Democratic presidential frontrunner Hillary Clinton campaigned across Kentucky ahead of the state's primary today, desperate to improve her standing among working-class white men and painting sharp contrasts with her likely election adversary Donald Trump.
	Clinton's rival Bernie Sanders is gunning for victory in the Bluegrass State, building on his win last week in neighboring West Virginia as he battles to keep his long-shot nomination bid alive.
	The two states are linked to coal, as is much of Appalachia, the largely white, long-struggling eastern US region where many feel they have been given the cold shoulder in the lukewarm recovery from the 2007-2008 financial crisis.
	Also today, the northwest state of Oregon holds its Democratic and Republican primaries, where limited polling has indicated Clinton is ahead. Sanders, however, leads in Kentucky.
	The state has been treated by Clinton as an opportunity to appeal to a demographic that has consistently snubbed her: working-class .

Clinton woos blue-collar voters in Kentucky, hits Trump

PTI Automatic

Mandatory evacuation orders were issued for some 20 oil sands camps and facilities in Canada's Alberta province due to smoke and flames from the Fort McMurray wildfire, regional emergency officials said.
	The evacuation orders, which affect some 8,000 people, were issued late Monday (0200 GMT Tuesday) for a region between Fort McMurray and a few kilometers south of the town of Fort MacKay, officials said.
	"The evacuation zone has increased north of the city of Fort McMurray due to evolving fire conditions," the regional municipality of Wood Buffalo said.
	"Several camps are affected by this evacuation. Approximately 8,000 people impacted," the statement read.
	Canadian oil company Suncor said it "is in the process of transporting personnel from the lodges on Aostra Road and near its base plant facility to other lodges further north."
	And as a precautionary measure, "we have started a staged and orderly shutdown of our base plant operations. There has been no damage to Suncor's ...

Oil sites ordered evacuated as Canada wildfire flares up

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said today there is now a "real opportunity" for an Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement that would also lead to warmer ties between Egypt and the Jewish state.
	In a live televised speech also addressed to the Palestinians and Israelis, Sisi urged them to draw hope from the "real and stable peace" between Israel and Egypt.
	"There is an Arab initiative, there is currently a French initiative, and there are American efforts" to broker an Israeli-Palestinian settlement, he said.
	In 1979, Egypt became the first Arab country to sign a peace deal with Israel.
	"Maybe some people can say this peace is not warm," Sisi said. "I tell them a warmer peace will be achieved if we were able to resolve the issues of our Palestinian brothers."
	The Egyptian leader urged Israeli parties and leaders to "please, reach an agreement so a solution can be found" and called for "a real reconciliation, and quickly" between Palestinian factions, offering Cairo's full ...

Egypt's Sisi sees real opportunity for Israel-Palestinian deal

At least 50 fighters and two civilians were killed today in clashes between rival anti-regime groups east of Syria's capital, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
	The powerful Jaish al-Islam (Army of Islam) group has been locked in nearly three weeks of clashes with rival factions led by Al-Qaeda's local affiliate in the opposition stronghold of Eastern Ghouta.

52 dead as rival rebel groups clash near Syria capital

Belgian authorities spotted Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam posing on Facebook with an Islamic State flag three weeks before the November 13 massacre, but failed to follow up, Belgian broadcaster RTBF reported today.
	Although the national terror threat centre was told about the photo in October, security officials failed to take a closer look, RTBF said, without identifying its sources.
	The revelation is the latest example of failures by Belgian police in the months leading up to the attacks in the French capital that killed 130 people.
	RTBF also said Abdeslam was known to have been in contact in early 2015 with suspected attacks ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud, who was already known as an important figure from the Islamic State group.
	Both men, as well as several others involved in the attacks, are from the gritty district of Molenbeek in Brussels.
	Last month, a parliamentary panel heard that Belgian police abandoned a probe into Abdeslam and his brother Brahim six months ...

'Top suspect Abdeslam posed with IS flag before Paris attacks'

Saudi Arabia today put to death a Pakistani man convicted of drug smuggling, bringing to 93 the number of executions in the kingdom this year.
	Mohammed Ishaq Thawab Gul had been found guilty of trafficking heroin into the kingdom, the interior ministry said.
	Most people put to death in the Gulf country are beheaded with a sword.
	Murder and drug trafficking cases account for the majority of Saudi executions, although 47 people were put to death for "terrorism" on a single day in January.
	According to rights group Amnesty International, Saudi Arabia had the third-highest number of executions last year -- at least 158.
	That was far behind Pakistan which executed 326, and Saudi Arabia's regional rival Iran, which executed at least 977, said Amnesty whose figures exclude secretive China.
	Rights experts have raised concerns about the fairness of trials in Saudi Arabia and say the death penalty should not be applied in drugs cases.
	The interior ministry, however, said the government ..

