One of the US Supreme Court's justices has extended her influence to the insect world, inspiring the name of a newly discovered praying mantis species.
	Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the second woman to sit on the nation's top court, is the namesake for the new "Ilomantis ginsburgae" species, the Museum of Natural History in Cleveland announced yesterday.
	The museum identified the new species by creating a classification system based on characteristics of its females.
	Researchers said they wanted to honor 83-year-old Ginsburg for her "relentless fight for gender equality."
	The diminutive Jewish grandmother, just over 5 feet (1.5 metres) tall, has a strong pop-cultural following, especially among young people. She gained particular notoriety as a top ally of the women's rights movement in the 1960s and '70s.
	"Traditionally in praying mantis taxonomy we use the male genital characters to help delimit and describe new species," said researcher Sydney Brannoch in a video posted online by the ..

New praying mantis named after US Supreme Court justice

PTI Automatic

North Korea has again accused the South of "premeditated" abduction, following the latest defection of North Korean staff working at a Pyongyang-run restaurant in China.
	The three North Koreans arrived in Seoul on Wednesday, the second such group defection this year after a dozen employees of another restaurant in China defected to the South in April.
	"This incident, too, was the organised and premeditated abduction by gangsters of the puppet National Intelligence Service of South Korea," a spokesman for the North Korean Red Cross said in a statement.
	The statement, carried by the official KCNA news agency late yesterday, claimed there were  "sufficient materials" to prove a well-planned, concerted operation to abduct the workers from the restaurant in Weinan, in the northern Chinese province of Shaanxi.
	It said members of the South's spy agency had "lured" the three women who were taken south and spirited across the border with Laos and then into Thailand.
	"The allurement and ...

North Korea accuses South of abducting more restaurant staff

A rare US stamp known as the "Inverted Jenny" has been recovered 61 years after its theft.
	The stamp was officially donated yesterday to the American Philatelic Research Library (APRL), according to a release from the US Attorney's office in New York.
	The Inverted Jenny stamp came from a sheet of 100 stamps printed in 1918, and gained fame for being misprinted upside down.
	The sheet was later broken up and individual stamps sold to collectors.
	The stamp has an image of the Curtiss Jenny JN-4HM biplane modified for shuttling mail.
	It commemorated the US Postal Service's first airmail flight on May 15, 1918, with a value of 24 cents per stamp.
	Yesterday, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara announced the return of one of the stolen stamps.
	Investigators recovered the stamp after the Spink auction house in New York alerted authorities that an individual had tried to sell the stamp.
	The owner Keelin O'Neill assured the FBI during questioning that he had .

Precious US stamp found six decades after its theft

US authorities have announced a near-total ban on the trade of African elephant ivory, finalising a years-long push to fight the poaching of the threatened animals.
	Conservation groups welcomed the move by the United States, the world's second-largest consumer of illegal ivory after China, even though it comes with notable exemptions including for antiques.
	The new rule, which takes effect July 6, "substantially limits" imports, exports and sales of ivory across state lines, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) said yesterday.
	"Today's bold action underscores the United States' leadership and commitment to ending the scourge of elephant poaching and the tragic impact it's having on wild populations," Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell said.
	More than 35,000 elephants are slaughtered each year on the African continent from an approximate population of more than 450,000 in the wild.
	The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) hailed the US move to protect the species as ...

US announces near-total ban on African elephant ivory trade

Hackers from outside Saudi Arabia seized control of a major newspaper website in the kingdom and published false news about its military operation in Yemen, the paper said.
	The fake report on Al-Watan was picked up by a number of Arabic news sites loyal to Shiite-dominated Iran, the regional rival of Sunni Saudi Arabia.
	Relations between the two countries have worsened this year.
	"The newspaper online site was subject to hacking at 9:20 yesterday morning (local time) by hostile groups from outside the kingdom," the newspaper said in a statement obtained by AFP.
	"They were able to control the site for a period of time and published false news" including a fake statement by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Nayef, it said.
	The hacker intentionally "published lies", claiming they were quotes from Prince Mohammed.
	He was cited as saying the Saudi-led military coalition's operation in Yemen had gone on longer than expected, comments which Al-Watan said were "not based on any reality."
	The ..

