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 ..

Iraq speaker concerned over abuses in Fallujah battle

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The International Monetary Fund's top economist said today that the global crisis lender is not abandoning its much-criticized neoliberal approach to boosting economic growth.
	Responding to an article by three other IMF economists that sparked widespread reports that the Fund was pulling back from a pro-markets, pro-austerity and slim-government agenda, Maurice Obstfeld said the article was "widely misinterpreted".
	Publication of the article last week by the IMF itself "does not signify a major change in the Fund's approach," Obstfeld said in an interview released on the Fund's website.
	He said the IMF has engaged in a reassessment of its economic and financial policy approach in the wake of the global financial crisis.
	Nevertheless, he said, "that process has not fundamentally changed the core of our approach, which is based on open and competitive markets, robust macro policy frameworks, financial stability, and strong institutions."
	In their article the three economists ...

IMF says not recanting on neoliberalism, austerity

Serena Williams moved to within two matches of winning a record-equalling 22nd Grand Slam title with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 win over Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva in the French Open quarter-finals on Thursday.
     But it was a peculiar performance from the 34-year-old top seed and defending champion, who looked unrecognisable for the first hour of a match played in cold, damp conditions on the Roland Garros centre court.
     Defeat was staring the out-of-sorts American in the face at a set and a break down, but in the nick of time the champion managed to rekindle the fires that fuel her game.
     Back-to-back service breaks allowed her to turn the match on its head and avoid what would have been one of the biggest upsets in French Open history.
     Because of the poor weather conditions that have beset Roland Garros this week, Williams will play her third match in three days in Friday's semis against unseeded Dutchwoman Kiki Bertens who upset eighth seed Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland.
 

Serena struggles but survives in Paris

Novak Djokovic insisted Thursday that money will never be a driving force in his life despite becoming the first player to earn $100 million in prize money.
     The 29-year-old world number one reached the landmark figure by making the French Open quarter-finals on Thursday.
     "Believe it or not, I never thought of prize money being one of the sources of my motivation and inspiration to play tennis," said Djokovic, after reaching the semi-finals on Friday to guarantee at least another $500,000.
     "Of course the money helps me have a certain standard of life and lifestyle. But that's all. It never was and is never going to be the driving force in my life and in my career."
     Roger Federer, who is not playing the French Open due to injury, is second on the all-time money list with $98,011,727.

Djokovic shrugs off being $100 million man

Fresh strikes and violent protests hit France today, but fears of transport chaos during the Euro 2016 football tournament eased as airport staff cancelled a walkout and a Paris subway strike had little impact.
	Half of all trains nationally were cancelled barely a week before Euro 2016 kicks off on June 10, while several people were injured as police clashed with protesters opposed to new labour reforms.
	But unions' hopes of bringing Paris to a halt with a Metro strike appeared to have failed with commuters only suffering minor disruption.
	And air traffic controllers called off a walkout that had been expected to ground flights over the weekend after reaching a deal with the government.
	Labour Minister Myriam El Khomri said: "What the government is doing... Is sorting out each of the situations one by one."
	But the unions still have plenty of opportunities to cause trouble during the football championships, which already pose a major security challenge in the wake of last year's .

Fresh protests in France but Euro 2016 chaos fears ease

United Nations human rights expert Karima Bennoune today slammed the "unjustified" restriction facing religious services in  ethnically-split Cyprus.
	Turkish Cypriot authorities have restricted the number of visits allowed to Greek Orthodox churches in the north of the island, saying they could not cope with the frequency and demand of such services.
	Churches were restricted to one service a year, but there are apparently moves to scrap this after the United Nations voiced concern last week.
	"The current political situation in Cyprus creates many obstacles to the exercise of cultural rights," said Bennoune, the UN Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights.
	"I condemn unjustified restrictions on access to cultural heritage for religious ceremonies, including those that were announced by the Turkish Cypriot authorities during my visit," she said.
	The Special Rapporteur said there are also issues of access to cultural sites in the government-controlled south of the country, 

UN expert slams restrictions to heritage sites in Cyprus

Art, books, jewelry and furniture owned by Ronald and Nancy Reagan are expected to fetch more than USD 2 million at auction in New York this September, Christie's said today.
	Reagan, who died in 2004, was one of the most revered US presidents, and when his widow Nancy died last March, Hollywood stars and political powerbrokers turned out en masse to attend her funeral in California.
	Lots in the sale include American, English and Chinese furnishings from the couple's Los Angeles home, as well as books, memorabilia, jewelry, paintings, sculpture, prints and drawings, Christie's said.
	The auction house has valued individual items from USD 1,000 to USD 50,000 and expects the sale to fetch more than USD 2 million across live and online auctions.
	The collection "offers unprecedented insight" into the private lives of the couple, said Brook Hazelton, president of Christie's Americas.
	"Each object offers a 'through the keyhole' experience revealing as-yet untold stories of two of the ...

