The UN's Syria envoy called on the country's rival sides to accept the "historical" responsibility of seeking to end the six-year conflict, while accepting "miracles" were unlikely at peace talks starting Thursday in Geneva.
	Staffan de Mistura said regime and opposition negotiators, gathered for a fourth round of UN-sponsored talks, had a duty to lead Syria out of its bloody "nightmare".
	"This is ... Our solemn responsibility ...  A historical responsibility not to condemn the future generations of Syrian children to long years of bitter and bloody conflict," he said.
	"The Syrian people desperately want an end to this conflict and you all know it .. They are awaiting for a relief from ... Suffering and dream of a new road out of this nightmare," he added.
	Speaking at a welcoming ceremony,  he said the peace talks would start straightaway Thursday evening, after a day of bilateral meetings to hammer out the format and agenda of the negotiations.
	Persistent violence and deadlock ...

UN envoy urges Syrian rivals to take historical responsibility

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US Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly promised today there will be "no mass deportations" or use of military force against immigrants in the United States despite a crackdown on those in the country illegally.
	"There will be no, repeat no mass deportations", Kelly told a news conference in Mexico City after meeting with Mexican ministers. "There will be no use of military force for immigration operations.

US promises Mexico no mass deportations or military force

The UN Security Council is likely to vote next week on a draft resolution that would slap sanctions on Syria over the use of chemical weapons but Russia is almost certain to veto the measure, a senior diplomat said today.
	Britain, France and the United States are pushing for a ban on the sale of helicopters to Syria and sanctions on 11 Syrians and 10 entities linked to chemical attacks in the nearly six-year war.
	A joint investigation by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has concluded that the Syrian military carried out chemical attacks against three villages in 2014 and 2015.
	"This is the significant response that the Security Council committed to do in the event of proven use of CW in Syria," said the diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
	"The US, UK and France are very clear that this is an issue of principle," he said, adding that Russia's ambassador said at a meeting last week that Moscow would block the ...

UN likely to vote next week on Syria sanctions: diplomat

Former IMF chief Rodrigo Rato was handed a jail sentence of four years and six months today for misusing funds when he was the boss of two Spanish banks.
	Spain's National Court, which deals with cases of corruption and financial crime, said Rato had been found guilty of embezzlement when he headed Caja Madrid and Bankia, at a time when both groups were having difficulties.
	The case caused an outrage in Spain, where it was uncovered at the height of a severe economic crisis that left many people struggling financially -- made all the worse because Bankia later had to be nationalised.
	Rato, who is also a former Spanish economy minister, remains at liberty pending a possible appeal.
	He was on trial with 64 other former executives and board members at both banks accused of misusing 12 million euros (USD 12.7 million) between 2003 and 2012.
	They were accused of having paid for personal expenses with credit cards put at their disposal by both Caja Madrid and Bankia, without ever ...

Ex-IMF chief Rato handed 4.5 years in jail for embezzlement

More than 17,000 ducks will be culled in Spain after a highly contagious bird flu strain that has affected poultry throughout Europe was detected at a farm, authorities said today.
	The virus found in Catalonia is H5N8, said Meritxell Serret, in charge of agriculture in the northeastern region -- the same one that has seen hundreds of thousands of ducks and geese slaughtered in France's southwest.
	Up until now, the virus had only been detected in Spain in three wild animals.
	The H5N8 strain can spread quickly in affected farms, often leading to the culling of thousands of birds.
	Joan Guix, in charge of public health in Catalonia, sought to ease fears, saying it was a virus "that does not spread to humans."
	Health authorities in Catalonia are now inspecting farms within a three-kilometre (1.9-mile) radius of the affected location to see if the virus had spread.
	According to the World Organisation for Animal Health, 24 countries in Europe have detected the H5N8 virus this year, as .