Saudi newspaper says hacked by foreigners

Six migrants were injured after clashes erupted at a detention camp on the Greek island of Samos, police said, a day after similar violence hit a camp on Lesbos where tents were set on fire.
	Two barracks at the Samos camp were torched in the unrest yesterday, which was apparently sparked by a brawl between migrants. Their nationalities were not immediately given.
	Police reinforcements were sent to the scene and six people were taken to hospital "as a precaution", a police source told AFP.
	The crowded camp houses around a thousand migrants and refugees, including many families with children.
	"We're surprised because the atmosphere here is usually quite calm," said Samos Dimitris Vouros, who works for the Metadrasi charity active at the camp.
	Scenes of chaos also broke out at the main detention camp on Lesbos, north of Samos, in the night from Wednesday to yesterday.
	Over a dozen migrants were injured and hundreds had to be evacuated as rival groups of Afghans and Pakistanis went .

Migrants hurt in fresh camp brawl on Greek island

Brazil's interim government has pushed for speeding up the impeachment process against suspended president Dilma Rousseff, who could be forced from office just as Rio starts hosting the Olympic Games.
	Rousseff, accused of taking unauthorised loans to patch up the state budget during her 2014 reelection campaign and in early 2015, was suspended for the trial on May 12.
	The suspension can run as long as six months, but acting president Michel Temer's team argued for ending far earlier, possibly even before the start of the Rio Olympics on August 5.
	"For us, for the Temer government, it would be best if it were as quick as possible, while respecting the rules laid down by the Supreme Court," Temer's chief of staff Eliseu Padilha said.
	A decision on the scheduling, which Rousseff's side would prefer to be more drawn out, will be made by the Supreme Court.
	Rousseff's lawyer, Jose Eduardo Cardozo, called the impeachment process "a huge farce" and a "coup."
	The Senate will try Rousseff 

Brazil acting president pushes for quick Rousseff impeachment

A plane from the US Air Force's elite Thunderbird team crashed in Colorado shortly after flying over a ceremony where President Barack Obama spoke, an official said.
	The pilot ejected safely from the aircraft and was undergoing a medical examination, according to the Air Force official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
	Following the accident yesterday, Obama met with the pilot at Peterson Air Force Base before heading back to Washington aboard Air Force One.
	Obama expressed relief that the pilot was not injured and thanked him for his service to the country, according to reporters who were traveling with the president.
	The official said the F-16 Thunderbird crashed "shortly after conducting a flyover in support of the US Air Force Academy graduation commencement ceremony" in Colorado Springs, where Obama addressed the crowd.
	Obama used the occasion to defend his approach to the Syrian conflict, warning against allowing the United States to become drawn into a new civil war in 

US Air Force plane crashes after flying over Obama speech

Six people were killed when militants attacked a boat belonging to Nigeria's state-run oil firm, the army has said, in the latest violence to hit the country's increasingly restive oil-producing region.
	The Niger Delta Avengers group, which has been attacking pipelines and facilities since early this year, denied involvement but claimed a separate strike and vowed to bring crude output to a halt.
	The deadly attack on the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) boat happened at about 5:50 pm (local time) on Wednesday in the Warri area of Delta state, which has seen a spate of attacks recently.
	"During the deliberate attack two soldiers were killed, one wounded, one soldier missing while four civilian staff attached to the house boat were shot dead," army spokesman Captain Jonah Unuakhalu said in a statement yesterday.
	 No specific group was mentioned as being responsible and Unuakhalu said only "suspected militants... Disguised as ordinary commuters" in five speedboats ...

Six dead in 'militant attack' in Nigeria's south: army

Venezuelans struggling through an economic crisis got a rare bit of good news when the country's largest brewery announced it had obtained a loan to resume production.
	Polar breweries, maker of the country's best-known beer brands, shut down production at its four plants in April, blaming a barley shortage.
	It said it was unable to import the key ingredient because it could not access dollars under socialist President Nicolas Maduro's tight currency controls.
	But with bars and liquor stores running dry, Polar said it had reached a deal for a USD 35-million loan from Spanish bank BBVA, putting up its shares in an investment fund as collateral.
	The cash will enable the company to buy barley, hops and steel sheets for cans -- enough to resume production next month and get through the rest of 2016, it said.
	Some 10,000 workers at Polar's four breweries had been out of work since they suspended production.
	The brewery is part of Venezuela's largest corporation, Empresas Polar, whose .

