Fed up with drug-related violence, a growing number of Mexican politicians see one potential cure: legalising the cultivation of opium poppies for the production of medicine.
	The debate has emerged in recent weeks after President Enrique Pena Nieto proposed legislation in April to loosen marijuana laws by legalizing medical cannabis and easing restrictions on its recreational use.
	Since then, governors and congressional lawmakers have voiced their support for regulating opium poppies, which are often grown by farmers in poor areas of the country and sold to cartels as the raw material for heroin.
	The idea was launched by Hector Astudillo, governor of the southern state of Guerrero, which has the country's highest murder rate amid turf wars among drug cartels battling for control of the mountains where US-bound heroin is born.
	Astudillo, whose state is the biggest producer of opium poppies, proposed a pilot program for the crop's cultivation for medical uses.
	Graco Ramirez, ...

Mexico debates legalising opium poppy for medicine

PTI Automatic

Brazil's acting president Michel Temer vowed to get Latin America's largest economy back on track after a cascade of crises put an end to 13 years of leftist rule.
	Temer presided over the first meeting of his new business-friendly cabinet, setting out its priorities: creating a leaner government, balancing finances to address a crippling recession, and rooting out the corruption that a huge judicial probe has uncovered at the highest levels of Brazilian politics and business.
	"I want to get the country back on the rails," Temer told weekly magazine Epoca in his first interview as president after taking over from suspended predecessor Dilma Rousseff, who faces an impeachment trial in the Senate.
	Temer's chief of staff, Eliseu Padilha, said the new government faced a challenging to-do list.
	"We're living through the worst economic crisis in the history of Brazil," he told a press conference.
	The solution, he said, is "out with corruption and in with efficiency."
	Finance Minister ..

Temer vows to get Brazil 'back on rails'

Indonesia today welcomed FIFA's decision to end the country's year-long ban from world football over government interference, saying it hoped for more transparency in the sport.
     FIFA president Gianni Infantino announced Friday that Indonesia had been reinstated after Jakarta sent a letter notifying that it had lifted sanctions on national football body, the PSSI.
     Indonesia has been without a national football competition for the better part of a year, after a feud between the PSSI and its sports ministry saw the top-grade tournament suspended.
     "We hope the lifting of the ban will push the nation to improve its national football, especially in regards to revamping its organisational management, increasing transparency, accountability and enhancing a more harmonious relationship with the various stakeholders," Indonesia's sports ministry said in a statement.
     It suggested that FIFA's decision was the result of the "good relationship" that has developed between ...

Indonesia applauds lifting of FIFA ban

Authorities in Peru said they will expel a British woman in prison since 2013 after being convicted of trafficking cocaine.
	A court in Lima approved the expulsion of Briton Melissa Reid, granting a petition for her release filed by her attorneys.
	Reid, 22, was arrested in August 2013 at Lima's international airport along with a woman from Ireland, Michaella McCollum. Both women were said to have cocaine in their luggage which they were trying to smuggle out of the country, according to authorities.
	Reid had served about a third of her six-year prison sentence, according to a press release issued by the court, which said she also had to pay a fine equivalent to about USD 3,000.
	Officials said she will remain in prison until her expulsion, which is expected to take place sometime within the next few weeks.
	McCollum was granted parole last month on a conditional release.
	McCollum, 23, who hails from County Tyrone in Northern Ireland but is a national of the Irish Republic, resides .

Peru expels British woman convicted of drug trafficking

The rare birth of a Sumatran rhino in Indonesia has been hailed a victory for the critically endangered species, which has been almost wiped out in the wild by poaching and habitat destruction.
	Conservationists wept in joy as the healthy female calf was born on western Sumatra island on Thursday, just the fifth rhino of its kind born in a breeding facility.
	The newborn was walking within hours and has since grown stronger, feeding and bonding with its mother, a conservationist at the rhino sanctuary in Sumatra told AFP.
	Sumatran rhinos are extremely rare, with just 100 believed to exist worldwide.
	Susie Ellis, the head of the International Rhino Foundation, said their scarcity in the wild made this birth "extremely significant".
	"Every birth counts," she told AFP from Sumatra.
	"One birth doesn't save the species, but it's one more Sumatran rhino."
	Sumatran rhinos are targeted by poachers as their horns and other body parts fetch high prices on the black market for use in ...

