It was a bad day at the office for one unfortunate employee of South Korea's weather service today, after a mistakenly-sent fax triggered an earthquake alert.
	The message warning of a 6.5-magnitude quake was part of a five-day disaster response exercise and should never have been faxed.
	International media including China's official Xinhua news agency ran the warning before the Korea Meteorological Administration issued a red-faced apology.
	"We apologise deeply for causing inconvenience," the KMA said in a statement quoted by South Korean news agency Yonhap, which also carried the initial alert.
	"The message was made for an exercise purpose, and an employee mistakenly clicked the button to send the message."
	The KMA released the message, calling on residents in the affected area of Hoengseong in Gangwon province to evacuate.
	Strong quakes are very rare on the Korean peninsula. Some seismological disturbances recorded in the South have been attributed to North Korean nuclear ...

Sorry! Met office apologises after fax triggers quake alert

PTI Automatic

Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg meets today with leading US conservatives to try to head off a storm over allegations that the social network suppressed right-leaning political viewpoints.
	Zuckerberg proposed the meeting after technology news outlet Gizmodo last week reported allegations that Facebook was deliberately omitting articles with conservative viewpoints from a sidebar that lists popular stories.
	Facebook has denied the allegations, reportedly made by a former employee.
	In a Facebook post last week, Zuckerberg said he had launched a "full investigation" but no evidence had been found to back up the allegations.
	"We have rigorous guidelines that do not permit the prioritization of one viewpoint over another or the suppression of political perspectives," he wrote.
	Zuckerberg is to meet with about a dozen conservatives including political commentator Glenn Beck and Fox News talk show host Dana Perino, a Facebook spokeswoman told AFP in the runup to the ...

Facebook's Zuckerberg holds meeting on bias claim

Hundreds of pro-China protesters led by gang leader turned politician "White Wolf" rallied in Taiwan's capital today, calling on new president Tsai Ing-wen to preserve friendly ties with Beijing, days before she takes office.
	China-sceptic Tsai is facing questions over how she will handle cross-strait relations which are already growing rapidly frosty as she prepares to take the helm after an eight-year rapprochement under her Beijing-friendly predecessor Ma Ying-jeou.
	Although a fully fledged democracy, self-ruling Taiwan has never formally declared independence and China still sees it as part of its territory.
	Tsai's Democratic Progressive Party is traditionally pro- independence and was voted in by a landslide after voters turned their backs on Ma's Beijing-centred approach for fear the island's sovereignty was being eroded.
	Led by infamous activist "White Wolf" Chang An-lo - who heads a small pro-unification party and regularly organises rallies in support of Beijing - ...

Pro-China protests in Taiwan days before Tsai takes office

Donald Trump, not usually one to back away from a fight, has made peace with US television news star Megyn Kelly after describing her in the past as a "bimbo" and worse.
	Trump during the primary campaign yesterday resorted to unusually extreme rhetoric - including a distasteful reference to menstruation - in his attacks on Kelly, one of the most powerful women in American television and the star of her own cable news show.
	After being branded a misogynist and xenophobe during the bruising primary campaign, the apparent Republican nominee has been softening his image, and in a recorded interview broadcast late yesterday publicly buried the hatchet with Kelly.
	"When I'm wounded, I fight back hard," Trump explained when pressed by Kelly about the reason for his bare knuckles, no-holds-barred style, describing himself as a "counterpuncher" on the campaign trail.
	Kelly, a former corporate litigator, joined Fox News in 2004 as a television reporter from Washington DC, rising rapidly ...

Trump ends bitter feud with American TV journalist Megyn Kelly

A US decision to pare back economic sanctions on Myanmar could unclog investment as the country claws its way out of poverty, Aung San Suu Kyi's civilian government said today, welcoming the move.
	Suu Kyi's party took power in March after clinching a majority at last year's election, the freest in generations for a nation that withered under half a century of military rule.
	It now faces a daunting task of rehabilitation in the Southeast Asian country, which is hampered by decrepit infrastructure, conflicts in resource-rich borderlands and the continued influence of the military and junta-era cronies, who still dominate the economy.
	The United States lifted a host of financial and trade embargoes Tuesday to recognise the "historic milestone" of the country's transfer to a civilian-led government, according to a statement by the Treasury department.
	Washington has rolled back many of its sanctions to reward reforms since the end of outright military rule in 2011, but retains scores .