Rare good news in Venezuela: beer is back

Floods in Germany and France have killed at least 10 people and forced thousands from their homes, officials said as Paris' Louvre museum announced it would move treasures out of reach of the swollen Seine.
	The world's most visited museum said it would shut its doors today to evacuate artworks from its basement storage, as the nearby river began to burst its banks following days of torrential rain.
	Several towns in southern Germany have been devastated by flooding that has also seen rescuers in central France rowing lifeboats down streets turned into muddy rivers.
	Forecasters in both countries warned of more downpours over the next 24 hours.
	In France, a man on horseback died after he was swept away in a swollen river in Evry-Gregy-sur-Yerre, southeast of Paris, the local prefecture said.
	The 74-year-old's body was recovered from the water by firefighters. The horse made its own way back to safety, police said.
	There were also chaotic scenes in the German town of Simbach am Inn, 

Paris museums on alert as flood chaos hits France, Germany

Venezuela's opposition called for calm after electoral authorities cancelled a key meeting on whether they could go ahead with efforts to remove embattled President Nicolas Maduro in a referendum.
	The National Electoral Board (CNE) had been due to deliver its ruling on whether it accepted or rejected an initial petition with 1.8 million signatures endorsing a recall vote against Maduro, whom the opposition accuses of driving Venezuela into economic and political chaos.
	Maduro's opponents warn the country faces an explosion of unrest if authorities do not allow a recall referendum this year.
	But just after their meeting with the CNE was due to start, opposition spokesman Jesus Torrealba said the electoral authorities had postponed it indefinitely.
	"We are going to announce to the nation the steps we will take in the face of this unprecedented situation," Torrealba said yesterday. "We call on the Venezuelan people to remain calm."
	The grinding economic crisis has made daily life ...

Venezuela puts off key decision on Maduro recall vote

A fire ripped through a camp housing labourers in southwestern Qatar killing 11 people and injuring 12 others, the interior ministry said today.
	An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the fire which broke out yesterday at a camp for labourers working on a waterfront tourism project, it said.
	"11 people died and 12 injured in the fire and they are hospitalised. Investigation is going on to identify the causes of the fire," the ministry tweeted.
	Pictures posted online, purportedly from the site of the fire, showed charcoal black smoke rising hundreds of feet into the air.
	The interior ministry said that civil defence teams contained the blaze and that firefighters managed to prevent it from spreading.
	The identity of the victims was not immediately known.
	A vast number of migrant labourers work in Qatar on numerous infrastructure projects.
	The energy-rich Gulf nation has been repeatedly criticised by non-governmental organisations and unions for the conditions ...

11 dead in Qatar labour camp fire

Venezuela's opposition learns today whether authorities will let them proceed with efforts to call a referendum on removing President Nicolas Maduro, whom they blame for the country's fall from booming oil giant to basket case.
	The National Electoral Board (CNE) is due to decide whether to accept or reject an initial petition with 1.8 million signatures endorsing a recall vote against Maduro, whom the opposition accuses of driving Venezuela into economic and political chaos.
	Maduro's opponents warn that the country faces an explosion of unrest if authorities do not allow a recall referendum this year.
	Enrique Marquez, the deputy speaker of the opposition-controlled legislature, said yesterday the referendum was the only "escape valve" for a country racked by economic collapse, hyperinflation, shortages of food and medicine, daily power outages and violent crime.
	He urged the CNE to "get in step with history, with the suffering of the Venezuelan people, and remove the barriers ...

Venezuela awaits key ruling on Maduro recall vote

Irish rocker-turned-activist Bob Geldof today urged his compatriots to vote for the UK to stay in the EU in the referendum later this month.
	Geldof, who comes from Dublin, appeared in a video for the Irish4Europe campaign urging Irish nationals in Britain to register to vote by the June 7 deadline.
	The campaign says it is targeting around 600,000 Irish-born people living and working in Britain.
	Irish citizens aged 18 or over and resident in the Britain or Gibraltar can vote in the referendum, as can Commonwealth citizens.
	In the video, Geldof, 64, lists people he will be encouraging to vote "Remain" in the June 23 referendum on Britain's EU membership.
	Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny attended a Gaelic football match between his home county of Mayo and London in northwest London on Sunday, where the campaign handed out leaflets to the 7,500-strong crowd.
	"Whether there would be border controls or custom controls, these things are a possibility but obviously they would require ...

Geldof urges Irish to vote 'Remain' in Brexit referendum

Despite a spate of bloody incidents that made global headlines, the total number of deaths in terrorist attacks fell last year by 14 percent, a US government report said today.
	While the Islamic State group remains the major threat and carried out devastating attacks in France, Lebanon and Turkey -- violence and total deaths decreased in Pakistan, Iraq and Nigeria.
	According to figures compiled for the US State Department, there were an average of 981 "terrorist attacks" per month worldwide in 2015, killing a total of 28,328 over the year.
	This represents 13 percent fewer attacks and 14 percent fewer deaths than in 2014, according to the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START).
	But while the global picture could be seen as encouraging, the figures record huge increases in indiscriminate political violence in Turkey, Bangladesh, Egypt, Syria and the Philippines.
	The START figures were released today as an annex to the State Department's ...