Birth of rare Sumatran rhino hailed as major boost

China's industrial output moderated in April from the previous month, official figures showed today, raising worries over the strength of a rebound in the world's second-largest economy.
	Industrial output rose 6.0 per cent year-on-year in April, the National Bureau of Statistics said, down from a 6.8 per cent jump in March.
	The Chinese economy grew at its slowest quarterly pace in seven years in the first three months of the year, but the figure met market expectations and raised hopes it has started to improve.
	Policymakers are seeking to wean China away from cheap exports and government-led investment to rely on domestic consumers as the key driver for growth in the world's most populous country.
	Separately, retail sales -- an indicator of domestic consumption -- rose 10.1 per cent on the year in April, the bureau said, weaker than the 10.5 per cent gain in March.
	Fixed asset investment, a gauge of government spending, rose 10.5 per cent in the January-April period, it said. ...

China industrial output eases in April amid worries

Australia vice-captain David Warner has voiced concerns about the pink ball used for day-night Tests, a report said today, amid a stand-off with South Africa over a proposed fixture.
     Cricket Australia want day-night Tests against South Africa and Pakistan in their 2016-17 home season but have admitted that player concerns about the experimental format mean the Proteas' match has not been locked in.
     Aggressive opening batsman Warner reportedly told The Australian newspaper that players want the pink ball improved.
     "The concept is fantastic and it is a great spectacle, but for those of us who play it, the most important thing is getting the ball right," he said from India where he is playing for the Sunrisers Hyderabad.
     "It's always going to be an issue because it is not a red ball. You can't shine it up like you do a red ball and Test cricket has always been about using the red ball properly when you're in the field.
     "Looking after it to get swing is a key and .

Warner warning on pink ball - report

Environmentalists warned Friday that Mexico's vaquita marina, the world's smallest porpoise, was close to extinction as the government reported that only 60 were now left.
	The population has dramatically dropped despite the arrival of navy reinforcements in the upper Gulf of California in April 2015 to enforce a ban on fishing gillnets blamed for the vaquita's death.
	The porpoise's population had already fallen to fewer than 100 in 2014, down from 200 in 2012, according to the International Committee for the Recovery of the Vaquita (CIRVA), a global group of scientists.
	Mexico's environment ministry said in a statement that a joint study with CIRVA between September and December estimated the latest population at "around 60."
	"The vaquita is at the edge of extinction," the World Wildlife Fund said in a statement, warning that 20 per cent more have probably died in nets since January.
	The vaquita's fate has been linked to another critically endangered sea creature, the totoaba, a .

World's smallest porpoise nearer extinction in Mexico

FIFA admitted Kosovo and Gibraltar as new members, allowing them to play qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup, but Serbia vowed to take legal action to reverse its former province's admission.
     Kosovo and Gibraltar became the 210th and 211th members of the world football organization in votes taken at FIFA's annual congress in Mexico City.
     The Serbian football federation's vice president vowed to legally challenge the decision even before the congress voted 141-23 to admit Kosovo.
     "I sincerely and warmly thank you for this decision," Kosovo football federation president Fadil Vokrri told the congress. "In a region still ravaged by the horrors of history, football will give a better life to communities of Kosovo."
     Kosovo's admission raises the question of whether players born in former Serbian province, such as Swiss star Xherdan Shaqiri, will be allowed to switch to the Kosovar team.
     Normally, a player with dual nationality who has played for one national team ...

FIFA admits Kosovo, Gibraltar ahead of World Cup

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has paid tribute to crews who fought to save fire-ravaged Fort McMurray, amid criticism for not showing up in the city sooner.
	"The work that you did to save so much of this community, to save so much of this city and the downtown core and so many homes was unbelievable," Trudeau said from Fort McMurray yesterday, after flying over areas that had been devastated by the fires.
	The entire city of 100,000 people was evacuated last week. Its suburbs suffered major damage, but the city center was largely spared.
	As of Friday, only one fire remained out of control, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) east of the city.
	Canadians were only "beginning to hear the wonderful news that so much of the town was saved," Trudeau told a group of rescuers in Fort McMurray.
	He also toured part of the Beacon Hill neighborhood, which fared far less well, and is in ruins.
	Accompanied by Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, Trudeau was to appear later in the day in the ...

Canada PM honors firefighters who battled Fort McMurray blaze

German auto giant Volkswagen announced today it is giving its staff a 3,950-euro bonus for 2015, despite suffering huge losses due to an emissions-cheating scandal which sent shockwaves through the industry.
	The pre-tax premium -- less than the 5,900 euros handed out for 2014 -- comes after VW also revealed huge bonuses for top executives last month, sparking a storm of criticism among employees, especially at a time of salary negotiations.
	"Volkswagen staff provided very good work as a team, despite the difficult situation," said VW human resources chief Karlheinz Blessing in a statement.
	"Their strong commitment deserved to be recognised," he added.
	After criticism about the bosses' bonuses the automaker's supervisory board decided at the end of April to freeze 30 percent of the annual payouts for nine director-level executives.
	The frozen amount will be paid out in three years if the company meets stock market targets.
	The executives' bonuses sparked intense criticism both ...

