Sri Lanka's central bank Wednesday announced plans to raise USD 2.5 billion in foreign loans, a month after Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said the country was struggling under a "gigantic debt trap".
	The nation is struggling to repay billions of dollars borrowed by its previous government for white-elephant projects.
	Central bank Governor Indrajith Coomaraswamy told reporters the country will issue USD 1.5 billion in sovereign bonds and raise another USD 1 billion through a syndicated loan.
	"In the coming months the government intends to raise a syndicated loan and there is a cabinet paper (seeking formal approval) to issue the international sovereign bonds," he said.
	The money raised is expected to repay part of the existing debt and build reserves, finance ministry officials told AFP.
	The previous government took Chinese loans to build a deep-sea port at Hambantota in the south of the country -- at a cost of USD 1.4 billion -- and an international airport in the same ...

Sri Lanka to raise USD 2.5 billion through foreign loans

PTI Automatic

Four people have been detained over a foot massage parlour fire that killed 18 and injured 18 others in eastern China at the weekend, state media reported.
	The individuals, who were in charge of the facility, were taken into police custody on suspicion of "very serious dereliction of duty", Tiantai county police in Zhejiang province told the official Xinhua news agency.
	The fire broke out Sunday afternoon at the Zuxintang Foot Massage and Bathing Parlour, which is located on the first and second floors of a six-storey building.
	The flames were extinguished less than two hours later.
	Eight people were found dead at the scene and 10 others passed away in hospital, Xinhua said.
	The cause of the blaze is still being investigated.
	Fire safety procedures are routinely ignored in China, with exit doors often locked and escape passages blocked in buildings.
	Seven people died in a fire at an elderly care facility last month.

4 detained over deadly massage parlour fire in China

Ivory Coast special forces fired in the air in the army barracks town of Adiake for a second day today, the latest incident in weeks of trouble with mutinous soldiers and security forces.
	The elite troops appeared to be angling for a deal with the government along the lines of one struck in January that offered some soldiers large one-off lump sum payments.
	"The shooting has started again. Today, it's market day, and they (the troops) told the women to return to their houses. Everyone is terrified, and holed up in their homes," a resident of Adiake told AFP by phone.
	The gunfire in Adiake, located to the east of the commercial capital Abidjan, is the first protest action by special forces troops based there who are in charge of the president's security.
	Protests in January were by soldiers and members of the security forces.
	Adiake also is home to a maritime base that trains marine commandos and provides coastal surveillance in an area that shares a border with Ghana.
	The elite .

Fresh gunfire in army barracks town in I Coast

Jason Gillespie has no doubt Joe Root is the right man to captain England after overseeing his development with county side Yorkshire.
	Root is currently England's vice-captain and is the overwhelming favourite to replace Alastair Cook, who resigned as Test skipper on Monday.
	But fears have been expressed that captaincy will damage Root's batting, with former England off-spinner Graeme Swann insisting even the vice-captaincy has already been a burden as the 26-year-old is no longer "the cheeky, dynamic joie de vivre-type player he was two or three years ago."
	Gillespie, himself a former Australia fast bowler, is convinced, however, that those fears are groundless after observing Root's development during five years as Yorkshire coach
	"I understand the point he's trying to make," Gillespie, who returned to Australia last year for family reasons, told the Guardian.
	"And no one wants Joe to lose his swagger or that inherent cheekiness but this is a guy who is maturing all the time. ..

