Fresh air strikes pummelled the Syrian city of Aleppo today as US Secretary of State John Kerry made a desperate bid to salvage a two-month ceasefire in the war-torn country.
	The top US diplomat gave some of his most downbeat comments yet after meeting the UN peace envoy on Syria, saying the conflict was "in many ways out of control and deeply disturbing to everybody in the world, I hope."
	"The attack on this hospital is unconscionable," he said, accusing President Bashar al-Assad's regime of deliberately targeting three clinics and a major hospital last week. "And it has to stop."
	Kerry met UN peace envoy Staffan de Mistura and the Saudi foreign minister in Geneva, but the absence of Russia cast a pall over the proceedings.
	Washington and Moscow are the joint sponsors of the Syrian peace process, and de Mistura has made it clear that he sees little hope of progress without their agreement.
	Kerry said he would call Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov later Monday to press for .

US in desperate bid to save Syria truce as Aleppo bombed

PTI Automatic

The Solar Impulse 2, an experimental aircraft flying around the world to draw attention to clean energy technologies, took off today from near San Francisco en route to the southwest city of Phoenix.
	Pilot Andre Borschberg took to the air just after 5:00 am (12:00 GMT). The plane had been in California for a week since crossing the Pacific to land in Mountain View.
	Borschberg, who has been alternating the long solo flights with his teammate, Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard, will pilot Solar Impulse across the United States and to New York. Piccard piloted the craft from Hawaii to California.
	Borschberg took off at the early hour to take advantage of a clear weather window as he flies to Phoenix Goodyear Airport in Arizona, which should take about 16 hours.
	The mission aims to promote the use of renewable energy, with an aircraft powered by 17,000 solar cells.
	The plane's wingspan is wider than that of a jumbo jet but its weight is roughly the same as a family car.

Solar Impulse takes off on next leg of round-the-world flight

The death toll in the collapse of a six-storey building in Nairobi rose to 21 today after four more bodies were pulled from the rubble of the residential structure that gave way during weekend storms.
	"As of today we have 21 people dead so far after four bodies were retrieved in the night and another died in hospital," the head of the National Disaster Management Unit, Pius Masai, told reporters, revising a previous count of 16 dead.
	Authorities had previously put the number of deaths in Friday's collapse of the building in the low-income district of Huruma at 16.
	But the Kenya Red Cross said 60 people were still missing, meaning the final toll could be much higher, although it was unclear whether those sought were at home when the building buckled.
	The building, which was home to more than 150 families, many of them living crammed into a single room, had been earmarked for demolition after being declared structurally unsound.
	But an order by building authorities for the ...

Kenya building collapse toll rises to 21

Syria's civil war is "in many ways out of control" US Secretary of State John Kerry warned today, vowing to work hard in the "coming hours" to salvage a tattered truce.
	Speaking after talks with UN envoy Staffan de Mistura, Kerry said he would call his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov later Monday to press for the ceasefire to be restored.
	But, in some of his most downbeat comments yet on the effort to end the deadly five-year-old conflict, Kerry warned that he did not want to promise success.
	Standing by de Mistura, he thanked him for supporting a political process in the midst of "a conflict that is in may ways out of control and deeply disturbing to everybody in the world, I hope."
	Kerry said a ceasefire mediated by Russia and the United States in February was still holding in parts of the country, but he singled out the situation in Aleppo.
	There, he said, Bashar al-Assad's regime had deliberately targeted three clinics and a major hospital, killing doctors and patients and .

Syrian conflict 'in many ways out of control', Kerry warns

A car bomb targeting Shiite pilgrims killed at least 14 people in southern Baghdad today, security and medical sources said.
	An Iraqi security command said a suicide bomber detonated the explosives-rigged vehicle, while other officials said it was a car bomb.
	At least 14 people were killed and at least 41 others wounded, security and medical officials said.
	They said several women and children were among the victims.
	There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosion, but such attacks are usually carried out by the Islamic State jihadist group.
	IS perpetrated a similar attack against pilgrims on the outskirts of Baghdad on Saturday, killing at least 23 people.
	Many of the main thoroughfares in the city are closed in the days leading up to the annual commemoration of Imam Musa Kadhim's death, an important date in the Shiite Muslim calendar.
	Kadhim, the seventh of 12 imams revered in Shiite Islam, died in 799 AD. The pilgrimage to his shrine in northern Baghdad has .

