At least eight elderly women were crushed to death in Mauritania today as they queued to collect money donated to the poor by a businessman, a hospital source said.
	"At least eight people were killed, all old women, and two dozen others were injured," the source said, of the stampede which took place in the capital Nouakchott at an event at which alms were being distributed. Known as "zakat", giving alms to the poor is a religious duty in the Muslim-majority country.
	The incident occurred as hundreds of poor men and women were waiting at the door of a courtyard where they were expecting to receive the cash, witnesses told AFP.
	The situation quickly spiralled out of control with organisers unable to prevent the tragedy.
	The victims were taken to the main hospital in the capital, the source said.
	In Mauritania, wealthy people hand out their alms directly, but in most Muslim states this is a role more usually taken on by the state.

8 killed at Mauritania aid event for poor: hospital source

PTI Automatic

Ivory Coast's former first lady Simone Gbagbo today rejected a court's charges of crimes against humanity during a 2010 wave of violence, claiming she suffered attempted rape in detention.
	"I stand before this court on demand of the government and for crimes that I did not commit," Gbagbo said as her trial went into its second day.
	"I am accused of facts that have not been proven. And not only that -- I am accused of direct involvement," she said, wearing a violet scarf around her shoulders.
	The wife of former president Laurent Gbagbo, nicknamed Ivory Coast's "Iron Lady", also said she suffered a rape attempt when she and her husband were arrested on April 11, 2011.
	She also claimed French soldiers deployed in Ivory Coast filmed the attempted rape.
	Simone Gbagbo is accused of planning and organising rights abuses against supporters of her husband's presidential rival to try to keep him in power at any cost.
	Gbagbo was finally defeated at the polls however and is currently also ..

I.Coast ex-first lady claims she suffered rape attempt

A humanitarian aid convoy today entered the rebel-held Syrian town of Daraya, the Red Cross said, in the first such delivery since a regime siege began in 2012.
	But the opposition said only medical supplies were in the delivery and British charity Save the Children said it was "shocking and completely unacceptable" that it excluded desperately needed food.
	Last month the United Nations warned if it did not see improvement on aid access to besieged areas by June 1, it would task the World Food Programme to carry out air drops of assistance in Syria.
	The International Committee of the Red Cross said both United Nations and Syrian Arab Red Crescent staff were involved in today's delivery.
	Daraya was one of the first towns in Syria to erupt in demonstrations against the government in 2012, and one of the first to be placed under a strict regime siege in late 2012.
	An estimated 8,000 people live in the town, which lies just a 15-minutes drive southwest of Damascus.
	Despite ...

First aid enters Syria's besieged Daraya since 2012

The Islamic State group is moving into a new phase of warfare that is likely to lead to more attacks on international civilian targets, according to a new report by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
	In the last six months, IS has been linked to attacks in 11 countries that have killed over 500 people, in Bangladesh, Belgium, Egypt, France, Germany, Indonesia, Lebanon, Pakistan, Russia, Turkey and the United States.
	"Recent international attacks perpetrated by members of ISIL demonstrate that the terrorist group is now moving into a new phase, with the increased risk that well-prepared and centrally directed attacks on international civilian targets may become a more frequent occurrence," said the report obtained by AFP today.
	UN member-states are reporting a marked increase in the number of foreign fighters returning from Syria and Iraq where IS has suffered military setbacks, Ban said in the report to the Security Council.
	The Paris and Brussels assaults demonstrate the jihadist .

Islamic State seen shifting to more international attacks: UN

The UN's special coordinator for the Middle East peace process today accused a key ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of "killing hope" for a settlement.
	Nickolay Mladenov spoke after a minister from the Jewish Home party, which holds several portfolios in Netanyahu's rightwing government, declared the party would never support a two-state solution.
	"The determination of some ministers in Israel to block progress and kill hope by promoting illegal settlements and rejecting a Palestinian state is concerning," he said in a statement to AFP.
	Netanyahu this week brought hardliner Avigdor Lieberman and his Yisrael Beitenu party into the ruling coalition, naming him as defence minister.
	The choice of Lieberman to oversee Israeli policy in the occupied West Bank raised concern about the lurch in government policy, but in his first speech he took a conciliatory tone -- committing himself to the two-state solution along with Netanyahu.
	In response, Jewish Home, another ...

