The European Union today beefed up sanctions against North Korea over nuclear and ballistic missile tests carried out in defiance of United Nations resolutions.
	The 28-nation bloc said it was adding 18 persons and one entity to its asset freeze and travel ban blacklist, complementing measures adopted by the UN against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the north's official name.
	"The persons subjected to restrictive measures ... Are mostly high-ranked military officials involved in key bodies responsible for supporting or promoting the DPRK's nuclear-related, ballistic missile-related or other weapons of mass destruction-related programmes," the EU said in a statement.
	"The additional listed entity is involved in the development and operational implementation of ballistic-missile related or other weapons of mass destruction-related programmes," it said.
	The European Council, which groups EU member states, said the decision means sanctions are now in place against 66 ...

EU increases sanctions on NKorea

PTI Automatic

Tobacco giants have lost a legal challenge in London against imposing new rules for standardised packaging due to come into force tomorrow, meaning Britain will join a growing list of countries to do so.
	Philip Morris International, British American Tobacco, Imperial Tobacco and Japan Tobacco International had challenged the legality of the new regulations, which mean all new cigarette packs sold in Britain will have to be olive green.
	Shops will have 12 months to sell existing packets.
	"The regulations were lawful when they were promulgated by parliament and they are lawful now in the light of the most up-to-date evidence," judge Nicholas Green said in Thursday's ruling.
	Cancer Research UK's chief executive Harpal Kumar said: "This is an important milestone in our efforts to reduce the devastating toll that tobacco exerts on so many families every day.
	"It's the beginning of the end for packaging that masks a deadly and addictive product," he said.
	The anti-smoking campaign ...

Tobacco giants lose appeal against UK plain packaging rules

France's parliament approved today a two-month extension of the state of emergency, in place since November's jihadist attacks, to cover the Euro 2016 football tournament and Tour de France.
	Already backed by a large majority in the upper house Senate last week, the lower house National Assembly confirmed the measure today by 46 votes to 20.
	"The terrorist threat remains at a high level and France, like the EU, is a target," said Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve ahead of the vote.
	Prime Minister Manuel Valls had earlier said there was no question of cancelling the Euro 2016 football tournament, which is expected to draw two million fans to the country between June 10 and July 10.
	Millions of spectators are also expected for the Tour de France cycling race, which is set for July 2-24 and this year covers a route of 3,519 kilometres (2,247 miles).
	"Giving up on sporting events and cultural events is precisely to give in to the terrorist threat," he told RTL radio, vowing that ...

France extends state of emergency to cover Euro 2016 football

Ten million people could die every year from 2050 onwards unless sweeping global changes are agreed to tackle increasing resistance to antibiotics, which can turn common ailments into killers, a report warned today.
	Commissioned by the British government, the Review on Antimicrobial Resistance set out steps to fight the emergence of "superbugs" as infections become immune to existing drugs, allowing minor injuries and common infections to become deadly.
	"It needs to be seen as the economic and security threat that it is, and be at the forefront of the minds of heads of state," wrote Jim O'Neill, the economist who led the review.
	The overuse of antibiotics should be reduced by cutting the vast quantities of medicines given to farm animals, improving diagnoses to stop unnecessary prescriptions, and a global public awareness campaign, the paper urged.
	At the same time, researchers should be encouraged to develop new antibiotics through a global fund for research and rewards for those 

Deep changes urged to avoid mass deaths from superbugs

Signs of possible wreckage were found today off the Greek island of Crete in a search for an EgyptAir flight missing in the Mediterranean, a Greek military spokesman said.
	   "There have been finds southeast of Crete, inside the Cairo flight information area," general staff spokesman Vassilis Beletsiotis told AFP, adding that an Egyptian C-130 plane had spotted the floating objects, and ships would be sent to investigate.

Debris found off Greek island in search for EgyptAir flight

Chris Gayle, Darren Sammy and Dwayne Bravo were all left out of the West Indies squad for the first four tri-nation one-day international series while T20 matchwinner Carlos Brathwaite has been included.
     Off-spinner Sunil Narine and all-rounder Kieron Pollard, who have not played international cricket since November 2015, were included in the 14-man squad for the series against Australia and South Africa starting from June 3.
     Brathwaite and Marlon Samuels, who played key roles in West Indies' World T20 triumph earlier this year, have also been included but the squad does not include all-rounder Andre Russell, Sammy, Bravo and Gayle, all involved in Indian Premier League cricket.
     The squad includes two players who are yet to play in ODIs for the West Indies -- off-spinner Ashley Nurse, who was part of the World T20-winning squad last month, and fast bowler Shannon Gabriel, who has played 16 Test matches.
     The day/night series starts in at the Guyana National Stadium .