Scandal-hit VW gives staff 3,950-euro bonus

North Korea has supplied pistols to the Democratic Republic of Congo that ended up in the hands of Congolese peacekeepers serving in the UN mission in the Central African Republic, according to a UN report.
	A panel of experts "found that pistols with characteristics similar to those produced in DPRK were issued to certain members of the FARDC (armed forces), as well as to Congolese national police that were deployed to MINUSCA," the UN mission in the Central African Republic, said the report seen by AFP today.
	Congolese soldiers and police said the arms were delivered in 2014 as part of a training program of the presidential guard and special police units carried out by some 30 North Korean instructors.
	The same type of pistol is sold on the black market in Kinshasa, said the report.
	North Korea is banned from selling weapons under UN sanctions.
	The report also said Rwanda continues to train Burundian refugees with the goal of overthrowing President Pierre Nkurunziza.
	Despite ...

North Korea supplied pistols to DR Congo: UN report

Ugandan opposition leader Kizza Besigye was charged with treason today at a court in the north-eastern Karamoja region where he was taken after his latest arrest, his lawyers said.
	Besigye has disputed President Yoweri Museveni's victory in February's election and has been under house arrest for much of the time since.
	He was arrested in the capital Kampala on Wednesday after staging his own swearing-in ceremony and whisked to Moroto, a town in the remote Karamoja region of the country.
	"We have been informed by police today that Besigye appeared in court in Moroto and was charged with treason," lawyer Erias Lukwago told AFP.
	Lukwago said his client was denied legal representation when charged with treason, and was remanded in custody until his next court appearance due on 25 May.
	"It's absurd because none of us was there to represent him," he said.
	Treason is a capital offence in Uganda but the death penalty has not been carried out for years. Besigye was previously charged ...

Uganda opposition leader charged with treason: lawyer

The United States and Russia today accused each other of mounting an aggressive military presence in northern Europe, with Moscow vowing to "end threats" posed by a US missile shield near its border.
	The stepped-up war of words came as Poland today broke ground on the northern section of a US missile defence shield launched in Romania a day earlier, which Russia slammed as a serious security threat despite US assurances to the contrary.
	Russian President Vladimir Putin today warned Washington that Moscow will consider measures to "end threats" from the US anti-missile systems in Europe but said it would not be engaged in a new arms race.
	"Now that these anti-missile elements have been installed, we will be forced to consider putting an end to the threats emerging in relation to Russia's security," Putin told defence officials in televised remarks.
	US President Barack Obama hit back hours later, warning Russia about its military build-up in northern Europe, as he hosted leaders ...

US, Russia step up war of words over missile shield

Brazilian interim president Michel Temer's new cabinet promised to blaze a new path today to revive Latin America's largest economy after a string of crises put an end to 13 years of leftist rule.
	As workers took down portraits of suspended president Dilma Rousseff, who faces an impeachment trial in the Senate, Temer's ministers held their first meeting in the presidential palace in Brasilia.
	Ministers said afterwards that the new priorities would be to create a leaner government, balance finances, and root out the corruption that a huge judicial probe has uncovered at the highest levels of Brazilian politics and business.
	"We're living through the worst economic crisis in the history of Brazil," said chief of staff Eliseu Padilha.
	"People took to the streets to seek two things: they wanted a state without corruption and they wanted an efficient state," he said, referring to mass protests against Rousseff.
	"Out with corruption and in with efficiency," he added, admitting ...

Temer government vows 'change of course' for Brazil

Britain warned today it may seek EU sanctions over "acts of repression" in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as police clashed with supporters of a key opposition leader accused of hiring foreign mercenaries.
	The warning came after the mineral-rich African country's Constitutional Court this week ruled that President Joseph Kabila, in power since 2001, can stay in office beyond 2016 without being re-elected.
	"We are talking to our European colleagues about targeted sanctions against those responsible" for violence and intimidation against the opposition, said Danae Dholakia, Britain's special envoy to Africa's Great Lakes region.
	"The position of the United Kingdom is that the people responsible for acts of repression or violence will take responsibility for their actions or decisions," said Dholakia.
	The diplomat was referring to the recent legal woes of Moise Katumbi, an opposition candidate for elections in theory due before the end of the year, investigated for some 10 days ...