Terror deaths down but IS still major threat: US report

Human Rights Watch today condemned the decision of Bahrain's appeals court to double the jail term of Shiite opposition chief Sheikh Ali Salman as a "travesty of justice".
	Cleric Salman, who heads the largest opposition formation in the Sunni-ruled kingdom, had his jail sentence increased on Monday to nine years from the original four.
	He had been convicted of inciting violence but the appeals court overturned an earlier acquittal of advocating regime change by force.
	The appeals court "increased the sentence despite strong evidence his initial trial was unfair and the fact that two of the charges on which he had been convicted violated his right to freedom of expression", HRW said in a statement.
	"Sheikh Salman is the latest casualty of Bahrain's war on dissent, but he won't be the last unless Bahrain's allies in London and Washington loudly protest this travesty of justice," said HRW's deputy Middle East director, Joe Stork.
	"This level of repression will not create stability ..

HRW: Bahrain trial of opposition chief 'travesty of justice'

UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage today put his money where his mouth is by staking USD 1,000 on Britain leaving the EU.
	The anti-European Union figurehead stands to win USD 2,500, plus his original stake back, after placing the bet at odds of 5/2, or USD 5 won for every USD 2 bet.
	The former trader placed the bet with bookmakers Ladbrokes in a branch in the City of London financial district.
	"Just been down the bookies. We're gonna win this!" Farage said on Twitter.
	"The odds are moving in our favour and I'm very confident I'll be back after the referendum to collect my winnings."
	With exactly three weeks to go until the June 23 referendum on whether Britain will remain in the EU or leave, the two camps are almost neck and neck.
	"Remain" is on 51 per cent and "Leave" on 49 per cent according to the WhatUKThinks website's average of the last six polls, with the Leave camp gaining ground.
	But the bookmakers' odds suggest the in camp is well ahead, at 5/2 for Leave and ...

Britain's UKIP leader bets on Brexit

The Louvre museum in flood-hit Paris said it would close today to evacuate artworks held in its underground reserves as the River Seine began to burst its banks.
	The riverside museum -- the most visited in the world, home to everything from the Mona Lisa to priceless Egyptian artefacts, took the radical action after days of torrential rain in the French capital.
	The Musee d'Orsay, which faces the Louvre on the opposite bank of the river, closed early today to put its own "protection plan" into place.
	Its galleries hold the world's greatest collection of Impressionist masterpieces, including the finest paintings by Renoir, Manet, Van Gogh and Degas, as well as 24 works by Gauguin.
	"The aim is to move works situated in areas vulnerable to flooding to safety by moving them to higher floors," the Louvre said in a statement.
	Only hours before, the museum had played down the threat to its vast underground stores which are fitted with anti-flood pumps and sealed waterproof doors.
	But ..

Louvre to evacuate artworks as Paris flood waters rise

The head of Israel's foreign ministry said today that France's bid to revive Israel-Palestinian peace talks was doomed to failure, like a 1916 colonial effort to carve up the Middle East.
	"This effort utterly failed then and will completely fail today," Dore Gold told journalists on the eve of an international meeting in Paris, referring to the Sykes-Picot agreement to draw up the region's borders.
	"The only way to get a stable regional arrangement that will allow us to create real peace in the Middle East is if the parties of the region come to understandings between them," Gold said.
	"We believe the Arab states would give backing to direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians," the foreign ministry's director general added.
	"Therefore we prefer a Middle Eastern process and not a process that somebody is trying to create in Paris."
	British diplomat Mark Sykes and Francois Georges-Picot of France drew the borders of a new Middle East in May 1916 after the collapse of .

Israel foreign ministry says French Mideast drive 'will fail'

Iraq's parliament speaker Salim al-Juburi said today he was concerned over reports of abuses committed by government forces against civilians during the current operation to retake Fallujah.
	He cited reports of mistreatment of civilians by members of rhe federal police and the Hashed al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilisation) paramilitary forces and urged Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to enforce discipline among government ranks.
	There is "information indicating that some violations were carried out by some members of the federal police and some volunteers against civilians", his office said in a statement.
	"These actions are a disservice to the sacrifices... Made by our heroic security forces," Juburi's office said.
	The statement did not provide details on the alleged abuses but urged Abadi to "look into these acts and deal with them in a strict and expeditious way".
	Juburi, a Sunni politician, had warned from before the launch of operations to retake Fallujah of the risks of reprisals ..

AFP

AFP

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