Gayle, Sammy, Bravo miss West Indies tri-nation series

Americans are getting comfortable with new "sharing economy" services like Uber for ride-sharing and Airbnb for lodging, a survey showed today.
	Some 15 per cent of Americans have used a ride-hailing service such as Uber or Lyft and 11 percent have booked a stay with an online service such as Airbnb or HomeAway, according to the Pew Research Center survey.
	When adding those using other on-demand services such as grocery delivery or errand applications, the total percentage using any of the services jumped to 72 percent, Pew found.
	The remaining 28 per cent have not used any major sharing or on-demand platforms, and many are unfamiliar with these services, according to the poll of 4,787 Americans.
	"The sharing economy has been the subject of much ongoing debate, but these services are impacting consumers to widely varying degrees," said Pew researcher Aaron Smith, author of the study.
	"Some Americans have deeply integrated these platforms into their day-to-day lives -- but a larger 

US warms to 'sharing' services like Uber, Airbnb

Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir, wanted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes, has applied for a US visa to attend the next United Nations General Assembly, an official said today.
	It would be Bashir's first visit to the United States since his 2009 indictment by the Hague-based ICC for alleged war crimes in Sudan's western region of Darfur.
	"Yes, President Bashir and his delegation have applied for US visas for attending the UN General Assembly meeting," Bashir's press secretary Obei Ezzedine told AFP.
	Bashir previously applied for a US visa in 2014 to attend the UN General Assembly, which is held each year in September, but was rejected.
	The US embassy in Khartoum could not be reached for comment.
	Washington has regularly condemned Bashir's international travels, and last week lashed out at Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni for hosting the Sudanese leader at his swearing in ceremony in Kampala.
	Diplomats from the United States, the European Union and ...

Sudan's Bashir, wanted by ICC, applies for US visa

The Philippines must immediately return millions of dollars recovered from a high-profile hacking theft, Bangladesh's ambassador said today in Manila, but Filipino officials warned resolving the embarrassing case could take months.
	On February 5, unidentified hackers shifted USD 81 million from the Bangladesh central bank's account with the US Federal Reserve to a nondescript bank in Manila, from where it was funnelled into local casinos.
	Filipino authorities now say they have tracked down all but USD 21 million of the loot, but have only recovered a fraction of it.
	Late March, Manila-based Chinese casino promoter Kim Wong, who is under criminal investigation after a portion of the stolen money was traced to his account, began handing over chunks of the stolen cash to Filipino authorities.
	Bangladeshi ambassador to Manila, John Gomes, expressed outrage Thursday that the surrendered funds -- now totaling USD 15 million - had not been returned to Dhaka, nearly two months later.
	"It 

B'desh demands return of stolen bank funds from Philippines

Victims of the atomic bombings of Japan want an apology from US President Barack Obama when he visits Hiroshima next week, the head of a survivors' group said today.
	Obama will become the first sitting US president to visit Hiroshima, where the first atomic bomb was dropped on August 6, 1945, killing about 140,000 people in total.
	Tens of thousands were killed by the fireball that the powerful Hiroshima blast generated, with many more succumbing to injuries or illnesses caused by radiation in the weeks, months and years afterwards.
	Vast swathes of the city, including many of its military and industrial installations, were flattened.
	The southern city of Nagasaki was hit by a second bomb days later, killing 74,000 people, in one of the final acts of World War II.
	"I urge him to apologise to those who died, bereaved families and parents who lost their children," Terumi Tanaka, secretary general of the Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations and a survivor of ...