Gillespie says Root has right stuff

Embattled Jamaican sprinter Nesta Carter is allowed to compete pending the outcome of his appeal over retroactively testing positive for the prohibited substance methylhexaneamine, The Gleaner newspaper reported.
     Usain Bolt's feat of winning Olympic gold in the 100, 200 and 4x100m relay at three consecutive Games was foiled last month when Carter's positive re-test disqualified the Jamaican 4x100m relay from gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
     The Jamaican newspaper reported that Carter's legal team is finalizing plans to submit an appeal his disqualification to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
     But the paper said Carter has not been suspended and the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) received confirmation from world governing body IAAF that he is free to run.
     After going nearly 17 months since his most recent race, Carter is expected to compete Saturday at the Milo Western Relays at the Montego Bay Sports Complex as a member of Team MVP's 4x100m 

Jamaican Carter free to compete pending CAS appeal

Six Red Cross workers were killed and two others were missing in northern Afghanistan, the international charity said today, underscoring the growing dangers faced by aid workers in the war-battered country.
	"We are shocked and devastated," a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross told AFP, without offering any details on the incident in Jowzjan province.

Red Cross says six staff killed, two missing in Afghanistan

Red Cross says six staff killed, two missing in

As many as 15,000 people are homeless after a huge fire engulfed an overcrowded slum in Manila, destroying thousands of homes and sending residents fleeing with their few possessions.
	The inferno started in a sprawling slum near the port late Tuesday and raged for about 10 hours, as hundreds of firefighters from across the Philippine capital hauled their hoses across rickety, tin roofs to reach the flames.
	As the blaze whipped across the squalid area, sending a huge plume of smoke billowing into the night sky, residents ran for their lives carrying refrigerators, religious icons and other valuables.
	Others, desperate to save their homes, used buckets of water to douse the fire.
	About 3,200 homes, many made from little more than scrap wood, were destroyed and four people were injured, Edilberto Cruz, a fire investigator looking into the cause of blaze, told reporters Wednesday.
	"The houses in that place are all (made of) light materials. That is why the fire was quick to spread. ..

Fire engulfs Philippine slum, thousands homeless

Syria's justice ministry today dismissed as "completely false" an Amnesty International report alleging up to 13,000 people were hanged over five years in a Syrian government prison.
	The ministry said the Amnesty report was "completely untrue and intended to harm Syria's reputation in international forums," the official SANA news agency reported.
	The rights group yesterday alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity had been committed and were likely continuing at the Saydnaya prison near Damascus.
	Amnesty interviewed 84 witnesses, including guards, detainees and judges, and alleged a pattern of regular summary executions.
	But the justice ministry denied such executions were occurring, saying "death sentences in Syria are not issued until after a trial goes through several stages of litigation."
	More than 310,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began with anti-government protests in March 2011, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human ...

Syria says Amnesty report on mass hangings 'completely false'

The death toll in air strikes against Al-Qaeda's former affiliate in Syria in the northwest of the country has risen to 46, including 24 civilians, a monitor said on Wednesday.
	The dead included 10 children and 11 women, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, adding that the toll could rise further because of the number of wounded with serious injuries.
	The raids hit the headquarters of former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham in Idlib and several adjacent neighbourhoods of the city at dawn on Tuesday.
	Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said he could not determine whether the raids were carried out by Syrian government ally Russia or a US-led coalition battling jihadists.
	But Moscow quickly denied on Tuesday that its planes had struck the city.
	In recent weeks, Fateh al-Sham has come under increasing in Idlib, the last province in Syria almost entirely in rebel hands.
	Bombing raids against the group have escalated, including one US strike on a training camp in January that 

Death toll in strikes on Syria ex-Qaeda hits 46: monitor

Qatar's energy minister, the current OPEC president, said world oil markets were "responding positively" to output cuts implemented by the cartel and some non-cartel producers.
	"I think the market is responding positively and you can see the drop in supply," Mohammed Saleh al-Sada told reporters.
	OPEC and non-OPEC producers led by Russia agreed in December to cut output by nearly 1.8 million barrels per day, initially for six months, starting from the beginning of this year.