Baghdad car bomb against Shiite pilgrims kills 14

The CIA has marked the anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden by live-tweeting - with a five-year delay - the raid by US special forces on the al-Qaeda founder's compound in Pakistan.
	Using the hashtag #UBLRaid, the CIA blasted out updates of the May 2011 strike as if it was unfolding in real time - in a highly unusual move for the secretive spy agency.
	"To mark the 5th anniversary of the Usama Bin Ladin operation in Abbottabad we will tweet the raid as if it were happening today. #UBLRaid," @CIA said in announcing its social media blitz.
	Tweets included the now famous picture of President Barack Obama and other high-ranking US officials watching matters unfold from the White House's Situation Room.
	"1:51 pm EDT - Helicopters depart from Afghanistan for compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan #UBLRaid," read one tweet.
	"3:30 pm EDT - 2 helicopters descend on compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. 1 crashes, but assault continues without delay or injury #UBLRaid," read another.
	That ..

With five-year delay, CIA 'live-tweets' bin Laden raid

The EU hit out today at "misconceptions" over leaked documents about a planned free trade deal with the United States that are said to show it poses risks to the climate, environment and consumers.
	Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem insisted that the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) said the papers released by Greenpeace merely reflected negotiating positions by Washington and Brussels.
	Malmstroem said "there seems to be quite a number of misconceptions floating around" about the "supposed leaks" on the ambitious treaty, which the US and European Union have been trying to reach a deal on since 2013.
	"It begs to be said, again and again: no EU trade agreement will ever lower our level of protection of consumers, or food safety, or of the environment," Malmstrom said in a blog.
	"I am simply not in the business of lowering standards."
	Greenpeace said the papers reveal "major risks for climate, environment and consumer safety."
	The EU commissioner said the ...

EU laments 'misconceptions' about leaked US trade deal files

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is to host UN envoy Staffan de Mistura for talks on Syria in Moscow today, the foreign ministry said.
	"Talks between Mistura and Sergei Lavrov followed by a press conference will take place" in Moscow, spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told AFP.
	The talks will be held amid accusations by the United States and other supporters of the Syrian opposition that Russia has violated international agreements to back peace in the war-torn country.
	Washington and Moscow are the joint sponsors of the Syrian peace process, and de Mistura had made it clear that he sees little hope of progress without their agreement.
	But the United States charges that Russia, while agreeing to support a ceasefire, has done little to rein in Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces around Aleppo.
	The head of Moscow's coordination centre in Syria, Lieutenant General Sergei Kuralenko, said on Sunday that talks to include Aleppo province in a so-called "regime of silence" -- or ...

Russia's Lavrov to meet UN Syria envoy in Moscow Tuesday: govt

Ahead of the five-year anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden, CIA chief John Brennan has said that taking out the head of the Islamic State group would have a "great impact."
	US special forces killed Al-Qaeda founder bin Laden in Pakistan on May 2, 2011.
	As his agency live-tweeted the events as they unfolded five years ago, the CIA director warned that Al-Qaeda remained a threat and that IS was not just an organization but a phenomenon.
	"We have destroyed a large part of Al-Qaeda. It's not completely eliminated. So we have to stay focused on what it can do," Brennan told NBC's "Meet the Press" talk show.
	"Now, with the new phenomenon of (IS), this is going to challenge us for years to come," he added.
	Asked if removing IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi from action was as important as the Bin Laden get, Brennan, who does not often do interviews, was direct.
	"He is important, and we will destroy ISIL; I have no doubt in my mind. We have to remove the leadership that directs ..

Five years after Osama's killing, CIA chief eyes ISIS supremo

One Turkish soldier was killed and 20 others were wounded when a car bomb blamed on Kurdish militants exploded in the Kurdish-majority southeast, the army said today.
	In a statement, the army said a total of 23 people were wounded in the blast which took place late on Sunday, 20 of them soldiers and three of them civilian family members.
	The car bomb detonated near a military command complex in the Dicle district of the Kurdish majority province of Diyarbakir, a security source told AFP, blaming the attack on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
	The command post and an adjacent housing area for families was seriously damaged in the attack, the Dogan news agency reported.
	Police stopped a suspicious car after the attack but the suspects inside opened fire, injuring a judge and three police officers before they fled, the agency said.
	Turkey has been waging a major military offensive against the PKK, listed as a terror group by Ankara and much of the international community, 

Turkish soldier killed in PKK bombing in southeast: army

A Cambodian court today charged six people -- including a local United Nations employee -- over an alleged attempt to bribe a woman so she would deny an affair with a top opposition party member.
	It is the latest twist in a sex scandal that has gripped the country since phone recordings of conversations allegedly between lawmaker Kem Sokha and a 25-year-old hairdresser were leaked two months ago.
	Rights groups say the legal proceedings are the latest attempt by Prime Minister Hun Sen to undercut a resurgent opposition trying to end his 31-year grip on power.
	The woman initially denied the affair with the MP, who is the deputy leader of the Cambodia National Rescue Party.
	But she later told a court it had taken place and accused a prominent advocacy group, the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC), of instructing her to deny the relationship.
	On Thursday the country's anti-corruption unit arrested four members of the rights group along with a former group ...

