Yemen's warring parties held "productive" face-to-face peace talks today on "key issues" in a bid to end the conflict in the impoverished Arab country, the UN envoy said.
	"The talks today were positive and productive... It is an encouraging beginning," Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed told a news conference after  the first direct talks since the delayed negotiations began on April 21.
	"Today, we heard the parties pledge total commitment to (UN Security Council) Resolution 2216 and related decisions, the Gulf initiative and results of Yemeni national dialogue as the basis for a peaceful solution," he said.
	Saturday's talks came after the government and rebel delegations each submitted a framework for a political and security solution to end the 13-month war.
	Ould Cheikh Ahmed said that despite the progress made "we still have obstacles and ideas are still far a part."
	Most of the meetings in talks have so far been confined to encounters between rival delegations and Ould Cheikh ...

Yemen foes hold 'productive' direct talks on key issues: UN

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The number of Syrians living below the poverty line has almost tripled after five years of conflict, according to a report published this week.
	Around 83.4 percent of Syrians live below the poverty line compared with 28 percent in 2010, the report by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) and the University of St Andrews said.
	An estimated 13.5 million people in Syria needed humanitarian aid by late 2015, and more than 4 million of these were in Damascus and Aleppo provinces.
	"According to one estimate, life expectancy dropped from 70 in 2010 to 55.4 in 2014," the report said.
	Around half of Syria's 493 hospitals in 2010 have been seriously damaged in the war, it added.
	"The deliberate targeting of doctors and pharmacists has forced many to flee the country, at a higher rate than that of the average population.
	"As a result, the number of persons per doctor in the country rose from 661 in 2010 to 1,442 in 2015."
	Around 12.1 million Syrians lack adequate .

More than 80% of Syrians live below the poverty line: UN

Israeli opposition leader Isaac Herzog today invited Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain's Labour party, to visit the Yad Vashem holocaust memorial in Jerusalem amid a row over anti-semitism.
	Former London mayor Ken Livingstone said on Saturday he regretted the row that has rocked Britain's opposition Labour party, but refused to withdraw comments linking Hitler to Zionism.
	Livingstone was suspended from the centre-left party on Thursday after saying Hitler initially wanted to move Jews to Israel, and "was supporting Zionism before he went mad and ended up killing six million Jews".
	His comments came in defence of Labour lawmaker Naz Shah, who was suspended on Wednesday in the face of widespread criticism for sharing anti-Semitic posts on social media two years ago.
	Shah shared a graphic of Israel superimposed onto the United States under the words "Solution for Israel-Palestine Conflict -- Relocate Israel into United States", adding the comment: "Problem solved."
	Herzog said he had 

Herzog invites Britain's Corbyn to Israel amid amti-Semitism

A Sudanese military plane crashed today in the state of North Kordofan, killing all five crew members on board, the army said.
	The Soviet-era Antonov 26, usually used in operations against rebels, crashed while landing at the airport of El Obied, the capital of North Kordofan, an army statement said.
	"The aircraft has been destroyed and all five crew members martyred," it said. Three army officers and two soldiers were on board.

Sudan military plane crashes, all five crew killed: army

Malaysia deported 32 Taiwanese fraud suspects to China today, Taiwan authorities said, leaving the island's government furious once more in the latest bout of cross-strait diplomatic sparring.
	It comes after Taipei accused Beijing of "abducting" its citizens from Kenya earlier this month.
	The deportations are seen by observers as a shot across the bows of Beijing-sceptic Tsai Ing-wen, who will be inaugurated as Taiwan's president on May 20.
	"The government has filed solemn protests and regrets the development," presidential office spokesman Charles Chen said of the deportations today.
	Taiwan would send a delegation to the mainland "as soon as possible" Chen said.
	The 32 suspects arrived in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou last night, Taiwan's Central News Agency reported.
	They were part of a group of 52 Taiwanese detained by Malaysian police last month during five raids linked to telecom fraud, which also led to the arrests of 65 mainland Chinese and two ...