Spain to cull 17,000 ducks as bird flu hits

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson meets with Mexican leaders today to try to calm a row over President Donald Trump's trade and immigration policies.
	Trump has outraged Mexico by vowing to build a wall along the border to keep out migrants, whom he branded rapists and criminals during his presidential campaign.
	His government on Tuesday issued new orders to the authorities to begin arresting and deporting illegal immigrants, many of them Mexicans.
	Trump has also threatened to put up barriers to Mexican exports, shift jobs from that country back to the United States and even halt remittances by US-based Mexicans back to their families.
	Now he has sent Tillerson and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly to Mexico City to smooth over tensions -- and discuss with Mexican Enrique Pena Nieto how to curb cross-border migration and drug-trafficking.
	"It's significant that the president is sending the secretaries to Mexico so early in the administration. It's symbolic of the meaningful 

US envoy Tillerson in Mexico to soothe ties

Three-time world champion Lewis Hamilton urged Formula One's new rulers Liberty Media to bring the sport up to date today by opening it up to social media.
     The Mercedes driver is a committed user of social media and came under fire last October after messing around on photo app Snapchat during a drivers' press conference prior to the Japanese Grand Prix.
     He believes sports like football, the NBA and the NFL harness social media "a lot better" and says allowing drivers to use it more freely would help attract new fans to the sport.
     "You're not allowed to do social media, at all," Hamilton told AFP during the Mercedes season launch at Silverstone.
     "I mean, you can take a picture and post it, but (that's it). Everyone has a phone, everyone's on their phone a large portion of the day.
     "Everyone wants live, exclusive footage. Something as small as me being in my room, saying, 'Hey guys, I'm getting ready for my session, this is my suit, blah blah blah.'
     "Those 

Hamilton says F1 must embrace social media

Two German archaeologists have been kidnapped in Kaduna state, northern Nigeria, police said today, stoking fears of more abductions in a region hit by rising violence.
	The pair, who were working with Nigeria's National Commission for Museum and Monuments, were seized at about 8:55 am (0755 GMT) as they worked at an excavation site in southern Kaduna on Wednesday.
	Federal police chief Ibrahim K. Idris said the men had been assigned security personnel for their own protection but that they did not go with them to the dig site into ancient Nok culture.
	Surveillance helicopters and anti-kidnapping and counter-terrorism officers have been deployed in the hunt for the perpetrators, he added.
	The foreign ministry in Berlin made no comment on the kidnapping but residents said two women, also thought to be German, were with the men when they were attacked.
	"The abductors came wielding guns and machetes and asked the two Germans to follow them into the bush," said a resident who asked not 

Gunmen kidnap two Germans in northern Nigeria: police

The bodies of 13 migrants, including two teenagers, who died of suffocation in a shipping container bound for Europe have been found in Libya and 56 survivors rescued, aid officials said today.
	The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC), citing the Libyan Red Crescent, said on its website that the African migrants had been trapped for "four days" in the metal container.
	Some of the 56 who survived were "suffering from various injuries and fractures and needed immediate medical attention".
	The migrants were found early Tuesday in the coastal town of Khoms, east of the Libyan capital Tripoli, Mohamad al-Misrati, a Red Crescent spokesman in Libya, told AFP.
	They were from different African nationalities and included 13 bodies, including those of a girl, 13, and a 14-year-old boy.
	A Khoms resident, on condition of anonymity, told AFP that the container had been on a truck headed for a beach in Khoms, from where the migrants were expected to board a boat for 

13 Europe-bound migrants suffocate in Libya container

Istanbul authorities today said 2,000 Syrian families in the city could be set for Turkish citizenship but the government insisted approval would only come after an April referendum on boosting the president's powers.
	"Until now in Istanbul, documents have been prepared and sent for further processing to the (interior) ministry for 2,000 families," Istanbul governor Vasip Sahin told reporters in Istanbul.
	Shortly after Sahin's comments were reported, Deputy Prime Minister Veysi Kaynak insisted it would not be approved before the referendum on creating an executive presidency.
	Turkey will vote on April 16 on whether to boost President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's powers under a system the government says would be like France or the United States.
	"Let there be no doubt in anyone's mind, we are not working on granting citizenship before the referendum," he said, quoted by NTV broadcaster.
	"There are are 55 million voters in the country -- even if 15,000 to 20,000 become citizens and use .

Turkey says 2,000 Syrian families set for citizenship

The EU does not want Brexit to result in the return of fixed border controls between Ireland and British-controlled Northern Ireland, European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker said today.
	"During the Brexit negotiations, the EU and Ireland must work together to minimise the impact," Juncker said after talks with Irish Premier Enda Kenny in Brussels.
	"We don't want hard borders between Northern Ireland and the Republic" of Ireland, he said.
	Ireland is set to be the only EU country to share a land border with Britain after Brexit, fuelling concerns in Dublin about the implications for trade and security.
	During the troubles in Northern Ireland, the border was festooned with military outposts and controls which were later removed as part of the 1998 Good Friday peace accords.
	Kenny said Dublin was very concerned by the implications of Brexit and wanted "the closest possible relationship between the UK and the EU."
	"There should not be a return to a hard border and there won't ...