Oil market 'responding positively' to output cut: OPEC prez

Scores of women took to the streets in Argentina in a bare-breasted demonstration of solidarity with women recently confronted by police for going topless on a South Atlantic beach.
	The demonstrations in Buenos Aires, in Mar del Plata and Rosario, were prompted by an incident two weeks ago in Necochea, 500 kilometers south of the capital.
	Three women in bikini bottoms were ordered by 20 police officers to put on their tops or head out.
	Many in Argentina, once one of the world's wealthiest countries, were stunned.
	Now used to struggling with economic woes and corruption, they are increasingly tired of what some see as the authorities' overreach.
	"There is this macho way of thinking that just has to end," said a protestor named Noelia, 28, who declined to give her family name. "We are the owners of our bodies and we can show our bodies if we like. We are not consumer goods."
	As older men in suits and ties scrambled out of nearby offices during the protest, some stopped to stare. A 

In Argentina, women drop tops to protest topless ban

The Philippines is seeking US and Chinese help to guard a major sea lane as Islamic militants shift attacks to international shipping, officials said today.
	Manila does not want the Sibutu Passage between Malaysia's Sabah state and the southern Philippines to turn into a Somalia-style pirate haven, coast guard officials said.
	The deep-water channel, used by 13,000 vessels each year, offers the fastest route between Australia and the manufacturing powerhouses China, Japan and South Korea, they added.
	In the past year Abu Sayyaf gunmen from the southern Philippines have boarded ships and kidnapped dozens of crewmen for ransom in waters between Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, raising regional alarm.
	Indonesia has warned the region could become the "next Somalia" and the International Maritime Bureau says waters off the southern Philippines are becoming increasingly dangerous.
	"If shipowners will skirt that area just to avoid kidnap at sea activities by these terrorists, for 

Philippines seeks US, China help to combat sea pirates

Twenty-two migrants fled the United States and braved bone-chilling cold to walk across the border into Canada in order to make refugee claims over the weekend, police said.
	Many of them -- mostly from Somalia -- had already made long and dangerous journeys to get to the United States, after fleeing violence back home.
	But they told local media they felt apprehensive about the United States after President Donald Trump ordered a stop to refugees, as well as nationals from seven Muslim-majority nations, including Somalia, from entering.
	Seeing images of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau welcoming Syrian refugees last year and his appointment of Somali-born Ahmed Husse as immigration minister last month reportedly gave them hope.
	Once in Canada the group called federal police for help, and were taken to a border outpost in Emerson, Manitoba.
	"They usually call us if they're cold or lost, and we find them on the side of the highway," RCMP Corporal Paul Manaigre told AFP ...

22 migrants flee US, brave  bone-chilling cold to claim refuge in Canada

Business Standard

An Australian man sentenced to death in Thailand this week for the murder of a former Hells Angels member found beaten and naked in a shallow grave plans to appeal his conviction.
	Wayne Schneider, a 38-year-old Australian, was kidnapped in December 2015 by a gang of masked men from an apartment in Pattaya, an eastern Thai city known for its seedy nightlife and links to organised crime.
	His body was found days later after investigators tracked a GPS device in a hired van used to carry out the kidnapping.
	Fellow Australian Antonio Bagnato, 28, was convicted by a court in Pattaya on Tuesday and handed down a death sentence, a punishment that remains on the statute books in Thailand but is rarely carried out.
	American national Tyler Gerard, 22, was convicted of being involved in the kidnap and given a reduced two-year sentence for cooperating with authorities.
	Australia, which opposes the death penalty, said Bagnato now plans to appeal.
	"An Australian man has received a death ...

Australian to appeal Thai death sentence for biker murder

Germany's World Cup winning captain Philipp Lahm confirmed he will retire at the end of the season and leave Bayern Munich, having rejected a role as sports director.
     "I have decided to stop playing football at the end of the season," Lahm, 33, said after Bayern's 1-0 win over Wolfsburg in the third round of the German Cup yesterday.
     "I am sure I can keep putting in the performances until the end of the season, but not after that," added the Bayern captain, confirming an earlier press report.
    	Lahm explained why he has turned down the vacant sports director role, which would not have included a place on Bayern's board following recent restructuring at the club.
	"It's not the right time for me to step up with FC Bayern," he said.
	"I decided that for myself after talks.
	"I'll be a private person again in the summer, then I'll have time to take care of other things and to have a few conversations."
	The 33-year-old made his 500th appearance for Bayern last Saturday and ..