Reagans' private collection up for sale in New York

Yemen's nearly two-month-old ceasefire has improved humanitarian access but civilians  are still facing an "immeasurable" crisis, the United Nations said today.
	The fragile truce was declared on April 11, 10 days before Huthi Shiite rebels and the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi began UN-brokered peace talks in Kuwait.
	"The ceasefire has provided us an opportunity to get to areas we haven't been able to get before," the UN humanitarian chief in the country, Jamie McGoldrick, told AFP.
	He said that while no part of Yemen had been besieged, a number of areas have proved extremely hard to reach since the conflict escalated in March last year, when a Saudi-led Arab coalition began air strikes in support of Yemeni forces resisting the Huthis.
	McGoldrick said it was difficult to estimate the number of civilians reached with aid since the ceasefire came into force.
	The UN was trying to assess the needs nationwide during the lull in violence, he added.
	Fighting has also ..

Yemen truce boosts aid access: UN

A man has taken his ex-girlfriend to court to recover USD 600 he spent on wooing her including a romantic break to Crimea, she told Russian media today.
	The woman, Nina Zgurskaya, told Business FM radio station their relationship had initially gone well with dates and gifts.
	But she broke up with him while they were on holiday in Crimea because he failed to pop the question as she had hoped.
	"It was discussed as a romantic trip, that he would propose to me -- which didn't happen," she told Siberian channel CTC-Prima. "I got mad and left."
	When she got back to their home city of Krasnoyarsk, she found an even more unwelcome surprise: a court summons and a demand to return more than 40,000 rubles (USD 595).
	"I received a court summons and found out he wanted to be reimbursed," she said.
	"We've been in court since October 2015," she said. "He filed two suits against me, for money transfers to me and for the holiday. He had receipts."
	The man had both suits thrown out and "is now ..

Russian man sues ex for USD 600 spent on romance

Three Syrian men have been arrested in Germany over an alleged plan to launch a suicide attack there for the Islamic State jihadist group, federal prosecutors said today.
	According to the suspects' plan, two attackers were to detonate suicide vests while the others were to kill passersby with guns and explosives in the western city of Duesseldorf, prosecutors said in a statement.
	The suspects were identified as 27-year-old Hamza C, 25-year-old Mahood B, and Abd Arahman A K, 31, who were arrested in the states of Brandenburg near Berlin, North Rhine-Westphalia and Baden-Wurttemberg.
	A fourth Syrian man, Saleh A, 25, had been in custody in France since turning himself in in February, they said, and Germany had now requested his extradition.
	"According to current investigations, the four accused were planning to commit an attack in Germany for the foreign terrorist organisation Islamic State," said the prosecutors.
	Saleh A and Hamza C had joined IS in early 2014 in Syria, where ...

Three Syrians arrested in Germany over 'IS attack plan'

German Chancellor Angela Merkel today urged Britain to stay in the EU, warning three weeks ahead of its referendum that a 'Brexit' vote would leave the United Kingdom with less clout.
	"I have repeatedly said that I personally wish that Great Britain stays part of the European Union," she told a Berlin press conference.
	Citing the example of international trade talks, she pointed to the benefits of being part of the EU bloc and the risks of isolation.
	"One nation by itself will never be able to achieve such good results" in trade negotiations, Merkel said.
	Outcomes reached as part of the 28-nation bloc "will be qualitatively better for the people of Great Britain... I'm very certain of that".
	Merkel stressed, as she has done before, that the decision whether to stay or leave "is the decision of British citizens", mindful not to be seen as meddling in the contentious issue.

