US forces attacked a Doctors Without Borders hospital in the Afghan city of Kunduz last year after a series of errors and will be disciplined, but they did not commit a war crime, their commander said today.
	General Joseph Votel said that on October 3, 2015, the crew of an AC-130 gunship had taken off earlier than planned without a list of protected sites and had been mistakenly guided to bombard the Kunduz trauma center.
	The general, head of US Central Command, said that 12 of the personnel involved -- commanders, flight crew and a special forces team on the ground -- had been suspended or removed from command and four others were reprimanded.
	"The investigation concluded that certain personnel failed to comply with the rules of engagement and the law of armed conflict," he said, announcing the results of a lengthy probe into the strike, which killed at least 42 people.
	"The investigation found that the incident resulted from a combination of human errors, process errors and ...

US general: Afghan hospital bombing a mistake, not a war crime

PTI Automatic

Plunging oil prices battered oil giants' profits in the first quarter, another blow following credit downgrades, layoffs and drilling cutbacks in the wake of a long rout.
	Chevron today became the latest big oil company to land in the red due to low commodity prices, reporting a loss of $725 million in the quarter ending March 31.
	The second-biggest US oil company pledged more belt-tightening after trimming capital spending nearly 25 percent in the first quarter from the year-ago period, said Chevron chief executive John Watson.
	"We continue to lower our cost structure with better pricing, work flow efficiencies and matching our organizational size to expected future activity levels," Watson said.
	ExxonMobil, which was downgraded from the highest triple A credit rating earlier this week, managed to stay in the black with $1.8 billion in profits.
	But profit at the biggest oil company was 63 percent lower than in the year-ago period and included a loss of $76 million in its normally 

Oil profits plunge as industry eyes a bottom

The Dutch government has ordered 15 million iodine pills to protect people living near nuclear plants in case of an accident, officials said today, as concerns rise over ageing reactors across the border in Belgium.
	The iodine pills, which help reduce radiation build-up in the thyroid, would be given to children under 18 and pregnant women living within a 100-kilometre (62-mile) radius of a plant, health ministry spokeswoman Edith Schippers told AFP.
	Until now, the tablets have been available within 20 kilometres of a plant, to everyone aged 40 and under.
	The Netherlands has only one nuclear power plant -- at Borssele in the southwest -- but the expansion will also see pills given to people living in border areas near Germany's Emsland plant and two Belgian facilities, Doel and Tihange.
	The Dutch announcement came a day after Belgium announced it planned to distribute iodine pills to its entire population of 11 million people in case of a nuclear accident, with the details to be ..

Netherlands to hand out iodine pills in case of nuclear

A helicopter transporting North Sea oil workers crashed off the coast of western Norway today, killing all 13 people on board, rescue services said.
	The Super Puma chopper went down around midday in the archipelago off the coast of Bergen, Norway's second-biggest city.
	Eleven bodies have been recovered and the two remaining people are presumed dead, rescue services said.
	"We presume that all 13 are dead," Sola rescue centre spokesman Borge Galta told AFP.
	Search and rescue operations were called off late today.
	The aircraft was carrying 11 Norwegians, one Briton and one Italian, rescue services said.
	The cause of the accident was not immediately known.
	The helicopter broke into pieces near a small island and debris was found scattered on land and at sea. Part of the chopper was resting on the seabed under five to seven metres of water, around 20 metres from land, rescue officials said.
	Another Sola rescue centre spokesman, Anders Bang Andersen, said the chopper had been on its 

Helicopter crash off Norway kills 13

Regime aircraft pounded rebel areas of Syria's second city Aleppo today, damaging a clinic just days after a strike on another hospital killed two doctors and sparked international outcry.
	More than 200 civilians have been killed in Aleppo over the past week, as rebels fire rockets into government-held neighbourhoods and regime air strikes hit opposition areas.
	The bloodshed has brought a landmark February 27 ceasefire to the verge of collapse and raised fears of a humanitarian crisis in the northern metropolis.
	Despite the bloodshed, Aleppo is excluded from a fresh "freeze" in fighting brokered by the United States and Russia.
	Syria's armed forces said that the freeze would begin at 1:00 am on Saturday (2200 GMT Friday) and last for 24 hours in Damascus and the nearby rebel bastion of Eastern Ghouta, and 72 hours in the coastal Latakia province.
	A Syrian security source said the deal came as part of a US-Russia agreement, but that Moscow had refused a request by Washington to ...