Malaysia deports 32 Taiwanese fraud suspects to China

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta set fire today to the world's biggest ivory bonfire, after demanding a total ban on trade in tusks and horns to end "murderous" trafficking and prevent the extinction of elephants in the wild.
     "The height of the pile of ivory before us marks the strength of our resolve," Kenyatta said, before setting fire to the pyres.
     "No one, and I repeat no one, has any business in trading in ivory, for this trade means death of our elephants and death of our natural heritage."
     Eleven giant pyres of tusks, and another of rhino horns, are arranged in a semi-circle now expected to burn for days in Nairobi's national park.
     Huge white clouds of smoke spiralled high into the sky, with thousands of litres of diesel and kerosene injected through steel pipes buried in the ground leading into the heart of the pyramids to fuel the blaze.
     President Ali Bongo from Gabon, who lit one of the pyres, spoke of the "massacre" of forest elephants in central ...

Kenya lights world's biggest ivory bonfire

Yemeni government forces backed by an Arab coalition seized an Al-Qaeda training camp in the southeastern province of Hadramawt today along with "large amounts" of weapons, its governor said.
	It comes during an offensive launched last month to recapture areas in the south overrun by Al-Qaeda and which on Sunday saw loyalist forces recapture Hadramawt provincial capital Mukalla, which the jihadists had occupied for a year.
	"The offensive is continuing in Qoton to hunt down Al-Qaeda militants," said Hadramawt governor Major General Ahmed bin Braik, referring to a town north of Mukalla.
	Braik said government forces overran an Al-Qaeda training camp in the town where they "confiscated large amounts of weapons" and "arrested eight Al-Qaeda militants".
	"Mukalla is now a safe city," Braik added.
	An AFP reporter there said the situation had returned to normal as pro-government forces deployed across Mukalla with troops from the Arab coalition securing the ports.
	Government troops that ..

Yemen govt forces seize Qaeda-held military camp, arms

Eighty-four migrants are still missing after an inflatable craft sank off the coast of Libya, according to survivors cited by the International Organization for Migrantion (IOM) today.
	Twenty-six people were rescued from the boat which sank Friday, and were questioned overnight. "According to testimonies gathered by IOM in Lampedusa 84 people went missing," said IOM spokesman Flavio Di Giacomo on his Twitter feed.

84 migrants still missing after boat sinks off Libya: IOM

At least nine people were killed and dozens injured when a mosque they were building in Somalia collapsed, residents said today.
     Over 100 people were helping pour a concrete foundation to the mosque in Garasballey district, close to the capital Mogadishu, yesterday when the structure suddenly collapsed, leaving several trapped under the debris.
     Sheikh Mohamed Hashi, imam of the mosque, said around 30 people were injured.
     "Nine bodies were recovered under the collapsed building, some of them have had suffocated to death, others were hit by the falling concrete walls," said witness Ali Muhidin.
     "I saw several deadbodies that were discovered under the debris, they were of those who had been working on its construction," said Mohamed Yahye, another resident.

Nine killed in Somalia mosque collapse

Terrified residents fled a new wave of airstrikes on rebel-held areas of Syria's second city Aleppo today, as a "freeze" in fighting was held on two other fronts.
     Aleppo was left out of the temporary US-Russian brokered truce, which appeared intact in the regime stronghold of Latakia as well as Damascus and the nearby rebel bastion of Eastern Ghouta.
     In Aleppo's rebel-held east, dozens of civilians left the battered district of Bustan al-Qasr early today morning, an AFP correspondent said.
     "The situation has become unbearable," Abu Mohammed said as he prepared to flee with his wife and five children.
     "One of my kids is terrified by the bombing and no one has been buying anything from my shop for a week," said the household appliance salesman. "Everything is paralysed."
     Once Syria's economic hub, Aleppo and its surrounding countryside have suffered some of the worst fighting in a conflict that has killed more than 270,000 people and displaced millions.
     The 

Residents flee as airstrikes shake Syria's Aleppo

84 migrants missing after boat sinks off Libyan coast.

