Kim Jong-Un today opened North Korea's first ruling party congress for nearly 40 years with a defiant defence of the "magnificent" strides made in the country's nuclear weapons programme.
	Hailing the historic test of what North Korea claims was a hydrogen bomb in January, the isolated state's young leader said it had shown the world it would not be cowed by sanctions or outside pressure.
	Dressed in a western style suit and tie, Kim's speech was delivered to thousands of party delegates who had gathered in Pyongyang for the once-in-a-generation conclave.
	In particular, he praised the country's scientists for "creating milestone miracles with the magnificent and exhilarating sound of the first H-bomb of our republic".
	The test and successful long-range rocket launch a month later "clearly demonstrated to the whole world our undefeatable spirit and endless power ... In defiance of malicious pressure and sanctions by enemy forces", he said.
	Most experts have questioned the North's ...

Kim hails N Korea's nuclear prowess at rare party congress

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German chemical company Evonik said today it was buying a specialised unit of the US company Air Products and Chemicals for USD 3.8 billion.
	Evonik said in a statement that the acquisition, to be completed by the end of 2016, was aimed at "strengthening its leading position on the high-margin speciality & coating additives market".
	Evonik chief executive Klaus Engel called the market niche a "fast-growth segment".
	"With this acquisition, we are expanding our portfolio with precisely the right markets, products and innovations and continuing to invest in our growth and profitability," he said.
	Evonik said, its combined speciality and coating additives business had annual turnover of around 3.5 billion euros (USD 4 billion), with a core profit margin, as measured by EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation), of 20 per cent.
	It said its activities in the field, particularly for industrial and institutional cleaning products, complemented those of ...

Evonik says buying Air Products chemicals unit for USD 3.8 bn

Afghan special forces, backed by helicopter gunships, freed more than 60 people held captive in a Taliban prison in southern Afghanistan, officials said today, in a major raid against the resurgent Islamist group.
	The operation conducted yesterday in Now Zad district in the southern opium-rich province of Helmand comes in the midst of the Taliban's annual spring offensive, expected to be the bloodiest in 15 years.
	"Afghan Special Forces liberated over 60 prisoners from an illegally run Taliban prison...During the cover of darkness via helicopter assault," NATO said in a statement.
	"The liberated prisoners were safely transported to Kandahar where they were turned over to...Afghan authorities."
	NATO, which backed the mission in a "train, advise and assist" role, added that two insurgents were killed during the operation, and many others were wounded and detained.
	Afghan forces, backed by US Special Forces, launched a similar raid in Now Zad in December, freeing more than 40 ...

Afghan forces raid frees 60 from Taliban prison

Air strikes on a camp for displaced people in Syria's Idlib province were almost certainly not accidental and likely amounted to a war crime, the UN rights chief said today.
	Syria's military has denied any involvement in the raids yesterday that killed at least 28 civilians.
	Rights chief Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said, responsibility for the strikes remained unverified but cited "initial reports" indicating that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces were to blame.
	"Given these tent settlements have been in these locations for several weeks, and can be clearly viewed from the air, it is extremely unlikely that these murderous attacks were an accident. It is far more likely they were deliberate and amount to a war crime," the UN rights chief said in a statement.
	Zeid has in recent months grown increasingly vocal about the plight of those displaced by Syria's brutal conflict and again today issued a plea on behalf of those in the country who seemingly have nowhere left to seek ...

Strikes on Syria displaced camp 'likely a war crime': UN

Egyptian police have arrested a prominent rights lawyer after protests in Cairo rattled President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's government and ushered in an escalating crackdown on dissidents.
	Plain-clothed policemen arrested Malek Adly, a vocal opponent of the government, late yesterday, his lawyer Mahmoud Belal said.
	Adly had supported protests in April against the handing over of two islands to Saudi Arabia, which provoked outrage in Egypt and accusations that Sisi "sold" them in return for Saudi investments.
	Police arrested dozens of activists ahead of an April 25 protest, hoping to forestall the repeat an earlier rally in Cairo in which more than a thousand people chanted for "the fall of the regime".
	A continuing crackdown after the protest, which police quickly dispersed, led to a confrontation with the powerful Journalists' Syndicate after police raided its headquarters to arrest two reporters.
	The two journalists were wanted in the same case as Adly, on suspicion of "attempting 