Cambodia charges six as MP 'sex scandal' deepens

Top seeds Agnieszka Radwanska and Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber crashed out of the Madrid Open in the first round in major setbacks ahead of Roland Garros.
     Poland's Radwanska, the number one seed in the absence of Serena Williams, lost 6-4, 6-7 (3/7), 6-3 to the rejuvenated Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia.
     Radwanska, a semi-finalist in 2012 and 2014 in the Spanish capital, already knew the dangers posed by Cibulkova after her opponent came within a point of victory in their last meeting at Indian Wells in March.
     Cibulkova, a former world number 10 and Australian Open runner-up, was always going to be a dangerous floater having won her fifth career title last time out in Katowice three weeks ago.
     Second-seeded German Kerber was dumped out by the Czech Republic's Barbora Strycova 6-4, 6-2 with her defeat coming just a week after she had retained her title in Stuttgart.
     However, Kerber was outplayed by world number 33 Strycova, who she had beaten 6-1, .

Top seeds Radwanska, Kerber crash out in Madrid

Police evacuated more than one thousand people from a makeshift migrant camp near a Paris metro station today, the third time the camp has been cleared in as many months.
	Shortly after 6:00 AM (local time), people who had been staying in the tightly packed tents under an elevated section of the Stalingrad station in the north of Paris began boarding buses to take them to reception centres.
	The evacuation passed off largely without incident, authorities said.
	Although only around 500 people had been counted at the camp the night before, police said around 1,350 people had gathered there today to be re-located to accommodation centres, suggesting that migrants from other parts of Paris had swelled their numbers.
	Around 150 police officers were involved in the operation to relocate the migrants, mostly from Sudan and Afghanistan.
	"We're happy to leave," said Moustafa, a 24-year-old Afghan who had been at the camp for a month.
	"There were fights every night at the camp."
	Another ...

More than 1,000 people evacuated from Paris migrant camp

Iran has passed a law allowing the government to grant citizenship to the families of foreigners killed while fighting for the Islamic republic, the official IRNA news agency reported today.
	"Members of the parliament authorised the government to grant Iranian citizenship to the wife, children and parents of foreign martyrs who died on a mission... During the Iran-Iraq war (1980-1988) and afterwards," it said.
	Citizenship must be awarded "within a maximum period of one year after the request", IRNA added.
	Iran's outgoing conservative-dominated parliament will serve until late May.
	No figures are available on the number of foreign fighters killed during the Iran-Iraq war, but Afghans, and even a group of Iraqis, fought alongside Iranian forces against the regime of Saddam Hussein.
	The law could apply to "volunteers" from Afghanistan and Pakistan who are fighting in Syria and Iraq against jihadists including the Islamic State group and Al-Nusra Front.
	Shiite Iran is a staunch ...

Iran to grant citizenship to families of foreign 'martyrs'

Solar Impulse 2, an experimental aircraft flying around the world to draw attention to clean energy technologies, is to take flight again today, organisers said.
	Pilot Andre Borschberg will take off at 12:00 GMT (5:30pm IST) taking advantage of a "clear weather window" for him to fly from the Mojave Desert to Phoenix Goodyear Airport in Arizona -- an effort that should take about 16 hours, they said.
	The plane has been in California for a week since crossing the Pacific to land in Mountain View. Swiss adventurer Bertrand Piccard piloted the craft from Hawaii to California.
	Piccard, who has been alternating the long solo flights with teammate Borschberg, has handed over to his teammate who will pilot Solar Impulse across the United States and to New York.
	The mission aims to promote the use of renewable energy, with an aircraft powered by 17,000 solar cells.
	The plane's wingspan is wider than that of a jumbo jet but its weight is roughly the same as a family car.
	Solar Impulse 2 .

Solar-powered plane to soar again on round-the-world flight

The prosecution of women in Northern Ireland over abortion has become a key campaign issue ahead of regional elections on Thursday, with unprecedented political support for reforming the law.
	A 21-year-old woman was prosecuted earlier this year for taking pills to induce a miscarriage, while a mother has been charged after ordering medication over the Internet to help her daughter end an unwanted pregnancy.
	The prosecutions have fuelled a campaign against one of Europe's most stringent abortion laws and a backlash by anti-abortion campaigners and the Catholic Church who have urged voters to boycott candidates favouring reform.
	"I am not coming at this from an ideological viewpoint but as someone who lives in the real world," Ruth Patterson, an independent unionist candidate in the South Belfast constituency.
	Patterson is one of a number of candidates calling for an extension of a more liberal abortion law covering the rest of the United Kingdom to Northern Ireland.
	Northern ...