Saudi executes Pakistani drug smuggler

A brutal fistfight broke out in the South African parliament today as security guards ejected opposition lawmakers in an ugly fracas that underlined heightened political tensions over Jacob Zuma's presidency.
	About 20 Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party members, who were wrestled from their seats by plain-clothed guards, had refused to let Zuma speak and furiously shouted down the Speaker, Baleka Mbete.
	As Zuma looked on impassively, the EFF lawmakers -- dressed in their uniform of red workers' overalls -- fought back to try to remain in the chamber before they were physically removed through a side door.
	The disruption was the latest in a series of showdowns in parliament as pressure mounts on Zuma to resign or be axed as president by the ruling African National Congress (ANC).
	He has been urged to step down by a number of senior ANC veterans of the struggle against apartheid, which brought liberation icon Nelson Mandela to power in 1994.
	But he retains widespread loyalty in ..

Brawl erupts in S.Africa parliament as opposition ejected

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov insisted today that Moscow is not wedded to Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, but is backing his army against the Islamic State group.
	"We don't support Assad, we support the fight against terrorism," Lavrov argued, after a meeting of the International Syria Support Group in Vienna.
	"On the ground we don't see any more real and efficient force than the Syrian army, even given all its weaknesses," he told reporters.

Lavrov: Russia backs Syrian army against terrorism

A brutal fistfight broke out in the South African parliament today as security guards ejected opposition lawmakers in an ugly fracas that underlined heightened political tensions over Jacob Zuma's presidency.
	About 20 Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party members, who were wrestled from their seats by plain-clothed guards, had refused to let Zuma speak and furiously shouted down the Speaker, Baleka Mbete.
	As Zuma looked on impassively, the radical leftist lawmakers - dressed in their uniform of red workers' overalls - fought back to try to remain in the chamber until they were physically removed through a side door.
	Before the guards moved in, the EFF members, led by their firebrand "commander in chief" Julius Malema, yelled that it was the president who should be thrown out.
	"He broke his oath of office. Zuma is the one who must go," they shouted.
	Outside parliament, Malema told reporters and cheering supporters: "These bouncers must know that if they give violence, we will ...

Brawl erupts in S Africa parliament as oppn party ejected

Barack Obama's visit to Hiroshima next week has reignited an emotive debate over former US president Harry Truman's epoch-making decision to drop the first atomic bomb.
	On April 25, 1945, thirteen days after Franklin Roosevelt's death thrust Truman into the White House, the strained new commander-in-chief got a startling top secret briefing.
	"Within four months we shall in all probability have completed the most terrible weapon ever known in human history, one bomb of which could destroy a whole city," war secretary Henry Stimson said in a hand-delivered memo.
	Until that moment, Truman had no idea about the Manhattan Project to build the world's first atomic bomb -- despite being Roosevelt's vice president and a former senator who made his name investigating wartime defense contracts.
	Within four months, the atomic bomb had been successfully tested, targets had been selected, "Little Boy" and "Fat Man" had been dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki killing an estimated 214,000 people, 

Obama Hiroshima trip stirs debate on Truman's fateful choice

World oil prices eased today after Brent crude had pushed close to USD 50 a barrel thanks to fading concerns about a long-standing supply glut.
	US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in June was down two cents at USD 47.70 a barrel.
	Brent North Sea for July delivery dropped 30 cents to USD 48.67 compared with Monday's close.
	Brent had yesterday reached USD 49.47 a barrel -- the highest point since early November. WTI struck USD 48.42, a peak since mid-October, before profit-taking set in.
	"A break above USD 50 in the next few days is very possible," said BMI Research oil and gas analyst Peter Lee.
	"In the second half of the year, oil is likely to hold between USD 45 to USD 50 a barrel," he told AFP.
	Prices are winning support from supply disruptions caused by wildfires in major crude producer Canada, as well as owing to armed attacks against oil facilities in Nigeria.
	Wildfires burning around the oil sands hub of Fort McMurray in Alberta, Canada, have been ...