German riot police today arrested some 400 protesters as clashes erupted outside a meeting of the right-wing populist AfD party, which is set to adopt an anti-Islamic manifesto amid a rise in European anti-migrant groups.
	Left-wing demonstrators burned tyres and threw firecrackers as they tried to prevent delegates of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party from getting into the congress in the western city of Stuttgart.
	The AfD meeting comes a week after the far-right Freedom Party's Norbert Hofer sent shock waves through Austria's political establishment by winning the first round of a presidential ballot.
	Heavily-armoured riot police used tear gas to hold off protesters, many dressed in black and masking their faces, as officers escorted AfD members into the congress hall.
	"No rights for Nazi propaganda," cried one group of protestors, who threw firecrackers at journalists and over 1,000 riot police battling to keep the standoff from escalating further.
	The clashes delayed the 

Hundreds arrested in clashes in Germany

Reformist and moderate Iranian politicians allied with President Hassan Rouhani won second round parliamentary elections, preliminary results said today, capping a remarkable comeback after years of isolation.
	The outcome represents a significant realignment of competing factions in the Islamic republic, with conservative MPs losing their dominance and being outnumbered for the first time since 2004.
	The result is also an implicit public vote of confidence for Rouhani, who won a landslide election victory in 2013 and went on to clinch a historic deal with world powers over Tehran's nuclear programme that lifted sanctions.
	Tallies also showed 17 women were elected -- eight more than at present and the highest female representation since the country's revolution in 1979.
	Almost a quarter of parliament's seats were at stake in run-offs Friday in what was a showdown between reformists and conservatives seeking to influence the country's future.
	Although Iran's parliament has marginal 

Rouhani allies win Iran parliament elections

An Italian cargo ship rescued 26 migrants from a flimsy boat that was sinking off the coast of Libya but there are fears more may be missing, the Italian coastguard said today.
	The coastguard received a call from a satellite phone late yesterday that helped locate the stricken inflatable and called on the merchant ship to make a detour to the area about seven kilometres off the Libyan coast near Sabratha.
	The vessel was able to pick up 26 people from the boat that was deflating and taking on water and searched in vain for others.
	Similar inflatable boats can carry as many as 100 people but the coastguard was not able the confirm the number on board.
	The nationalities of the migrants, who were transferred to a coastguard vessel and taken to the Italian island of Lampedusa, were not immediately known.
	More than 350,000 people fleeing conflict and poverty have reached Italy on boats from Libya since the start of 2014, as Europe battles its biggest migration crisis since World War

26 migrants rescued off Libya, others feared missing

Rescuers in the Kenyan capital made desperate efforts today to free survivors including a woman and child trapped in a building that collapsed in storms that have left a total of 17 people dead.
	President Uhuru Kenyatta visited the wreck of the six-storey building today, where 10 people perished after concrete floors collapsed down on top of each other during torrential rainstorms yesterday.
	The two-year-old building, home to more than over 150 families, had been condemned by building authorities but the order had been ignored.
	"Ten bodies have been recovered, and we have 80 people who have been treated and discharged from hospital," Interior Minister Joseph Nkaissery told reporters amid the wreckage of the building.
	Seven other people died in floods elsewhere in Nairobi, including four killed when a wall collapsed.
	"There is a lady in the building and her child who are alive, and all efforts are being made to rescue them, as well as other people still believed to be in the ...

17 killed in Nairobi floods and building collapse

Protesters ransack Iraq parliament. (AFP)

A Muslim prayer hall in the French island of Corsica was ravaged by fire today in what prosecutors said was probably a criminal attack.
	The blaze occurred just months after the island, popular with tourists for its turquoise waters and picturesque mountains, was rocked by anti-Arab riots over Christmas.
	The building, one of the largest prayer halls in the capital Ajaccio, suffered major damage in the fire, said Abdallah Zekri, the head of the National Observatory Against Islamophobia.
	He called on the authorities "to do everything to shed light on this incident in order to avoid an escalation of violence".
	"It has been calm since the end of the year, but unfortunately certain ill-intentioned people want to inflame the situation," he told AFP.
	Protests erupted on the Mediterranean island over Christmas after firefighters and police called to a low-income immigrant neighbourhood were ambushed and attacked.
	Several anti-Muslim acts occurred in the weeks that followed, including an .