Hiroshima atomic bomb victims want apology from Obama

Debris found off Greek island in search for EgyptAir

Deutsche Bank today told shareholders angered by big losses and scandals at Germany's biggest lender that it was on the path back to growth, but conceded it wasn't quite there yet.
	"The whole (management board) team -- with the backing of this supervisory board -- want to put Deutsche Bank back on the road to growth," chief executive John Cryan told his first shareholder meeting since taking up his position last July.
	"This journey is demanding. It requires effort, but it will be worth that effort."
	Groups of shareholders had expressed anger at Deutsche Bank's colossal loss of nearly seven billion euros (USD 7.9 billion) last year and at the group's apparent slow progress in resolving a large number of scandals and litigation cases.
	"We are not yet where we want to be," said supervisory board chief Paul Achleitner.
	"But our objectives are right, our path has been clearly defined and the new management board is making good progress along this path. This gives me confidence -- me, .

Deutsche Bank face shareholder anger over massive loss

Turkey's ruling party named a loyal ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as the new prime minister today, as the strongman seeks to tighten his grip on power.
	The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) appointed Transport Minister Binali Yildirim as its chairman, meaning he will automatically become prime minister.
	Yildirim is poised to replace Ahmet Davutoglu, who stepped down after a power struggle with Erdogan.
	"We will work in total harmony with all our party comrades at all levels, beginning with our founding president and leader," said Yildirim, referring to Erdogan, after being named party head.
	The 60-year-old Yildirim is seen as one of Erdogan's closest longtime confidants and has served an almost unbroken stint from 2002 to 2013 as transport minister and then again from 2015.
	Analysts expect that Yildirim -- who has never stepped out of line with the president on a policy issue -- will prove a far more pliable figure for the president than Davutoglu.
	The .

Turkey names new PM as Erdogan tightens grip

Iraq announced today that its forces have recaptured the western town of Rutba which had been held by the Islamic State jihadist group since 2014.
	"The Joint Operations Command announces the complete liberation of the Rutba district," it said in a statement.
	Special forces, soldiers and police took part in the operation, the statement said.
	Iraqi forces launched the drive to retake Rutba, located in western Anbar province along the main road to Jordan, on Monday.
	IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in June 2014, and later made further advances in Anbar, seizing its capital Ramadi in 2015.
	Iraqi forces have since regained significant ground from the jihadists, securing the Ramadi area earlier this year and retaking the town of Heet last month.
	But parts of Anbar - including its second city Fallujah - are still under IS control, as is most of Nineveh province, to its north.
	The US-led coalition, which provided air support for the Rutba operation, stopped short of ...

Iraq announces recapture of western town from IS

Sri Lanka debutant Dasun Shanaka took three wickets in quick succession as England suffered a top-order collapse on the first day of the first cricket Test at Headingley today.
	At lunch England, sent into bat by Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews on an initially overcast morning, were 57 for three having been 49 without loss.
	Shanaka, the fifth bowler used by Mathews, did the damage with a spell of three wickets for one run in eight balls.
	He removed England captain Alastair Cook for 16 and then dismissed both Nick Compton and Joe Root for ducks.
	All-rounder Shanaka walked off with lunch figures of three wickets for six runs in five overs.
	Alex Hales was 38 not out and  Test debutant James Vince nought not out in the first of a three-Test series.
	England were making steady progress when 24-year-old medium-pacer Shanaka struck with just his seventh ball in Test cricket.
	Cook, who started his innings needing just 36 more runs to become the first Englishman to score 10,000 in Tests, 

Shanaka treble stuns England in first Test

The International Monetary Fund today welcomed accelerated economic reforms by Saudi Arabia to reduce its reliance on oil but said more measures are needed to cover a fiscal deficit.
	Over the past 12 months "there has been a significant acceleration in reforms in Saudi Arabia," an IMF team said in a statement following a visit to the kingdom.
	It said the Vision 2030 plan, announced by Riyadh last month, sets a bold and far-reaching transformation of the economy to diversify growth, reduce dependence on oil and increase the role of the private sector.
	The foundation of the plan, launched by Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, is the sale of less than five percent of state oil giant Saudi Aramco in what officials say will be the world's largest ever initial public offering.
	Proceeds from the share offer will contribute to creating the biggest government investment fund in the world, with a value of USD 2 trillion, whose profits can provide an alternative to lower oil ...