EU against 'hard border' between N Ireland, Republic: Juncker

Israeli warplanes today shot down over the Mediterranean a drone controlled by the Gaza Strip's Islamist rulers Hamas, the army said.
	"An (Israeli) fighter aircraft shot down a Hamas-owned unmanned aircraft flown from the Gaza Strip to the Mediterranean," an army spokeswoman said.
	The drone fell into the sea without entering Israeli territory, she added.
	"The Israeli army will not allow any violation of our airspace and will act firmly against any attempt of this kind," she added.
	Hamas, with which Israel has fought three wars since 2008, did not immediately comment.
	In December, Hamas accused Israel of the murder Mohamed Zaouari in Tunisia.
	He was an aeronautical engineer described as a specialist in the development of drones who Hamas said had been working for them for 10 years.

Israeli warplanes shoot down Hamas drone: army

Chinese authorities have blocked a prolific feminist social media account for allegedly breaking the law with posts critical of US President Donald Trump, its editors said today.
	Earlier this month, staffers of the Feminist Voices account on China's Twitter-like Weibo translated into Chinese parts of an article by American academics calling for a March 8 "general women's strike", and posted them.
	The article spoke of the need for "a new wave of militant feminist struggle" against Trump's "aggressively misogynistic, homophobic, transphobic and racist policies".
	The post was deleted days later, and the account has been suspended for 30 days, editor Xiong Jing told AFP.
	Xiong said they were told in a notice that the account had "violated Chinese laws and regulations".
	It gave no specifics, but any suggestion in China of a call for strikes or protests typically draws an official reaction.
	Spurred by anger over Trump, a global strike against male violence has been proposed on March ..

China muzzles feminist group over anti-Trump posts

After two decades as a yoga missionary, Philippine Environment Secretary Regina Lopez is unleashing her inner rage on the mining industry while aiming for Bhutan-style gross national happiness.
	Lopez has in recent months moved global commodity markets with a campaign to close roughly two-thirds of the existing mines in the Philippines, which is the world's biggest supplier of nickel ore and a major source of copper.
	For the 63-year-old, her sudden elevation by firebrand President Rodrigo Duterte to government last year after a lifetime of spiritual and environmental pursuits has presented an unexpected chance to bring about radical change in society.
	"This is a golden opportunity to do the right thing," Lopez, popularly known as Gina, told AFP in an interview on Wednesday at her bustling Manila office as she explained her determination to take on the mining industry.
	"Not everyone has the guts and the wherewithal to stand on big business's toes. Right now I have that ...

Ex-yoga missionary unleashes rage on Philippine miners

Canada said today it is open to meeting with the US to discuss revisions to their NAFTA trade pact with Mexico, which US President Donald Trump has called a bad deal and vowed to renegotiate or scrap.
	"Prime Minister Trudeau has said from the start we would be happy to sit down at the table" with the US, Canada's Trade Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne told reporters in Latvian capital Riga.
	He said the 23-year-old tripartite North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has been amended before, adding: "E-commerce did not even exist when it was last amended and there are a number of things we can look at."
	"But to be clear: there has been no formal notification with respect to starting a process to renegotiate NAFTA," he concluded.
	Throughout his campaign and since his November election, Trump has voiced his determination to put "America first" and rip up NAFTA, arguing that it was a bad deal that has led to the loss of manufacturing jobs to Mexico.
	Renegotiating NAFTA will not 

Canada 'happy' to discuss NAFTA trade deal with US

Anti-Islam Dutch MP Geert Wilders and his far-right Freedom Party suspended all public activities today pending a probe after a police agent was arrested for leaking information about him to a Moroccan gang.
	"Very disturbing news. The Freedom Party is suspending all public activities until all facts in connection with the investigation are known," Wilders said in a Tweet, as Dutch political parties gear up for crunch elections three weeks from now.
	Wilders, who has courted controversy with his hardline anti-Islam, anti-immigrant stance and his incendiary insults against Moroccans and Turks, has long been under 24-hour police protection.

