties themselves.
	"We discussed issues relating to the format of the talks exclusively," said Syrian regime delegation chief Bashar al-Jaafari after meeting de Mistura.
	"We are going to talk about procedure," a member of the opposition delegation, Assad Hana, told AFP before an afternoon meeting with the UN envoy.
	UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said he was "encouraged that the Syrians...Sat together in the same room," even if it remains unclear whether the two ...

Syria peace talks struggle as bomb kills dozens

A court in Uruguay has blocked a woman from terminating her eight-week pregnancy because her ex-boyfriend says he wants to keep the baby, media reported today.
	The court agreed to the man's petition to bar the woman he impregnated from having an abortion, even though the procedure is legal in Uruguay.
	The plaintiff's lawyer, Federico Arregui, told Uruguay's El Pais newspaper that the man wants to raise the child "independently of whether the mother was willing to fulfill her role".
	The two are not currently in a relationship, and the woman told the court she did not want to continue the pregnancy.
	Various media citing details of yesterday's ruling in the southern city of Mercedes said the decision was unprecedented in the South American country.
	A 2012 law allows women in Uruguay to terminate a pregnancy during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.
	The law allows the woman to make the final decision on whether to have an abortion, but obliges her first to inform doctors of her ...

Uruguay court blocks abortion at ex-boyfriend's request

Germany's foreign intelligence service BND long spied on journalists of the BBC, The New York Times, Reuters and other media, a media report said today.
	Media rights group Reporters Without Borders labelled the alleged surveillance "a monstrous attack on press freedom", voiced fears the eavesdropping was ongoing and said it was planning legal action, according to news weekly Der Spiegel.
	The magazine, which has extensively worked with US fugitive intelligence contractor Edward Snowden and reported on US and German espionage scandals, only cited documents it had seen.
	It reported that the BND had listed at least 50 telephone and fax numbers and email addresses of journalists or newsrooms on its list of "selector" keywords for surveillance since 1999.
	These included several dozen numbers of the British Broadcasting Corporation at its London headquarters and in Afghanistan, as well as of the BBC World Service, it said.
	A number of The New York Times in Afghanistan was also on the ...

German secret service spied on global media: Report

Nearly 100 staff at a hospital in southern Italy have been questioned in connection with a widespread absenteeism scandal, including a doctor who skived off to play tennis, police said today.
	During a two-year investigation which involved the use of hidden cameras, police gathered evidence of a well-run system at the Loreto Mare hospital in Naples where certain employees clocked in on behalf of 94 absent colleagues.
	Two social workers alone were found to be holding 20 staff cards which they would use to clock in at the entrance to the hospital for the absentees.
	A total of 55 people have been placed under house arrest by the city's prosecutor -- a neurologist, a gynaecologist, nine radiologists, 18 nurses, six administrative workers, nine maintenance technicians and 11 social workers, police said.
	Among those milking the system were officials who were in charge of keeping staff registers up to date, including one who skipped work to go and work as a chef at a nearby hostel.

Italy hospital staff held over mass absenteeism scam

Turkish armed forces and allied Syrian rebels have completely taken the IS bastion of Al-Bab in northern Syria from jihadists, the military said today.
	"As of February 24, 2017, control of all neighbourhoods in Al-Bab have been secured" by opposition fighters supported by Ankara against the Islamic State group (IS), the army said in a statement.
	"Activities continue to clear areas under control of obstacles, mines and hand-made explosives," the military said.
	Al-Bab, which is 25 kilometres south of the Turkish border, was IS's last stronghold in the northern province of Aleppo.
	Syrian rebel commanders claimed the day before they had seized the town from IS militants, saying that it had been completely liberated.
	Turkey launched its unilateral military operation last August supporting Syrian opposition fighters, targeting IS as well as Syrian Kurdish militia.
	At the start of the operation dubbed "Euphrates Shield", the rebels swiftly captured Jarabulus, Al-Rai and Dabiq in ...

Turkey says Al-Bab completely captured from jihadists

North Korea is flouting tougher new UN sanctions with more ingenuous tactics, circumventing trade bans by relying on middlemen and front companies, notably in Malaysia and China, a report by UN sanctions experts says.
	The 100-page report, obtained by AFP, confirmed that North Korea's two nuclear tests and 26 missile launches last year had allowed Pyongyang to reach "technological milestones in weapons of mass destruction capability and all indications are that this pace will continue."
	The Security Council has adopted two resolutions imposing a raft of new sanctions on North Korea, banning minerals exports and restricting banking, but the panel said implementation by UN member-states "remains insufficient and highly inconsistent."
	North Korea "is flouting sanctions through trade in prohibited goods, with evasion techniques that are increasing in scale, scope and sophistication," said the report sent to the Security Council last week.
	The sweeping new sanctions were aimed at ...