Egypt widens crackdown to include prominent rights lawyer

World oil prices slumped this week, retreating from 2016 highs, as the dollar rebounded and supply glut concerns returned to the fore despite disruptions to global production.
	Even though the dollar fell back once more today in the wake of poorly-received US jobs data, oil prices remained subdued. A weaker US currency tends to make dollar-denominated crude cheaper for buyers holding rival currencies, spurring demand.
	Benchmark contracts Brent North Sea Crude and West Texas Intermediate had last week struck the highest points since early November, with Brent reaching close to USD 49 a barrel.
	By today however, Brent was trading at USD 44.43 a barrel and WTI had slid to USD 43.74, a drop of around USD 3.0 week- on-week for the US benchmark.
	"The oil price rally is faltering," said Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch, adding that a series of events, such as lower production in the United States and disruptions to supplies in Canada and Libya, had failed to provide the expected ...

Oil price rally fades

French President Francois Hollande will visit the Central African Republic on May 13 to pledge France's support for peace efforts in the restive country, his office said today.
	Hollande will go on to Nigeria the following day to attend a regional summit focused on fighting the jihadist group Boko Haram.
	In the Central African Republic, Hollande will "pledge his support for the peace and the stabilisation of the country," a presidential spokesman said.
	But the visit is sensitive because of accusations that French peacekeepers sexually abused children in the country.
	There are currently three investigations under way into the accusations against the French troops.
	Inter-communal violence between Muslim and Christian militias has killed thousands of people in the Central African Republic since 2013.
	France deployed a peacekeeping force in 2013 to curb the unrest.
	In Nigeria, the summit on Boko Haram will also be attended by the United States, Britain and the three countries ...

Hollande to visit restive C Africa Republic, Nigeria

Russia's military today insisted, no aircraft flew over a Syrian refugee camp the day it was hit by deadly strikes, suggesting Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front could have shelled the location.
	"We have attentively studied the information from the air space monitoring data in this area for May 4 and 5, 2016. There were no flights by Russian or any other aircraft," spokesman Igor Konashenkov told Russian news agencies.
	"Judging by the damage shown in photographs and video, the camp may have been shelled either on purpose or by mistake by multiple rocket launchers which are currently being used very actively in this area by terrorists from Al-Nusra," Konashenkov said.
	Syria's military has denied any involvement in the raids yesterday that killed at least 28 civilians in territory controlled by Syria's Al-Qaeda affiliate Al-Nusra and rebel allies.
	The United Nations' rights chief said today that air strikes on a camp for displaced people in Syria's Idlib province were almost certainly ..

Russia says no aircraft flew over bombed Syria camp

A bomb exploded toS in a qat market in Yemen's loyalist-held city of Marib, killing three civilians and three soldiers and wounding several others, a local official said.
	Qat is a mild narcotic and mainstay of Yemeni social life whose consumption is banned in parts of the country held by the jihadist Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
	The official said the bomb was planted at the entrance of the market by unknown individuals who apparently wanted to target loyalist forces.
	Marib is east of the capital Sanaa which is in the hands of Shiite Huthi rebels.
	The rebels said on their website sabanews.Net that three bombs exploded at the qat market, killing seven people and wounding 15.
	They blamed the blasts on "the chaos in the city which is controlled by militiamen and mercenaries" -- a reference to loyalist forces.
	The latest violence comes as talks aimed at ending a 13-month devastating war in Yemen are under way in Kuwait between government and rebel delegations.

Six dead in Yemen market bombing

Gunmen today killed the chief of the main prison in Yemen's southern port city of Aden where jihadists remain active, a security source said.
	Wahab Nejib Ahmed Aoun and a relative were gunned down by two men on a motorbike in the central district of Mansura where the prison is located.
	The incident comes a week after a similar attack claimed the life of a police colonel in the city.
	This method of attack is often used by Al-Qaeda, which has operated for years in south and southeast Yemen, and is currently the target of a huge offensive by government forces.
	Other security officials in Aden have been targeted by bombings and assassinations -- some of which Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State group have claimed.
	Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is regarded by Washington as the network's most dangerous branch.
	It had taken advantage of the government's war against Shiite rebels to spread its presence in the south.
	AQAP was ejected recently from Aden neighbourhoods ...