Merkel says Britain will be stronger within EU

The Bank of England today unveiled the design of a new USD 5 (6.5 euros, USD 7.2) banknote bearing the image of wartime leader Winston Churchill at an event in his family's ancestral home of Blenheim Palace.
	The note, to be rolled out from September, is the first to be printed on polymer -- a thin, flexible plastic film that is seen as more durable and secure and is already used in Australia and Canada.
	Bank of England governor Mark Carney paid tribute to Churchill's "bulldog spirit" and said currency was "memory for a country and its people".
	The banknote carries a famous Churchill quote from a speech to parliament during World War II in 1940 in which he said: "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat".
	In the background is an image of the Houses of Parliament, its clock tower showing 3 PM -- the approximate time he pronounced his speech.
	Churchill was born at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire on November 30, 1874. He died aged 90 on January 24, 1965.
	The new note .

Bank of England unveils new plastic Churchill USD 5 note

The EU today warned member states against banning "sharing economy" services such as Uber and Airbnb, especially if only to protect existing businesses from competition.
	"You cannot put an absolute ban on activity if the reason for this is only protecting a business model," EU industry commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska said at a news briefing in Brussels.
	Online success stories like ride-sharing app Uber and Airbnb have caused major disruptions in Europe, with taxi drivers and hotel owners furious at the inroads made by the main actors of the sharing economy.
	In response, local governments and national regulators have moved to limit access to the websites, and in some cases, outright banning them.
	Uber has filed complaints with the EU against France, Germany and Spain to hit back, arguing that the national or city policies are in violation of European law.
	The EU is currently deliberating a response to those complaints as well as another lodged by an individual in Berlin who is ...

EU warns against curbing companies such as Uber

At least three inmates died in a new riot at a northern Mexican prison where 49 others were killed in a massive brawl four months ago.
	Another 14 were injured at the Topo Chico prison late Wednesday, with five of them in serious condition, Nuevo Leon state's interior secretary Manuel Gonzalez said.
	Some 25 state police officers threw tear gas at the prisoners and brought the situation "under control," he said.
	No officers were hurt, Gonzalez added without providing more details about the riot.
	The deadly clash in February was prompted by a power struggle between rival leaders of the Zetas drug cartel who fought over control of the penitentiary.
	Raiding prison cells days after the brawl, the authorities found luxury items including aquariums, flat-screen televisions, portable saunas and even a bar.
	State authorities declared that they had retaken control of the facility after transferring several inmates to other prisons and detaining the warden.
	Mexican prisons have been hit by 

Three dead in new Mexican prison riot

A Stockholm court today handed a five-year jail term to a 20-year-old student for plotting a suicide bomb attack.
	Described by prosecutors as a "lone wolf" jihadist, Aydin Sevigin acknowledged that he supported the Islamic State group and that he sought martyrdom.
	Sevigin insisted, though, that he had not planned to carry out an attack in Sweden -- an account that was rejected by the court, although investigators were unable to identify the target.
	Sevigin tried to travel to Syria via Turkey in June last year but was expelled twice by the Turkish authorities, the court heard.
	Frustrated, he then decided to carry out an attack in Sweden, prosecutors said.
	He was arrested in February after his mother found bomb-making material, including bottles of acetone, electrical wire, adhesive tape and ball bearings, and tipped off the authorities.
	Police found a mobile phone whose password was "jihad".

Sweden jails 'lone wolf' for foiled attack

A suicide bomb attack killed at least one person and wounded another three in the regime stronghold of Latakia in northwestern Syria today, state television said.
	"A terrorist attack hit near the Khulafa al-Rashideen mosque in the Daatur district of Latakia as people emerged from afternoon prayers," state television said, adding that three people were wounded.
	Official news agency SANA said a motorcycle bomb was behind the attack in the coastal city.
	Last month bombings claimed by the Islamic State group in the nearby seaside cities of Jableh and Tartus killed at least 170 people.
	IS is not known to have a significant presence in Syria's coastal provinces, where its jihadist rival, the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Nusra Front, is much more prominent.
	But IS, notorious for using deadly sleeper cells to attack its enemies, suggested the creation of a "Wilayat al-Sahel" or Islamic province for the coastal area.
	At least 280,000 people have been killed and millions displaced from their ...