Myanmar welcomes US move to ease more sanctions

Police across France were to demonstrate today against the "anti-cop hatred" they say they have endured during a wave of anti-government protests since early March.
	Rallies are planned in around 60 towns and cities, with the Paris event to be held in the Place de la Republique, the venue of the youth-driven "Up All Night" movement that emerged from the protests against the Socialist government's labour reforms.
	Activists were denied permission however to stage a counter-demonstration against police violence in the same square ahead of the rally.
	Some 350 members of the security forces have been injured during the protests against the labour reforms, including one who lost the use of an eye.
	Eleven were injured yesterday during the latest protests against the reforms, which are seen as too pro-business and were forced through without a parliamentary vote.
	"You can see why these security forces are a bit exasperated," national police chief Jean-Marc Falcone said on French radio ...

French police protest 'anti-cop hatred'

Suzuki today admitted to finding "discrepancies" in its fuel-economy and emissions testing, but the firm denied deliberately manipulating data to make cars seem more efficient.
	The remarks from the Japanese small-car maker came in the wake of rival Mitsubishi Motors' shock admission last month that it had cheated on fuel-efficiency tests for decades.
	Mitsubishi said its president Tetsuro Aikawa would resign over the scandal, which has left the company's reputation in tatters.
	Japan's transport ministry has ordered all domestic automakers to probe their own compliance with government testing methods following Mitsubishi's revelations that it manipulated fuel-economy data.
	Major players Nissan, Toyota, Honda and Mazda have already denied any wrongdoing.
	Suzuki joined that list today, although it admitted that it was not using tests required by the government.
	"Any wrongdoing, such as manipulation of fuel efficiency data, were not found," it said.
	"Some discrepancies were found in 

Suzuki denies cheating on fuel, emissions testing

China and India are home to more than a third of people with mental illness, but only a tiny fraction of them receive medical help, according to studies released today.
	There are more people in the world's two most populous nations coping with mental, neurological and substance use problems than in all high-income countries combined, the research found.
	That burden will become much heavier in coming decades, especially in India, where it is projected to increase by a quarter by 2025.
	China, meanwhile, will struggle with the rapid rise of dementia in its greying population, a by-product in part of strict birth control policies put in place more than 35 years ago.
	Neither country is adequately equipped to deal with their mental health needs, according the trio of reports, published in medical journal The Lancet and The Lancet Psychiatry to mark the launch of the China-India Mental Health Alliance.
	In China, only six per cent of people coping with common mental illnesses such as ...

China, India face huge mental health burden: study

Suzuki shares dived today on reports that it may have used improper fuel-efficiency testing, the latest bad news for a global auto industry shaken by scandals over deadly defects and emissions cheating.
	Investors pressed the sell button on the small carmaker's Tokyo-listed stock which plunged as much as 15 per cent in afternoon trading. It closed 9.4 per cent lower at 2,613 yen (USD 24).
	The Suzuki news comes after rival Japanese automaker Mitsubishi was hit by fuel-efficiency cheating revelations and as Germany's Volkswagen struggles to drive past a worldwide emissions cheating scandal.
	Tokyo-based auto parts giant Takata has also been hit by lawsuits and regulatory probes over claims it hid deadly airbag flaws linked to at least 13 deaths and scores of injuries globally.
	Suzuki chairman Osamu Suzuki, a descendant of the company's founding family, is visiting the transport ministry Wednesday to discuss the issue, a firm spokesman said, without elaborating.
	He declined to comment 

Suzuki shares dive on reports of improper fuel testing

IOC president Thomas Bach said today that athletes and federations face life bans from the Olympics as he warned that doping has hit "an unprecedented level of criminality".
     The International Olympic Committee leader also heightened pressure on Russia to clear up allegations of interference in testing at its doping laboratory during the 2014 Sochi Winter Games.
     With 31 athletes from 12 countries already facing a ban from the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in August, Bach warned in a commentary in Le Monde newspaper of tough sanctions, including against individual federations, if the accusations against Russia were proved.
     The allegations against the Sochi laboratory are "very detailed and therefore very worrying", Bach said.
     "Should the investigation prove the allegations true it would represent a shocking new dimension in doping with an, until now, unprecedented level of criminality," added Bach.
     He said there would be "zero tolerance" against athletes and their ...