Fire ravages Muslim prayer hall in Corsica

Istanbul braced for a major security lockdown for May Day tomorrow, with almost 25,000 police on duty and numerous roads closed for an occasion that regularly sees clashes between Turkish protesters and police.
	The Istanbul governor's office said in a statement today that in order "to provide for the security of citizens" on labour day, 24,500 members of the Turkish security forces would be on duty in the city.
	The metro station on the main Taksim Square will be completely closed and the station at the end of the main shopping street Istiklal Caddesi will be closed to exiting passengers.
	Security measures are already evident in Taksim Square -- a focus for protests in the past -- with metal security barriers lining the roads and dozens of anti-riot police present, an AFP correspondent said.
	Numerous roads -- in particular those leading to Taksim -- will also be closed, it added.
	The authorities, as in previous years, have refused to allow a sanctioned protest to take place on ...

Istanbul braces for police lockdown on May Day

A car bomb targeting Shiite pilgrims killed at least 23 people near Baghdad today, as hundreds protested in the capital for reforms and parliament made another attempt to reshuffle the cabinet.
	Iraq has been hit by weeks of political turmoil surrounding Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's efforts to change the government.
	Both Washington and the United Nations have warned the crisis could distract from the fight against the Islamic State (IS) group, which carries out frequent bombings against civilians.
	The car bomb, which also wounded at least 38 people, struck a road in the Nahrawan area used by Shiite pilgrims who are walking to the shrine of Imam Musa Kadhim in northern Baghdad for annual commemorations, officials said.
	IS claimed the attack and said it was carried out by a suicide bomber who detonated a vehicle laden with three tonnes of explosives.
	IS considers Iraq's majority Shiites to be heretics.
	Kadhim, the seventh of 12 imams revered in Shiite Islam, died in 799 AD. The 

Bombing against pilgrims kills 23 in Iraq as hundreds protest

A 6.0-magnitude earthquake hit off the South Pacific island of Vanuatu today, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said.
	No tsunami warning was issued and there were no immediate reports of damage.
	The quake struck at a depth of 4.8 kilometres (3 miles), some 85 kilometres south of the port city Luganville -- known locally as Santo -- USGS said.
	Vanuatu is part of the "Ring of Fire", a zone of tectonic activity around the Pacific that is subject to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
	This month has seen a series of tremors reported, including a powerful 7.0-magnitude quake on Friday which hit 209 kilometres from the capital Port Vila.
	That powerful earthquake briefly prompted a tsunami warning that was cancelled after locals reported no significant damage.
	A 6.9-magnitude tremor also hit the country at the beginning of April but no tsunami alerts were issued and there were also no reports of damage.

6.0-magnitude earthquake hits off Vanuatu: USGS

The departure hall at Brussels airport, hit in March by a deadly double suicide bombing claimed by the Islamic State group, will partly reopen tomorrow, the management said.
	The twin explosions on March 22 killed 16 people and devastated the departure hall, shattering the building's glass facade, collapsing ceilings and destroying check-in desks.
	The airport was completely closed for 12 days after the attacks and has progressively been restarting operations, though it is not expected to return to full capacity until June.
	"After a reopening ceremony, passengers from three flights on Sunday afternoon will be able to check in in the departure hall," airport management said in a statement on today.
	From Monday, passengers will check in for flights at 111 desks in the departure hall and 36 others in temporary buildings.
	"The airport capacity is rising to at least 80 percent of the number of passengers before the attacks," the statement said.
	Travellers have been asked to arrive ...

AFP

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