North Korea steps up sanctions-busting: UN report

An Iraqi air strike against the Islamic State group inside Syria today was coordinated with the Damascus government, a source close to the Syrian foreign ministry said.
	The source told leading newspaper Al-Watan, close to the Syrian regime, that "Iraqi bombardment on terrorist targets inside Syrian territory took place in full coordination with the government of the Syrian Arab Republic".
	The strike was announced earlier today by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in a statement and is believed to be the first of its kind by Iraqi jets on Syrian territory.
	"We ordered the air force command to strike Daesh terrorist sites in Husseibeh and Albu Kamal, in Syrian territory," the premier said, using an Arabic acronym for the jihadist organisation.
	Both locations cited by Abadi are very close to the border and lie in the Euphrates Valley, facing the remote western Iraqi town of Al-Qaim.
	Husseibeh is a town in Iraq but an area that lies on the Syrian side of the border bares the same ...

Iraq coordinated anti-IS raid in Syria: Source

Hundreds of Palestinian protesters clashed with Israeli soldiers today in the powderkeg West Bank city of Hebron on the anniversary of a 1994 massacre carried out by a far-right Jewish settler.
	Soldiers fired tear gas and sound grenades to disperse the crowd as cannons doused them with stinking water, an AFP correspondent said. There was no report of injuries.
	Jewish settlers, of whom 500 are entrenched in the centre of the city of around 200,000 Palestinians, hurled stones at the protesters who also pelted soldiers with stones.
	Settler Baruch Goldstein on February 25, 1994 mowed down 29 Palestinians inside Hebron's Cave of the Patriarchs, holy to Muslims and Jews alike, before being lynched.
	Also today, dozens of Palestinians staged a protest in Hebron against US President Donald Trump who has voiced strong support of Israel, pelting a huge portrait of America's leader with shoes, an ultimate insult in the Arab world.
	"This is a Palestinian product. He will get it in his face, ..

Palestinians, Israel soldiers clash in West Bank's Hebron

Seventeen years after first setting foot in Saudi Arabia, Dominic Steck shipped his two cats and returned to Germany with his wife and school-age children, who hardly know their homeland.
	As Saudi Arabia steps up efforts to employ more of its own people, and with economic growth slowing, the ranks of well- paid white-collar expatriates like Steck are thinning.
	For them, the good times are over.
	Steck said that to reduce costs, his employers "sent the Westerners" away.
	"I have to admit, they will save a lot," he told AFP with a chuckle.
	Cost-cutting, financial problems and a drive to employ more Saudis have all led to a noticeable reduction in expatriate employment as the Arab world's largest economy adjusts to lower crude prices.
	Saudi Arabia, which exports more oil than any other country, since last year has pursued its "Vision 2030" economic diversification effort to broaden its investment and business base, while placing more Saudis in the private sector.
	The drop in global .

Good times over for expats in Saudi

Fast bowler Morne Morkel has been included in South Africa's squad for three Test matches in New Zealand starting on March 8.
     Morkel, 32, last played in an international match in June and since then has struggled with a persistent back injury which threatened to end his career.
     He was part of South Africa's Test tour of Australia in October and November last year but his injury flared up again after he played in two warm-up matches.
     The tall fast bowler has undergone extensive rehabilitation and returned to action in a domestic one-day game last week.
     "Morne Morkel has worked hard on his fitness over the past few months and we believe he is now 100 per cent fit and fully able to compete for his place in the team," said selection convener Linda Zondi.
     Morkel, who achieved his Test-best figures of six for 23 in Wellington on South Africa's previous Test tour of New Zealand in 2011/12, is one of six fast bowlers in the 16-man squad. Left-armer Keshav Maharaj is ..

Morkel back for South African Test

Former world number one Rory McIlroy has revealed his fascination with Donald Trump after taking to the fairways with the controversial US President.
     Trump is a keen golfer and McIlroy accepted an offer from the commander-in-chief to join him for a round at the Trump International Golf Club in Florida last weekend.
     Trump's contentious comments and actions have been criticised by some in the world of sport.
     But while Northern Ireland's McIlroy refrained from offering his views on his latest playing partner's political policies, the former British Open, US Open and PGA Championship winner did reveal he was intrigued by Trump's rise to power.
     "I really got into it once Trump ran because I knew him a little bit but at the same time I was intrigued how a successful businessman could transition into running for the highest office in the land," McIlroy told the Guardian on Friday.
     "It is a totally different process from the UK. He obviously came at it from a ...

AFP

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