UN envoy accuses Israel ally of 'killing' peace hope

Israel has arrested a correspondent for Iran's Arabic-language television in the annexed Golan Heights, police said today.
	Al-Alam news channel identified the journalist as Bassam al-Safadi.
	Police said he was "suspected of diffusion (of information) supporting a terrorist organisation and incitement to violence and terrorism", without elaborating.
	A court in Nazareth in northern Israel extended his detention until Sunday, police said.
	Al-Alam said in a statement that he was arrested "for no reason" in Masada, a village dominated by the Druze minority.
	His computer, camera and mobile phone were confiscated, the statement added.
	He is being held in Tzalmon prison in northern Israel, the police said, calling him a 43-year-old Arab Israeli.
	Many Golan Druze, however, consider themselves Syrians.
	Fares Sarafandi who works for Al-Alam in the occupied Palestinian territories told AFP that Safadi was their correspondent in the Golan Heights.
	Iran is an ally of Syria, which is ...

Israel arrests correspondent for Iran state media: police

Defending champion Serena Williams powered into the French Open quarter-finals on Wednesday, but Timea Bacsinszky dumped out sister Venus as the Swiss continued her love affair with Paris.
     Serena reached the last eight at Roland Garros for the 10th time after pulverising 18th seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 6-1 6-1 in just over an hour on Court Philippe Chatrier.
     The world No 1 one continues her pursuit of a record-equalling 22nd Open era Grand Slam title against 60th-ranked Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan.
     The 34-year-old American faces the likelihood of playing four matches in four days as she targets a fourth French Open crown, but Serena played down concerns about the schedule.
     "Four in a row? I think for us...When we play regular tournaments you play four, five matches in a row. It's what happens," she said.
     "In Rome I played four in a row? Five? I don't know. But, you know, in Miami and Indian Wells you just play every day. It's something you just get ...

Serena strolls as Venus exits last 16 in Paris

A car bomb exploded today at a top Mogadishu hotel that houses several MPs, killing several people, and was immediately followed by a gun battle, security sources and witnesses said.
	The explosion at the Ambassador Hotel on a busy road in the heart of the city was followed by a "complex attack", witnesses said, adding that a gun battle was raging, that security sources were inside the hotel and that several people had died.

Car bomb blast, shooting at Mogadishu hotel

Andy Murray and defending champion Stan Wawrinka set up a mouthwatering French Open semi-final duel Wednesday as Novak Djokovic became the first player to smash the USD 100 million prize money barrier.
     Second seed Murray reached the semi-finals in Paris for a fourth time by battling back to defeat the last home hope Richard Gasquet 5-7 7-6 (7/3) 6-0 6-2.
     Wawrinka, the 31-year-old third seed, became the oldest man since 1985 to reach the semi-finals with a 6-2 6-1 7-6 (9/7) win over Spain's Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
     Gasquet, bidding to end France's 33-year-wait for a French champion, reeled off five straight games to recover from 5-2 down and claim the opening set in front of a raucous Philippe Chatrier Court crowd.
     But former US Open and Wimbledon champion Murray won a second set tie-break before claiming 12 of the next 14 games.
     Murray leads his head-to-head 8-7 with Wawrinka but the Swiss star has won their last three meetings as well as their only two matches ..

Murray, Wawrinka set up semi-final duel as Djokovic hits $100m

France will on Friday host an international meeting in Paris in a bid to revive the moribund Israel-Palestinian peace process, even though its efforts have received a lukewarm response.
	After decades of failed negotiations and gridlocked talks, France launched a fresh push to resolve one of the world's longest-running conflicts earlier this year.
	Neither Israel nor the Palestinians will be represented at Friday's talks, which aim to lay the ground for a fully-fledged peace conference to be held by the end of the year.
	But Washington -- the traditional mediator -- has been hesitant to get behind the new initiative, with Secretary of State John Kerry stalling for weeks before finally agreeing to attend.
	The conference will nonetheless bring together foreign ministers from some 30 Western and Arab countries, as well as representatives of the United Nations and European Union.
	"We must bring back hope, recreate an international atmosphere that is favourable to a (peace) process," ...

France to host talks on Israel-Palestinian peace bid

Four militants and one soldier were killed in Thailand's insurgency-plagued deep south today, police said, during an intense jungle gunbattle.
	"There was a clash between militants and rangers this morning. The clash killed four militants and one ranger," a policeman at Janae district in the southern province of Narathiwat told AFP, asking not to be named.
	More than 6,500 people have died -- the majority civilians -- since 2004 in fighting between Malay Muslim rebels and Thai troops and police who blanket the area.
	Thailand annexed the culturally distinct zone bordering Malaysia over a century ago.
	Bombings, drive-by shootings and executions occur weekly in the region, with little progress made in peace talks since the military seized power in Thailand in a coup two years ago.
	After months of relative calm that saw violence dip to a record low last year, there has been a palpable increase in attacks over the past few months.
	The insurgents are seeking greater autonomy from ...