Oil prices dip after push toward $50

One of China's most powerful officials today said he would listen to political demands from Hongkongers in a conciliatory start to a visit that has stirred anger in a city resentful of Beijing's tightening grip.
	The three-day trip by Zhang Dejiang, who chairs China's communist-controlled legislature, is the first by such a senior official in four years and comes as concerns grow in semi-autonomous Hong Kong that its long-cherished freedoms are under threat.
	While Zhang is ostensibly visiting to speak at an economic conference tomorrow, the trip is widely seen as a bid to take the temperature in an increasingly divided city with a fledgling independence movement.
	It has infuriated opponents, critical of a massive security operation that includes barricading protesters into designated areas out of Zhang's sight.
	Police shoved back protesters gathered near the residence of the city's leader tonight where Zhang is due to have dinner.
	Seven members of a pro-democracy political party ..

Top China official promises to 'listen' to Hong Kong

The State Department has asked Americans to avoid all travel to North Korea, warning that US citizens making the trip risk long and "unduly harsh" imprisonment if they fall foul of laws in the hermit state.
	At least 14 US citizens have been detained by Pyongyang over the past decade, according to Washington.
	"The State Department strongly urges US citizens to avoid all travel to North Korea due to the serious risk of arrest and long-term detention under North Korea's system of law enforcement, which imposes unduly harsh sentences, including for actions that in the United States would not be considered crimes," according to a statement yesterday.
	In one recent well-publicized case, 21-year old American student Otto Warmbier was arrested in January for allegedly stealing a propaganda sign from a tourist hotel in Pyongyang. He was sentenced in March to 15 years' hard labor.
	Last month North Korea sentenced a detained Korean- American, Kim Dong-Chul, to 10 years' hard labor on charges 

US warns Americans against travel to North Korea

Philippine anti-poaching patrols have detained two Chinese and three Vietnamese fishing vessels along with more than three dozen crew members in the extreme north of the country, officials said today.
	The arrests near tiny islands off the main island of Luzon came as a maritime dispute between Manila and Beijing simmers in the South China Sea.
	Two Chinese fishing vessels that were fraudulently flying the Philippine flag were detained along with their 25 crew members off the island of Sabtang yesterday, coastguard and fisheries officials told AFP.
	"The presumption in these types of cases is that they are here to commit illegal fishing," said Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources director James Asis Perez.
	The vessels were escorted to the port of Basco and the crews were held on board as investigators waited for interpreters, said Basco coast guard officer Mark Jun Rubio.
	Perez said the bureau and the coast guard also arrested 18 Vietnamese fishermen on three boats for ...

Philippines detains 25 Chinese, 18 Vietnamese fishermen

Attacks including a rare suicide bombing by a woman killed at least 18 people in Baghdad today, the latest in a series of blasts to hit the capital, officials said.
	The bombings, which took place at around midday, also wounded at least 50 people, the officials said.
	The deadliest attack hit the Shaab area in northern Baghdad, killing at least 15.
	Interior ministry spokesman Saad Maan said it was carried out by a female suicide bomber, while a police colonel said a roadside bombing was followed by the suicide attack.
	A car bombing in the Rashid area of southern Baghdad killed at least three more people, officials said.
	There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks, but the Islamic State jihadist group has claimed a series of recent bombings in and near the Iraqi capital that have killed more than 100 people in six days.
	The bloodiest day was last Thursday, when triple car bombings in northern Baghdad killed at least 94.
	Attacks in Baghdad decreased following a ..

Baghdad bombings kill at least 18: officials

European Council President Donald Tusk today criticised the former conservative mayor of London Boris Johnson for having "crossed boundaries" by saying the European Union was behaving like Adolf Hitler.
	"I cannot stay silent," Tusk told reporters in Copenhagen. Johnson, a leading campaigner for Britain to leave the EU, had "crossed boundaries" of acceptable political debate, Tusk said.
	"Such absurd arguments should be completely ignored if they hadn't been formulated by one the most influential politicians of the ruling party. Boris Johnson crossed the boundaries of a rational discussion, demonstrating political amnesia," Tusk added.
	Johnson made his controversial remarks concerning the UK referendum set for June 23 during an interview with the Sunday Telegraph on May 15.
	"Napoleon, Hitler, various people tried this out, and it ends tragically. The EU is an attempt to do this by different methods," said Johnson, a populist figure known for his rhetorical flourishes and historical .