Abortion trials force political shift in N Ireland

South Korea warned today there is a risk of its citizens being abducted by Pyongyang in retaliation for the defection of a dozen North Korean staff at a restaurant in China.
	Twelve women working at the restaurant in the eastern Chinese city of Ningbo defected to the South with their manager last month.
	Seoul said they came voluntarily while the North insists they were tricked into defecting by South Korean spies who effectively "kidnapped" them.
	The South's Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korea affairs, said overseas missions had been advised to heighten their vigilance.
	"We are closely watching out for multiple possibilities, including abduction or terrorism ... By the North," said ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-Hee.
	"We are trying to ensure the safety of our nationals," he told reporters.
	Seoul's Hankook Ilbo daily reported Monday that Pyongyang was plotting to abduct South Koreans to trade for the 13 defectors.
	"They set the target of 120 people including expats, ...

S Korea warns of citizens' potential abduction by North

Villarreal warmed-up for the second leg of their Europa League semi-final against Liverpool by sealing fourth place in La Liga with a 2-0 win at Valencia.
     The Yellow Submarine are now guaranteed at least a place in the Champions League qualifiers for the first time in four years, but could gain direct entry to the group stages should they go on to win the club's first major honour in the Europa League.
     First-half goals from Samuel Garcia and Adrian Lopez - who also struck the stoppage time winner in the 1-0 frist leg success over Liverpool - moved Villarreal six points clear of Athletic Bilbao with two games to play.
     However, Marcelino's men cannot be overtaken by the Basques due to their superior head-to-head record.
     Athletic leapfrogged Celta Vigo into fifth as they came from behind to beat the Galicians 2-1 earlier on Sunday.
     Fabian Orellana opened the scoring for Celta before Aritz Aduriz equalised with his 34th goal of the season from the penalty spot.
   

Villarreal seal Champions League return

Barcelona remain on top of La Liga with two games remaining as goals from Ivan Rakitic and Luis Suarez earned a 2-0 win over 10-man Real Betis.
     On a day of high tension when all three title contenders were at one point top of the table, Antoine Griezmann came off the bench to score the winner in Atletico Madrid's 1-0 win over Rayo Vallecano yesterday to remain behind Barca solely due to their inferior head-to-head record.
     Gareth Bale's thunderous header 10 minutes from time kept an under-strength Real Madrid just a point behind the leaders in third in a 1-0 victory at Real Sociedad.
     Barca need to win their two remaining games at home to Espanyol and away to Granada to be assured of retaining their title and were given a huge helping hand by Betis despite an unconvincing performance.
     "I don't think either of the other two are going to drop points so we have to win our games," said Barca boss Luis Enrique.
     "We need to concentrate on ourselves, be the best in ...

Barca beat Betis, Atletico, Real keep up pressure

Colombia deported top Peruvian crime lord Gerson Galvez, a day after arresting the man described as the new version of Mexico's Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.
	Galvez, also known as Caracol (Snail), was arrested in a restaurant in the western city of Medellin, Colombia's defence ministry said late Saturday.
	He was then handed over to Peruvian authorities yesterday because of his "dangerousness" and flown back to his home country, Colombian national police chief Jorge Nieto told a press conference.
	As he was escorted toward an awaiting Peruvian air force plane, Galvez repeatedly told journalists he had "the right to be presumed innocent."
	Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos congratulated his national police on Twitter, describing Galvez as "one of the most feared crime capos in the region."
	Galvez "is described by Peruvian police and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime as Latin America's new 'Chapo' Guzman," the Colombian defence ministry said.
	The jailed Mexican drug ...

Colombia deports top Peruvian crime lord

Protesters were withdrawing from Baghdad's Green Zone today after breaking into the fortified area and storming Iraq's parliament in an unprecedented security breach the day before.
	   The move, which lessens the pressure on politicians in Baghdad, came as rare bombings in the south killed 33 people and wounded dozens.
	   "The protest organising committee announces the withdrawal of the demonstrators from the Green Zone," it said in a statement, citing respect for a major Shiite pilgrimage as the reason for their departure.
	   The statement was distributed by the office of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose supporters make up the vast majority of the demonstrators.
	   Demonstrator Hussein al-Ali said that the announcement was made at the square where protesters had gathered, and that they accepted it and complied.
	   Protesters pulled down or scaled slabs of heavy concrete blast wall yesterday to enter the Green Zone, where Iraq's main government institutions are located, the ..

AFP

AFP

Page 1738 - Afp