Athletes and federations face Olympic doping bans: Bach

A strong earthquake measuring 6.7 on the Moment magnitude scale struck Ecuador early today, one month after a devastating 7.8 magnitude quake that killed 660 people, USGS said.
	Ecuador's national geological institute, which measured the quake at 6.8, said it struck at 2:57 AM local time (1327 IST) in the South American country's western Manabi region.

Ecuador struck by 6.7 magnitude quake: USGS

Ecuador struck by 6.7 magnitude quake: USGS. (AFP)

A two-hour flight from Sydney to London is a step closer to reality after the latest successful test today of hypersonic technology in the Australian desert.
	A joint US-Australian military research team is running a series of 10 trials at the world's largest land testing range, Woomera in South Australia, and at Norway's Andoya Rocket Range.
	"It is a game-changing technology... And could revolutionise global air travel, providing cost-effective access to space," Australia's chief scientist Alex Zelinsky said in a statement.
	Scientists have said hypersonic technology could cut travelling time from Sydney to London to as little as two hours for the 17,000-kilometre (19,540-mile) flight.
	Hypersonic flight involves travelling at more than five times the speed of sound (Mach 5).
	Scientists involved in the programme - called Hypersonic International Flight Research Experimentation (HIFiRE) - are developing an engine that can fly at Mach 7, Michael Smart of the University of Queensland .

Superjet technology nears reality after Australia test

China's military has staged at least three landing exercises in the country's southeast this month, state-run media reported today ahead of the inauguration of Taiwan's Beijing-sceptic president-elect Tsai Ing-wen.
	The operations appear to be Beijing's latest warnings to Tsai, chairwoman of the traditionally pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party, who will be sworn in on Friday and whose political message revolves around the importance of Taiwanese identity.
	China and Taiwan split in 1949 after the Kuomintang nationalist forces lost a civil war to the Communists. But Beijing has always seen the island as a renegade province awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.
	The largest and most recent of the drills was carried out by a regiment under the 31st Group Army, based in Fujian province opposite Taiwan, reported China Daily, the military's official mouthpiece.
	Footage posted on the website of state broadcaster CCTV late yesterday showed squadrons of attack helicopters .

China holds landing drills ahead of Taiwan swearing-in

The Maldives has joined its key financial backer Saudi Arabia in cutting diplomatic ties with Iran, accusing it of undermining peace and security in the Gulf region.
	The Maldives foreign ministry said policies that Iran were pursing in the Middle East were "detrimental to peace and security in the region", without giving details.
	In a statement issued late on Tuesday, the ministry said it was severing ties because stability in the Gulf was "also linked to stability, peace and security of the Maldives".
	The politically troubled Indian Ocean archipelago officially established diplomatic ties with Iran in 1975, although neither has an embassy or consulate in the other's country.
	However last month Maldives President Abdulla Yameen received Iran's new ambassador to the Indian Ocean region, Mohammed Zaeri Amirani, who is based in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo.
	After that meeting, Yameen said he hoped the two countries could strengthen ties and that the Maldives, made up of 340,000 ...

Maldives sides with Saudis to cut ties with Iran

Louis van Gaal was booed by his club's own fans after Manchester United ended their Premier League campaign by beating Bournemouth 3-1 in the re-arranged Old Trafford fixture.
     In a game carried over from Sunday following a postponement caused by the discovery of a fake bomb accidentally left behind during a terror training exercise, United needed a 19-goal victory in order to steal past Manchester City into the fourth and final Champions League qualifying berth.
     Goals from Wayne Rooney, 18-year-old Marcus Rashford, named in England's provisional Euro 2016 squad a day earlier, and substitute Ashley Young secured the three points yesterday, but it was only enough to lift Van Gaal's side above Southampton into fifth place.
     Introduced to the crowd for a post-match address, the Dutchman was booed by pockets of the home support, before declaring, somewhat ironically: "I want to thank you for your unconditional support."
    	As Bournemouth's fans goaded him with chants of ...