World Cup winning captain Lahm to retire at end of season

Japan last year logged its biggest annual current-account surplus since the 2008 financial crisis, figures showed today, as the country's prime minister prepares to meet protectionist-leaning Donald Trump.
	The new president has assailed Japan for allegedly devaluing the yen to boost exports, grouping it with other countries he says are taking "advantage" of the United States.
	The surplus in the current account -- the broadest measure of Japan's trade with the rest of the world -- comes at a tricky time for Shinzo Abe, who heads to Washington this week.
	"I think Japan having a sizeable current-account surplus is definitely a political liability now," Takuji Okubo, chief economist and principal at Japan Macro Advisors, told Bloomberg News.
	"It basically gives ammunition to the Trump administration that the yen is too cheap."
	Japan's current account surplus hit 20.65 trillion yen (USD 184 billion) last year, the highest level since a record surplus of 25 trillion yen in 2007, the ...

Japan logs strong trade data ahead of Abe-Trump meeting

Mexico's interior minister and the US Homeland Security chief agreed to meet "soon" in Mexico City, officials said as bilateral ties hit new lows over US plans for a border wall.
	In a telephone call, Mexico's Miguel Angel Osorio Chong and US Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly discussed "progress that has been made on guaranteeing the safety and well-being of people on both sides of the border," a Mexican statement read.
	The Mexican Interior Ministry's update assessment, which declined to provide a date for the upcoming meeting in Mexico's capital, belies the fact that the North American neighbors are having their worst bilateral row in decades.
	After insulting Mexicans on the campaign trail, US President Donald Trump continues to insist that he will have Mexico pay to build a wall on the US-Mexican border.
	On the economic front, Trump also wants to renegotiate NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, governing trade between Canada, Mexico and the United ...

US Homeland Security chief to 'soon' visit Mexico

Prosecutors requested the arrest of Argentina's intelligence chief under former president Cristina Kirchner over murky accusations he shielded a fugitive drug trafficker from arrest.
	The request came a day after ex-spy chief Oscar Parrilli was indicted on charges of hiding information on the whereabouts of the man who was formerly Argentina's most-wanted fugitive.
	Parrilli was a key figure under Kirchner (2007-2015), spearheading her program to overhaul the intelligence services amid accusations they were interfering in politics.
	But now he himself is accused of using his post for political ends.
	The fugitive in question, Ibar Perez Corradi, was wanted for a 2008 triple homicide, as well as money laundering and drug charges.
	He was finally captured in Paraguay in June.
	After his arrest, he fought extradition to Argentina, arguing his life would be in danger there because "very important people in the (Kirchner) government were involved" in his alleged crimes.
	Parrilli, however, 

Argentina's ex-spy chief faces arrest

More than 52,000 South Sudanese fled to Uganda in January alone as continued fighting risks creating a situation of mass atrocities, the UN's special adviser on genocide prevention has said.
	The displaced, primarily from towns south of the capital Juba in Central Equatoria state, have given accounts of the killing of civilians, homes destroyed and sexual violence, said Adama Dieng yesterday.
	"President Salva Kiir has made a commitment to end the violence and bring about peace, yet we still see ongoing clashes, and the risk that mass atrocities will be committed remains ever-present," said the special adviser in a statement.
	Dieng said he was particularly alarmed at the situation in Kajo-Keji where fleeing civilians have said they fear mass violence.
	After several delays, a team from the UN peacekeeping mission arrived in Kajo-Keji on Sunday to report on the situation.
	After gaining independence from Sudan in 2011, South Sudan descended into war in December 2013, leaving tens of ..

AFP

AFP

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