Boris Johnson crossed the line with Hitler remark: EU's Tusk

Iran's parliament today voted through a law obliging the government to demand damages from the United States for 63 years of "hostile action and crimes", state television reported.
	"The government has the duty to take the necessary measures seeking compensation for material and moral damages caused by the United States" to the country and Iranians over the past 63 years, the text reads.
	It cites "material or moral damage" caused by the US during the coup against nationalist leader Mohammad Mossadegh (1953), in the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988), in the destruction of oil platforms in the Gulf and in espionage against the Islamic republic.
	Parliament did not specify a sum, but Vice President Majid Ansari said during the debate that "Iranian courts have already ruled that the US pay USD 50 billion in damages for its hostile actions" towards the country.
	The law was passed by the conservative-dominated outgoing parliament in response to a US Supreme Court decision last month.
	On April ...

Iran MPs want US to pay damages for 'hostile action'

When Tsai Ing-wen takes office as Taiwan's president on Friday she steps onto a tightrope between voter dreams of national pride and a Beijing that wants the island on a short leash.
	Tsai's election victory reflected public desire for a president who would put self-ruling Taiwan first, not "sell out" to China, which still sees the island as part of its territory.
	Her political message revolves around the importance of Taiwanese identity, and has resonated with voters fed up with living in Beijing's shadow.
	An eight-year rapprochement with China under outgoing president Ma Ying-jeou of the Beijing-friendly Kuomintang brought trade deals but little cheer for ordinary Taiwanese, stretched by low salaries and high living costs.
	There was also growing concern that economic ties were a back-door route to the erosion of Taiwan's sovereignty.
	"Tsai should take a tougher stance on China," East Lin, a 32-year-old restaurant manager from Taipei, told AFP.
	"The worst thing China could do is 

China threats, popular hopes pour pressure on Taiwan's Tsai

Twelve Indonesian men have died after drinking bootleg liquor, police said today, the latest deaths in the Muslim-majority country caused by homemade alcohol.
	The victims died in Bantul district in the main island of Java in recent days, said local police spokeswoman Anny Pudjiastuti.
	Four other people are in hospital after drinking the liquor, she said.
	A man suspected of selling the alcohol has been arrested in Bantul, which is in Central Java, and 81 bottles of liquor confiscated.
	"The suspect could be charged with causing death and could be jailed for 15 to 20 years," said Pudjiastuti.
	Police said they were still investigating what the bootleg liquor contained.
	There have been several cases in recent years of people dying after drinking bootleg alcohol. In February 26 people in Sleman district - next to Bantul - died after consuming locally-bought homebrew.
	Indonesia is home to the world's biggest Muslim population, but most practise a moderate form of Islam and alcohol is .

12 Indonesians dead after drinking bootleg alcohol

A conference on the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians, due to be held on May 30 in Paris, has been postponed, French President Francois Hollande said today.
	"(US Secretary of State) John Kerry cannot come on May 30 so it has been delayed. It will take place in the summer," he told French radio.
	Hollande said it was vital for France to take "a strong initiative" in the dispute.
	"If not... What will happen? Settlement building, attacks," he said.
	The original date for the conference falls on the US Memorial Day holiday honouring members of the armed forces who died in combat.
	"We're in discussions right now with the French about any possible alternative date that might better work for the secretary," State Department spokesman John Kirby said yesterday, though he added that Kerry's agenda is currently "jammed".
	French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault was in Jerusalem and Ramallah on Sunday to present the French peace initiative to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin ...

Mideast conference in Paris May 30 postponed: Hollande

Senior envoys from world and regional powers gathered once again in Vienna today in an effort to salvage stumbling efforts to halt Syria's civil war.
	US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov -- diplomacy's odd couple, at loggerheads over much else in the world -- are chairing the meeting, which began shortly after 0700 GMT.
	At the gathering, the 17-nation International Syria Support Group (ISSG) will renew its call for a nationwide ceasefire and immediate humanitarian access to besieged areas.
	But headaches were likely to persist over the third plank of the plan -- a call for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime and the rebels to agree on a framework for a political transition.
	US officials travelling with Kerry say Washington still insists Assad should go, with an August 1 deadline for settling on the framework under which he does so.
	But the Syrian president, bolstered by military support from Russia and Iran, has shown no sign he is ...

AFP

AFP

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