EU sanctions mooted amid DR Congo crackdown

World oil prices recovered strongly this week, reaching 2016 highs as experts forecast an easing to the global supply glut that has weighed heavily on markets for almost two years.
	OPEC and the advisory body the International Energy Agency (IEA) both pointed to lower supplies on the horizon and in a week in which the United States revealed an unexpected drop to its commercial crude inventories.
	"Prices surged towards the end of this week" following the US stockpiles report, research group Capital Economics said in a note to clients.
	"What's more, on Thursday, the IEA decreased its forecast for non-OPEC production and increased its estimates for demand this year."
	New York's main oil contract reached USD 47.02 a barrel yesterday -- the highest level since early November.
	By today around 1630 GMT, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in June stood at USD 46.24 a barrel, compared with USD 43.74 a week earlier.
	Brent North Sea crude for July surged to USD 47.78 a barrel 

Oil prices rebound strongly on easing supply worries

The EU's naval mission to combat people trafficking off the Libyan coast is "failing" and has only succeeded in forcing smugglers to change their tactics, a British parliamentary report said today.
	Operation Sophia "does not in any meaningful way deter the flow of migrants, disrupt the smugglers' networks or impede the business of people smuggling on the central Mediterranean route", it said.
	The European Union insisted that the British report "applauds the huge contribution of the EU operation" and said it had helped to reduce the incentive for people trafficking.
	The report by the House of Lords' sub-committee on EU External Affairs noted that arrests so far have been of "low-level targets", and the destruction of vessels has caused smugglers to shift from using wooden boats to rubber dinghies, which are even more unsafe.
	The committee said there was "little prospect of Operation Sophia overturning the business model of people smuggling".
	Committee chairman Lord Tugendhat said .

EU naval mission 'failing' on people smuggling: UK peers

Ivory Coast's cashew harvest is already running in record territory, but exports have slumped as high taxes and low prices have pushed farmers to sell their output in neighbouring countries, a trade body said today.
	At 725,000 tonnes at the start of the harvest season, Ivory Coast's cashew output is already up three percent from the record it set last year, and once again the top player of the nut for which global production totals nearly three million tonnes.
	However, "at this stage, 200,000 tonnes of nuts have been exported, against 330,000 tonnes... At the same point in 2015, or a drop of 40 percent," said Malamine Sanogo, director of the Cotton-Cashew Council, which manages the sector.
	The drop in exports to India, which is a major processor of cashews as well as a consumer, is running around 60 per cent.
	"Export taxes are too high in Ivory Coast, producers close to the border don't hesitate to sell their harvests in Ghana, Mali or in Burkina Faso" said Fousseni Adama, an ...

Cashew king Ivory Coast sees sees taxes crack exports

Bidding for the gun used by a Florida neighborhood watchman to kill unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin hit USD 65 million today, as hoax buyers appeared to jack the controversial sale to astronomical levels.
	Nationwide protests erupted over the 17-year-old's shooting in 2012, in what the watchman George Zimmerman said was self-defense but which the teen's family and friends claimed was a murder driven by racism.
	Zimmerman's trial and subsequent acquittal exposed deep racial fissures in US society.
	Bids for the Kel-Tec PF-9, a 9mm pistol, began at USD 5,000 on Thursday -- already far above the market value of a secondhand weapon -- and had reached USD 65,039,000 by today to go in the sale.
	Some 1,019 bids had been made within less than 24 hours of the sale beginning on the United Gun Group auction site.
	US reports said a bidder using the screen name "Racist McShootface" made several offers of around USD 65 million overnight, though the account was later deleted.
	The top bid ...

Prank bids drive US killer's gun auction to USD 65mn

US President Barack Obama warned Russia about its military build-up in northern Europe today as he hosted leaders from five Nordic countries at the White House.
	"We are united in our concern about Russia's growing, aggressive military presence and posture in the Baltic-Nordic region," Obama said at the end of the meeting.
	As tensions with Moscow spike over a plethora of issues from aerial military interceptions to Ukraine, Obama looked to make common cause with Russia's near neighbors in Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Sweden and Norway.
	Earlier, Obama said the six nations agreed on the need for a European order not based on might.
	"We believe that our citizens have the right to live in freedom and security, free from terrorism, and a Europe where smaller nations are not bullied by larger nations."
	Obama put Vladmir Putin's government on notice that, while willing to deescalate tensions, the White House would also be prepared to counter any perceived Russian aggression.
	"We will be ..

AFP

AFP

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