Suicide bomber kills one in Syria regime stronghold: state TV

Aid drops to besieged areas in Syria are not expected to begin immediately, the United Nations said today, despite urgent calls from France and Britain for deliveries to get started.
	"As long as the World Food Programme has not yet finalised its plans, I don't think there's something imminent," Ramzi Ezzedine Ramzi, the deputy to the UN special envoy to Syria Staffan de Mistura, told reporters.
	"WFP has studied the issue and is in the process of finalising its plans," Ramzi said, but added that it was "a very complex venture," and would require approval from Damascus, which has yet to be given.
	He said the airdrops would be "put into effect at the earliest possible date."
	His comments came after France and Britain yesterday called on the UN to urgently begin the aid deliveries by air.
	Last month, the 20-nation International Syria Support Group agreed that if aid convoys over land had not reached all besieged areas by June 1, drops from aircraft would be used.
	Airdrops are far ...

UN says Syria aid drops not 'imminent'

Gunmen today kidnapped at least 17 people travelling in civilian vehicles in northern Afghanistan, officials said, in the second group abduction within a week, underscoring the worsening security situation in the country.
	The passengers, all minority Hazaras, were pulled out of their vehicles in Sancharak district in Sar-e-Pul province and taken to a remote area controlled by Taliban insurgents, the local governor said.
	"They are all innocent civilians with no government connections. We have asked local elders to talk to the Taliban commanders and secure their release," Governor Zaher Wahdat told AFP.
	There was no immediate comment from the Taliban.
	The three-million-strong Afghan Hazara community has been persecuted for decades, with thousands killed in the late 1990s by Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
	There has been a surge in violence against the community, with a series of kidnappings and killings in recent months that have triggered a wave of fury on social media.
	The incident ...

Gunmen kidnap 17 in northern Afghanistan

Novak Djokovic reached his 30th Grand Slam semi-final on today to move two wins away from a first French Open title and a career Grand Slam but admitted he was lucky not to have been disqualified.
     The world number one defeated Czech seventh seed Tomas Berdych 6-3, 7-5, 6-3, claiming a place in an eighth Roland Garros semi-final and sixth in succession.
     But the 29-year-old Serb, who will face Dominic Thiem of Austria for a place in the final, came perilously close to being kicked out of the tournament in the second game of the third set.
     Frustrated at missing a break point, the Serb went to smash his racquet into the ground but it slipped out of his grasp before it flew into the backwall on Philippe Chatrier Court.
     Had it hit the nearby line judge, who was forced to take evasive action, Djokovic would have been disqualified.
     Not surprisingly, he offered a speedy apology for his actions to chair umpire Eva Asderaki Moore and escaped with a warning for racquet ...

I was lucky not to be disqualified from French Open: Djokovic

House after house flicks by hundreds of feet beneath a military helicopter, many distinguished by one arresting feature: their roofs have been removed by the army to allow an "aerial view" of militants who may take refuge there.
	South Waziristan was once a stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban, where the extremists operated with impunity, but the military says the region in the country's mountainous northwest has been cleared of its last militant stronghold.
	Now the district, part of Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) on the border with Afghanistan, is welcoming thousands of displaced families back to their homes, many of which no longer offer shelter.
	Some were damaged by weather, said a military official who flew with media on the army-controlled helicopter trip earlier this month over the towns of Makeen, Ladha and Kanigurm.
	But not all. "(The) military has removed the roofs of the houses to have a better aerial view and stop militants taking refuge in these ...

How to spot a militant: Pak army removes roofs in Waziristan

Fireworks sparked a fire at a luxury beach resort in southern Sri Lanka minutes after it was opened by President Maithripala Sirisena, hotel and local officials said.
	Police have already begun an investigation into yesterday's incident at the 300-room Shangri-La at Hambantota, the upmarket hotel operator's first hotel in the island.
	"During the festivities, fireworks sparked a fire on a thatched roof covering a pool installation," the group's Hong Kong-based public relations chief Ilona Yim said.
	"No one was hurt and we are thankful for the help of the fire brigade, which was onsite and extinguished the fire within 10 minutes."
	The hotel said the president stayed on for a private dinner that was part of the opening at Hambantota, 240 kilometres south of the capital Colombo.
	"The president had just walked back to the hotel while the fireworks display was still on," his spokesman Dharmasri Bandara told AFP.
	Initial reports said the president was immediately evacuated, but his ...

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