Van Gaal booed as Man Utd sign off in fifth

Kaushal Silva has urged Sri Lanka to fill the void left by Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara when they return to the scene of one their greatest triumphs for the first Test against England at Headingley tomorrow.
     Two years ago, Yorkshire's headquarters ground was the stage where Sri Lanka clinched a dramatic victory off the penultimate ball to secure their first Test series win in England.
	But their first tour of England since that campaign sees them without Sangakkara and Jayawardene, both now retired from international duty.
    	"We did well here," said Silva, an opening batsman who played in that victorious 2013 team, at Headingley on Tuesday.
	"We were thrilled with that, but this is a new series.
	"Sanga and Mahela have left now. So it's time for all these youngsters to take their responsibility and do their jobs.
	"We need to make sure we put up at least 300 ... To put ourselves in the game."
	Sri Lanka will also be without injured paceman Dhammika Prasad, whose ...

Sri Lanka in search of more Headingley heroics

Crude hit fresh 2016 highs in its march toward USD 50 in Asia today, fanned by escalating wildfires in Canada's oil sands region and hopes of an easing in the oversupply.
	Prices have shot up after US banking giant Goldman Sachs this week said that supply disruptions in Africa's biggest oil producer Nigeria -- along with better demand -- had created a surprising short-term supply deficit.
	It described the situation in Nigeria as "systemic" and production in that country is likely to remain curtailed for the rest of the year.
	At about 0930 IST, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for June delivery rose 14 cents, or 0.29 per cent, to USD 48.45 a barrel. Brent for July delivery climbed eight cents, or 0.16 per cent to USD 49.36.
	Both contracts closed higher yesterday, with the WTI settling at USD 48.31, its highest since early October.
	IG Markets analyst Bernard Aw said traders are feeling "more bullish" following the Goldman Sachs report.
	"Based on the report, the demand has 

Oil prices hit fresh highs as Canada wildfires rage on

Australia's immigration minister was accused of xenophobia today after he said increasing the nation's refugee intake would lead to "illiterate and innumerate" people claiming welfare or taking local jobs.
	Peter Dutton was responding to proposals by the Labor opposition to boost Australia's annual refugee intake from 13,750 to 27,000 while the Greens want it raised to 50,000 as they outline policies ahead of national elections on July 2.
	"For many people they won't be numerate or literate in their own language let alone English and this is a difficulty," Dutton told Sky News late yesterday.
	"Now, these people would be taking Australian jobs, there's no question about that.
	"And for many of them they would be unemployed, they would languish in unemployment queues and on Medicare and the rest of it. So there would be a huge cost and there's no sense in sugarcoating that."
	Labor frontbencher Chris Bowen, a former immigration minister, said the country had benefited hugely from the ..

Aus minister under fire for 'illiterate' refugees comment

Some 250 people, mostly Cubans who entered Colombia illegally, are stranded near Panama, which has shut its border crossings in an attempt to stem the flow of undocumented immigrants, authorities said.
	Panama last week became the third Central American country to halt access to an unrelenting exodus of Cubans trying to reach the United States by land.
	The body that monitors human rights in Colombia, where the migrants are stranded, said that "to date there are about 250 undocumented immigrants" in the town of Turbo, located in the jungle on the Gulf of Uraba.
	The human rights body said it had received "complaints from migrants about unscrupulous people who were eager to charge large sums of money in exchange for making arrangements in Bogota for passage into Panama."
	Images distributed by the body showed dozens of people, mostly men, massing at the gates to the town's migration headquarters.
	The immigration authority told AFP it was continuing to analyze the situation before ...

Some 250 immigrants stranded at Colombia-Panama border

The United States and the European Union are protesting a UN decision to bar at least 20 non-governmental groups from taking part in a major AIDS conference next month.
	US Ambassador Samantha Power said the NGOs taken off the list of participants "appear to have been chosen for their involvement in LGBTI, transgender or youth advocacy."
	In a letter to UN General Assembly president Mogens Lykketoft, Power requested that these groups, including the US-based Global Action for Trans Equality, be allowed to take part in the June 8-10 high-level meeting on HIV/AIDS.
	European Union Ambassador Joao Vale de Almeida said the NGOs had been struck from the list following objections from member states and requested information on which countries opposed their presence.
	One of the European NGOs that has been barred from taking part is the Eurasian Coalition on Male Health, based in Estonia, which has been vocal on gay rights in Russia and other former Soviet republics.
	The EU ambassador wrote .

AFP

AFP

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