Saudi reforms on right track but more needed: IMF

Leading Brexit campaigner Boris Johnson has won a British prize that called for rude poems about Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in solidarity with a German comedian facing prosecution for doing the same.
	The Conservative lawmaker, a former mayor of London seen as a possible successor to Prime Minister David Cameron, won for a limerick about a "young fellow from Ankara" who "sowed his wild oats / With the help of a goat / But he didn't even stop to thankera."
	The Spectator magazine set up the informal 1,000 pounds (USD 1,465, 1,306-euro) "President Erdogan Insulting Poetry Competition" last month.
	"If somebody wants to make a joke about the love that flowers between the Turkish president and a goat, he should be able to do so, in any European country, including Turkey," Johnson told the magazine.
	He said it was a "scandal" that German comedian Jan Boehmermann, who is facing possible criminal proceedings in Germany for a 24-line poem that accused Erdogan of bestiality and ...

Brexit leader Johnson wins 'insulting Erdogan poetry prize'

Scoreboard at lunch on the first day
of the first cricket Test between England and Sri Lanka at Headingley today:
     England 1st Innings:
	A Cook c Chandimal b Shanaka          16
	A Hales not out                       38
	N Compton c Thirimanne b Shanaka       0
	J Root c Silva b Shanaka               0
	J Vince not out                        0
	Extras: (LB-1, W-1, NB-1)              3
	Total: (for 3 wkts in 27 overs)       57
	Fall of wickets: 1-49, 2-49, 3-51
	Bowling: Eranga 6-1-14-0; Pradeep 7-4-10-0; Mathews 3-1-15-0; Chameera 5-0-11-0; Shanaka 5-2-6-3; Herath 1-1-0-0.

Leeds, May 19 (AFP) Scoreboard at lunch on the first day

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looked set to form the most right-wing government in Israeli history today, with Avigdor Lieberman, a hardliner loathed by Palestinians, expected to join as defence minister.
	Netanyahu's allies were set for fresh negotiations with representatives of Lieberman's far-right Yisrael Beitenu party to try to entice it to join the governing coalition and boost its currently wafer-thin majority in parliament.
	Leaks to the Israeli media from both sides said a deal was close to being finalised.
	Yisrael Beitenu holds six of the 120 seats in parliament and its entry into government would be a major boost for Netanyahu, who has not concealed his ambition to expand on the coalition's current 61 seats.
	The return to government of Lieberman, who served as foreign minister under Netanyahu from 2009 to 2012 and again from 2013 to 2015, could raise international concern about his government's policies -- especially on the conflict with the Palestinians.
	As defence .

Israel set to form 'most right-wing government in history'

Libya's unity government urged the international community today to accelerate the arming of its forces after 32 of its fighters were killed in clashes with jihadists and a car bombing.
	The United States, Italy and Libya's allies and neighbours agreed in Vienna on Monday to exempt the Government of National Accord (GNA) from a UN arms embargo to help it confront the threat from the Islamic State (IS) group.
	The GNA urged the international community "to take responsibility and to accelerate the implementation of its promises" including the exemption to the embargo on weapons sales, in a statement published on its Facebook page.
	It comes as IS seeks to expand westwards out of its stronghold Sirte on the Mediterranean coast which it has controlled since last June.
	The jihadist group claimed responsibility for yesterday's bombing which according to the military killed at least seven people in Buairat el-Hassun, 60 kilometres west of Sirte.
	IS said the attack was carried out by two ...

Libya unity government pleads for arms to fight IS

An Azerbaijani freight plane has crashed in Afghanistan killing seven crew members while two survived, the Caucasus nation's aviation authorities said today.
	The Antonov-12 plane that belonged to Azerbaijan's Silk Way cargo airline crashed on takeoff from Dwyer airbase in the southern Helmand province, Azerbaijan's civil aviation authority said in a statement.
	The plane crashed on Wednesday afternoon at around 14:30 local time (10:00 GMT), the statement said.
	Seven of the plane's nine crew -- five Azerbaijanis, one Ukrainian, and one Uzbek -- were killed in the crash.
	Two Ukrainain aircraft mechanics survived the accident. "Their condition is stable and satisfactory," the statement said.
	The plane had been leased from Silk Way and was flying without cargo to Mary in Turkmenistan to refuel. It had earlier flown from Bagram airfield to Helmand.
	Azerbaijan's civil aviation authority said it had "launched an investigation into the incident."
	Previously a cargo plane operated by ...

AFP

AFP

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