Dutch anti-Islam MP halts public activities after security

Philippine boxing hero Manny Pacquiao today said he was "in negotiations" to face British fighter Amir Khan, after weeks of conflicting reports over his next bout.
     "My team and I are in negotiations with Amir Khan for our next fight. Further announcements coming soon," Pacquiao, 38, said on his official Twitter feed.
     Spokesmen for Pacquiao could not be contacted for comment.
     Pacquiao's Tweet follows various accounts from different sources over who he will be facing next and where the fight might be held.
     Pacquiao's promoter, Top Rank's Bob Arum, told ESPN sports network that he was sceptical about a Khan fight.
     "Manny seems to believe they will come up with the money. I have some reservations whether it will happen or not," American Arum was quoted as saying on the ESPN website.
     Arum had been seeking a deal with Duco Events, a New Zealand promotional company he has close ties to, for Pacquiao to defend the 147-pound belt against Australia's Jeff Horn in ..

Manny Pacquiao 'in negotiations' to fight Amir Khan

An arrest warrant was issued today for the highest-profile opponent of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's brutal war on drugs, outraging her supporters who said the move was aimed at silencing her.
	Senator Leila de Lima, 57, a lawyer who has spent nearly a decade trying to link Duterte to death squads that have allegedly killed thousands of people, faces drug trafficking charges that could see her jailed for life.
	"I have no plans of fleeing and I have no plans to go in hiding. I will face all these charges," a tearful De Lima told reporters at the Senate after a Manila court issued the arrest warrant.
	De Lima said that although the warrant had been issued, it had yet to be served on her. So she planned to spend the night with her loved ones before returning to the Senate tomorrow when she would likely be arrested.
	She is accused of orchestrating a drug trafficking ring when she was justice secretary in the previous administration of Benigno Aquino.
	But De Lima and her ...

Arrest warrant for top Philippine drug war critic

Japan's Crown Prince Naruhito has suggested he is ready to take on the duties of emperor from his father as the country prepares for its expected first imperial abdication in two centuries.
	Emperor Akihito, now 83, said in August that his advancing age and weakening health mean he may no longer be able to carry out his duties.
	While abdications are far from unknown in Japanese history, the last one was in 1817 and there is no mechanism under current law for an emperor to give up the ancient Chrysanthemum Throne.
	The subject is also highly sensitive issue in light of Japan's modern history of war waged in the name of Akihito's father Emperor Hirohito, who died in 1989.
	Naruhito, who turned 57 today, held an annual press conference two days before, telling reporters that while he had been "shaken" by his father's announcement, he was prepared to rise to the occasion.
	In carefully crafted language, he hinted he is increasingly aware of the responsibility that awaits him.
	"I would ..

Japan's crown prince hints at readiness to take throne

The brother-in-law of Spain's king, who was handed six years and three months jail for syphoning off millions, will remain free and not be required to post bail as he prepares to appeal his sentence, a court said today.
	The decision by a court in Palma de Majorca came in response to a request from prosecutors that Inaki Urdangarin be allowed to remain temporarily free if he pays bail of 200,000 euros (USD 211,000), rather than go straight to prison.
	The Balearic Islands court also said that Urdangarin, who is married to Spain's Princess Cristina, could stay in Switzerland where he currently lives until all possible appeals are exhausted.
	The news is likely to make waves in Spain, where the corruption scandal involving Urdangarin sparked outrage at a time when the country was going through a devastating crisis, becoming a symbol of the elite's perceived corruption.
	Cristina was also accused of involvement in the scandal over her husband's business dealings while he was head of the .

Spain king's brother-in-law to stay free while mulling appeal

Turkish-backed Syrian rebels announced today that they had taken full control of the northern town of Al-Bab from the Islamic State jihadist group after weeks of deadly fighting.
	Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency reported that rebels had overrun the centre of the town, which had been a key IS stronghold just 25 kilometres south of the border.
	"We are announcing Al-Bab completely liberated, and we are now clearing mines from the residential neighbourhoods," said Ahmad Othman, commander of the Sultan Mourad rebel group.
	"After hours of fighting, we chased out the last remaining IS rank and file that were collapsing after the fierce shelling of their positions," he added.
	But the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that IS fighters were still present in parts of the town and the rebels were in control of less than half of it.
	The rebels launched their offensive to capture Al-Bab last year with the support of Turkish ground troops, artillery and air strikes.
	Field commanders ...

AFP

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