Four militants, Thai soldier killed in southern clash

Oil prices dropped today, as traders trod cautiously before this week's OPEC meeting in Vienna, and set aside upbeat Chinese data.
	The market has however rebounded strongly from January lows of under USD 30 per barrel, and last week topped USD 50 for the first time this year on production outages in Canada and Nigeria.
	But oil has since retreated and remain at less than half of their 2014 peaks of over USD 100 because of chronic global oversupply.
	At about 1145 GMT, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in July weakened 64 cents to USD 48.46 per barrel.
	Brent North Sea crude for August delivery, a new contract, also fell 64 cents to USD 49.25 a barrel compared with yesterday's close.
	"Brent crude continues to be constrained by the $50 per barrel level ahead of tomorrow's bi-annual OPEC meeting," noted Inenco analyst Dorian Lucas.
	The 13-member Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meets on Thursday for its first meeting with Saudi Arabia's new oil .

Oil drops in cautious trade ahead of OPEC

The global smartphone market is sputtering in 2016, with Apple likely to see its first "down" year for the iPhone, a research report said today.
	Research firm IDC said worldwide smartphone sales will likely increase just 3.1 per cent to 1.48 billion units, after 10.5 per cent growth last year.
	IDC said it expects "low single digit growth" in the United States, Western Europe, and China while Japan and Canada are expected to contract by 6.4 percent and 6.9 percent, respectively.
	The slowdown comes with the large markets generally saturated, and consumers keeping their handsets longer, because they are paying the full price without a subsidy from carriers.
	"Consumers everywhere are getting savvy about how and where they buy their smartphones," said IDC's Ryan Reith.
	This means that instead of getting devices from carriers, consumers are going directly to manufacturers or buying in online marketplaces.
	"Consumers are having more say over which brands they want and at the same time .

Smartphone growth slows to a trickle in 2016: survey

Concern for the plight of tens of thousands of civilians trapped inside Fallujah is slowing the operation to retake the Iraqi city from jihadists, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said today.
	"It would've been possible to end the battle quickly if protecting civilians wasn't one of the foundations of our plan," Abadi told commanders outside Fallujah in comments broadcast by state television.
	Elite forces from the counter-terrorism service backed by police, army and paramilitary groups on Monday launched a new phase of the operation to retake Fallujah.
	But they have so far failed to breach the centre of Fallujah, with commanders arguing that the Islamic State group was offering fierce resistance.
	Abadi's comments suggest however that the pace of the operation was intentionally slowed in order to spare civilians whom the UN says are being used as human shields by IS.
	   There are an estimated 50,000 civilians trapped inside the city, which lies only 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of ..

Iraq PM says concern for civilians slowing Fallujah op

The United States took steps today to lock North Korea out of the world financial system as it officially branded the country a "global money laundering concern."
	The move would prevent both direct and indirect North Korean financial activities within the US banking system, making sure that any third-party deals involving significant sums of US dollars cannot transit the US.
	The action follows a recent United Nations Security Council resolution that calls on all UN members to cut off banking relations with Pyongyang.
	"The United States, the UN Security Council, and our partners worldwide remain clear-eyed about the significant threat that North Korea poses to the global financial system," said Adam Szubin, the US Treasury's acting under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.
	"Today's action is a further step toward severing banking relationships with North Korea and we expect all governments and financial authorities to do likewise pursuant to the new UN Security ...

US moves to lock North Korea out of global financial system

French President Francois Hollande voiced hope today that Britons "will remember" their close ties to Europe when they vote in a June 23 referendum on EU membership.
	"We are as united as we have ever been," Hollande said after joining a ceremonial first train ride through the world's longest tunnel as it opened in Switzerland.
	"I hope that the British will remember (that closeness) when the day comes" to cast their vote, he said.
	In March, Hollande warned that a British exit from the 28-nation bloc would have an impact "in many areas," including the single European market, the financial sector and bilateral economic ties.
	Hollande today drew a parallel between the construction of the 57-kilometre (35-mile) Gotthard Base Tunnel (GBT), which opened under the Swiss Alps, with another trailblazing project, the Channel Tunnel.
	The 50-km link, which opened in 1994, means that London and Paris are less than three hours apart by high-speed rail -- a closeness that has woven many ties in .