Gunmen kill prison chief in Yemen's Aden

Turkish opposition journalist Can Dundar escaped a shooting today outside the courthouse in Istanbul where he is on trial on charges of revealing state secrets.
	Brandishing a pistol, the attacker fired several times before being detained by police, an AFP reporter said. Dundar, the editor-in-chief of leading Turkish opposition daily Cumhuriyet, was unharmed.
	Dundar was outside the courthouse during a break as the court prepared to deliver its verdict in his trial for allegedly revealing state secrets in a newspaper story.
	The assailant fired twice or three times in front of the cameras of media who had crowded outside Istanbul's main courthouse during the closed door trial.
	NTV television reported that its reporter Yagiz Senkal was lightly injured because of the ricocheting bullets.
	"I am okay ... The court was in a break to deliver a verdict. The attack occurred after we went out to wait for the ruling," Dundar said.
	"I don't know who or what it is. I only saw the gun had been .

Turkey journalist Dundar escapes shooting, attacker held: AFP

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un hailed the country's "historic" nuclear test in January in a keynote address today to the ruling party's first party congress for nearly 40 years.
	"This year during which the party's congress is held, our military successfully conducted the first H-bomb test...An historic landmark in the 5,000-year history of our people," Kim said in his speech broadcast on state television.

N Korea's Kim hails "historic" nuclear test at party congress

Hamas Gaza leader Ismail Haniyeh said today his Islamist movement is not seeking war with Israel but will not tolerate its troops entering the Palestinian territory.
	"We are not calling for a new war, but we will not under any circumstance accept these incursions," he said in a prayer sermon in the Gaza Strip, where the worst cross-border violence since a devastating 2014 war entered a third day.
	Haniyeh said that Israeli forces had intruded "150 to 199 metres (yards) on the pretext of searching for tunnels".
	"We sent multiple messages that the resistance will not allow the Israeli occupation army to impose new rules within the borders of the Gaza Strip."
	He said the movement would not accept the "so-called buffer zone," referring to a 100-metre wide strip along the border but inside Gazan territory where the Israeli army has said it reserves the right to operate.
	Israel launched new air raids in the Gaza Strip early today, saying it was a response to Palestinian mortar fire ...

Hamas says not seeking war but will fight Israeli incursions

Militants have blown an offshore oil facility operated by US oil group Chevron in southern Nigeria, the navy and the company said today, in renewed violence that could hit exports in Africa's largest oil producer.
	"There was an attack on a Chevron facility near Escravos on Wednesday night. The incident happened about four nautical miles from Escravos, near Warri, in Delta state," spokesman Chris Ezekobe told AFP.
	Ezekobe said "militants using explosives blew up the Okan platform, a collection facility for offshore oil and gas that feeds the Escravos terminal".
	He said it was not known how many people were on the platform at the time, but that there were no known casualties.
	The navy was working with other security agents to track down the culprits, he added.
	"A previously unknown group called the Niger Delta Avengers has claimed responsibility for the incident," the spokesman said, confirming a statement on the group's website.
	"But we are not ruling out the involvement of ...

Oil rebels blow up Chevron facility in Nigeria: navy, firm

Pope Francis today asked Europe to "tear down" the walls being built to keep out migrants and to create a radical new "social economy" serving the many not the few.
	Invoking the memory of the EU's founding fathers' pursuit of integration in the aftermath of World War II, the pontiff said they inspired because they had "dared to change radically the models" that had led to war.
	Saying he dreamed of a Europe in which "being a migrant is not a crime," Francis said: "Today, more than ever, their vision inspires us to build bridges and tear down walls."
	The comments came in a speech at the Vatican following the 79-year-old pontiff's presentation with the EU's Charlemagne Prize for his contribution to European unification.
	Having unexpectedly decided to accept the award, Francis delivered a typically hard-hitting message to an audience including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the heads of the EU's main institutions, the Council, the Commission, the Parliament and its central ...