Brexit: Hollande hopes UK 'will remember' close Europe ties

A Muslim teacher in Pakistan could face the death penalty after being accused of blasphemy, sparking anger from school officials and activists who said the law is being abused to carry out personal vendettas.
	Arabic teacher Gibreel Ahmed was arrested at a government school in southern Punjab province on May 14 after allegedly beating two brothers in the sixth grade for not coming to class on time.
	The students' parents complained to the Government High School Gurmani in Muzaffargarh district, whose head told AFP the 40-year-old teacher had been suspended after an inquiry.
	But four days after the original complaint, the parents went to police to accuse Ahmed of blasphemy, according to local authorities. The school said no mention of blasphemy had been made before the police complaint.
	Blasphemy is a hugely sensitive issue in conservative Muslim Pakistan, where even unproven allegations can stir beatings and mob violence.
	Rights groups have said the laws are routinely abused to ...

Pakistani teacher held over 'baseless' blasphemy claim

A wild leopard sparked alarm in Nepal's capital today after it spent hours wandering through a residential neighbourhood before being sedated and captured.
	A Kathmandu resident alerted police around dawn after he spotted the big cat in the compound of his house.
	Police called in zoo and wildlife officials who tracked the animal as it clambered over rooftops and padded through backyards, while local residents watched from their balconies.
	"They were able to tranquilise it and it has been transported to the zoo now. No one was injured," Hem Bahadur Thapa of the city police told AFP.
	Nepal's common leopards are usually found in the southern plains and in forested hill regions, but they have recently strayed into human settlements due to a loss of habitat.
	In two separate incidents in January, officials were called in to catch leopards which had wandered into densely-populated Kathmandu neighbourhoods.
	In 2012, a leopard is suspected to have killed more than a dozen people in the ...

Leopard on the loose sparks alarm in Nepal's capital

US cloud computing giant Salesforce said today it was buying rival Demandware for USD 2.8 billion in a move that expands its offerings to the retail sector.
	Salesforce, known for computing platforms that help manage marketing and other business services, will integrate with Demandware, which works with retail groups such as Design Within Reach, Lands' End, L'Oreal and Marks & Spencer.
	"Demandware is an amazing company -- the global cloud leader in the multibillion dollar digital commerce market," said Marc Benioff, chairman and chief executive of Salesforce.
	"With Demandware, Salesforce will be well positioned to deliver the future of commerce as part of our Customer Success Platform and create yet another billion dollar cloud."
	A statement by the firms said San Francisco-based Salesforce would acquire Massachusetts-based Demandware in a cash deal expected to close by July 31.
	The deal brings together the Salesforce enterprise cloud which helps companies in  marketing, ...

Salesforce buys cloud rival Demandware for USD 2.8 bn

Jordan's new Prime Minister Hani Mulki formed his government today to prepare for legislative elections following the dissolution of parliament, the royal palace announced.
	The 65-year-old, who has held several ministerial posts, is expected to push for business-friendly policies to revive Jordan's lagging economy.
	He was appointed by King Abdullah II following the resignation of his predecessor Abdullah Nsur in line with the constitution after the end of parliament's four-year term on Sunday.
	Mulki will also hold the defence portfolio.
	The king swore in the new cabinet of 28 ministers, among them 17 newcomers including four women.
	Several key posts were unchanged, including Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, Interior Minister Salamah Hammad and Finance Minister Omar Malhas, a former investment banker.
	Salama Hammad was named interior minister, a post he held in a previous administration, while Mohammed Momani remains information minister and government spokesman.
	Among the four ...

Jordan's new prime minister forms government

More than 400 Roman writing tablets have been unearthed in the heart of London, shedding light on the commerce-driven life in what would become the City of London financial hub, archaeologists said today.
	The wooden tablets contain the earliest surviving written reference to London, and the earliest dated handwritten document from Britain: January 8, 57 -- less than 14 years after the Roman invasion.
	The tablets reveal correspondence requesting payments, boasting of money-lending, asking favours to be returned, litigation requiring a judge and also evidence of someone practising the alphabet.
	They also show early London was inhabited by businessmen and soldiers, many from Gaul and the Rhineland.
	"It was like the email of the Roman world," said Sophie Jackson, archaeologist and director at Museum of London Archaeology, an independent charitable company which led the dig.
	The tablets were found beneath Bloomberg's new European headquarters by the Bank of England.
	Romans used waxed 

AFP

AFP

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