Pope Francis asks Europe to tear down walls

Police have arrested 44 people in Britain and Spain suspected of involvement in a scam to hack into accounts belonging to company bosses and steal thousands of euros, officers said today.
	Police arrested 43 people thought to be involved in the so-called "CEO swindle" in Spain and one in Britain - 17 of whom are thought to be the ringleaders of the scam.
	The largest single sum lost to the fraud was 1.8 million euros (USD 2.1 million).
	The scam is alleged to have used forged emails to dupe senior company executives into parting with personal details which were then used to empty their financial accounts.
	The man arrested in Britain was detained close to an airport where the gang allegedly hoarded large sums of cash before it was to be transported to Nigeria.
	Seven people involved in running an Internet cafe in the Madrid region are suspected of having organised weekly transfers of cash to Nigeria by plane.
	"135,000 euros in notes was discovered at Madrid airport hidden in rubbish .

Spain smashes Nigerian 'CEO swindle' scammer network

Syria's military denied today any involvement in air strikes that killed at least 28 civilians in a camp for displaced people near the Turkish border, state media said.
	"There is no truth in the information in some media that the Syrian air force targeted the displaced camp in Idlib province yesterday," the SANA news agency quoted the military as saying.
	It accused rebels of targeting civilians.

Syria regime denies involvement in air strike on camp

German banking giant Deutsche Bank is the target of a criminal probe into government bond market manipulation, the bank and plaintiffs said today.
	Five former Deutsche Bank top managers are being investigated by a prosecutor in Trani, southern Italy, including its ex-chief executive Josef Ackermann, consumer associations Adusbef and Federconsumatori said after filing their legal complaint.
	They accuse Deutsche Bank of selling "massive" amounts of Italian government debt between January and June 2011 while publicly stating that the Italian debt situation was "sustainable".
	This, they said, had "altered the normal price formation in the government debt market".
	The time of the sales coincided with Italy's debt crisis, which eventually led to the fall of Silvio Berlusconi's government, making way for Mario Monti.
	Police have already seized documents and emails at the Milan branch of the German bank in the investigation, they said.
	Deutsche Bank said it was fully cooperating with ...

Deutsche Bank targeted in Italian government bond probe

Commanders in Libya's third city Misrata rushed militiamen to a key crossroads today after it was overrun by the Islamic State (IS) group in an assault in which a suicide bomber killed two police personnel.
	The mobilisation came as the UN-backed unity government in Tripoli announced the formation of a new military command to take charge of the battle against the jihadists.
	The Abu Grein crossroads lies 120 kilometres south of Misrata where the highway along Libya's Mediterranean coast meets the main road south into the desert interior.
	It was captured by IS yesterday in an advance from their stronghold in the city of Sirte 140 kilometres to the east.
	Misrata hospital said it had received eight dead and 105 wounded from the attack, without specifying whether they were all security force personnel or also included civilians.
	The head of the Misrata military council, Colonel Ibrahim Bel-Rajab, said he had ordered all brigades under his command to head to Abu Grein without delay, ...

Libya militia scramble to halt IS advance

Earthlings will witness Mercury make a rare passage between our planet and the Sun on Monday, appearing as a black dot tracking the surface of the star we share with the solar system's smallest planet.
	Mercury completes an orbit every 88 days and passes between the Earth and the Sun every 116 days, according to the Royal Astronomical Society (RAS).
	But its orbit is tilted in relation to Earth's, which means it usually appears -- from our perspective -- to pass above or below the Sun.
	Thirteen times each century, however, the two orbits align such that even amateur astronomers can see the tiny planet tens of millions of kilometres away.
	"It is always exciting to see rare astronomical phenomena such as this transit of Mercury," RAS president Martin Barstow said in a statement.
	"They show that astronomy is a science that is accessible to everyone."
	But be warned: looking directly at the phenomenon can result in permanent eye damage, as only a very small part of the Sun will be ...

Skygazers ready for rare Mercury sighting

Former England captain Michael Vaughan has labelled plans to introduce a points system for the upcoming home series against Pakistan and Sri Lanka as a "nonsense".
     In international men's cricket, Tests, one day internationals (ODIs) and Twenty20 matches have been regarded as separate entities.
     But in order to give bilateral series more "context", the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) are holding talks with their Sri Lankan and Pakistani counterparts about a system where points will be awarded for Tests, ODIs and T20s, with an overall winner then announced.
     "It's an over-complication that is not needed," Vaughan told the BBC.
     The system has been used by England and Australia's women in their version of the Ashes since 2013.
     However, women's teams generally play far fewer international matches than their male counterparts and there had long been a feeling that an Ashes series should not be decided by a solitary Test.
     A further complication is the ...

AFP

AFP

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