Clinic hit in Syria's Aleppo amid outcry over hospital strike

A Swedish suspect in the Brussels and Paris attacks has told investigators that he dumped the explosives that he carried onto the Belgian capital's metro system into the toilet, reports said today.
	Osama Krayem, 23, doused the home-made TATP explosive that he had carried into Maalbeek metro station with water before trying to dispose of it in the lavatory of the apartment where the attackers were based, La Libre Belgique newspaper said.
	It said investigators thought his claims were "credible" as TATP, the favoured choice of the Islamic State group as it can be made from readily available chemicals, is in crystal form and dissolves in water.
	Belgian TV station RTBF carried a similar report.
	Belgian prosecutors declined to confirm or deny the reports when contacted by AFP and Krayem's lawyers were unavailable for comment.
	Krayem, 23, was arrested on April 8 and charged the next day with "terrorist murders" over last month's suicide blasts at Brussels airport and Maalbeek station in 

Brussels suspect 'dumped metro bomb in toilet'

Britain's Labour opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn today faced intense pressure over alleged anti-Semitism among far-leftists in his party less than a week before his leadership is tested by local elections.
	Corbyn was forced to cancel a campaign trip to Wales but denied there was a crisis after senior party member and former London mayor Ken Livingstone was suspended for linking Adolf Hitler to Zionism.
	Labour deputy leader Tom Watson told BBC radio that the remarks about Hitler were "provocative" and "obviously caused great offence", promising "zero-tolerance" against anti-Semitism.
	"We are going to deal with this," he said.
	The dispute has been simmering for months -- ever since veteran socialist Corbyn was elected party leader in September.
	He has been criticised in the past for referring to Lebanon's powerful Shiite militia Hezbollah as "friends" and urging dialogue with the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement, as well as meeting representatives of both organisations.
	In ...

Britain's Labour under pressure over anti-Semitism row

The United States and Russia have agreed on a "freeze" in fighting along two major fronts in Syria, but not in war-ravaged Aleppo, the Syrian and Russian militaries said today.
	In a statement carried on state television, Syria's armed forces said the freeze would begin at 1:00 am on Saturday (2200 GMT Friday).
	It would last for 24 hours in Damascus and the nearby rebel bastion of Eastern Ghouta, and for 72 hours in the coastal province of Latakia, the heartland of President Bashar al-Assad's Alawite sect.
	There was no mention of Aleppo, where a week of fighting has killed more than 200 civilians.
	"This announcement came after a request from the Americans and the Russians, who met in Geneva to calm down the situation in Damascus and Latakia," a security source in Damascus told AFP.
	"The Americans asked for Aleppo to be included, but the Russians refused," the source said.
	Russia is a key backer of Assad's regime, while the US has supported various opposition factions in the ...

US, Russia 'agree freeze' on two Syrian fronts

Postmen have long been wary of dogs biting their fingers, but in one British home, a cat is causing so much trouble that the postal service has threatened to stop deliveries.
	Royal Mail wrote to the owners of four-year-old Bella to warn that unless she could be restrained, it would no longer deliver mail through the letterbox.
	"Your postman has reported that when he pushes the mail through your letterbox your cat snatches the mail and puts his fingers at risk of injury," the letter said, according to The Times newspaper.
	Owner Laura Lowe, a mother of two children who lives near Bristol in southwest England, said she initially found it hard to believe that her "lazy" black and white cat could be attacking postmen.
	"I did notice there was blood around the letter box -- not a huge amount but definite smudges. I thought the postman must have had a paper cut," she told the paper.
	"Bella doesn't realise she's doing anything wrong, she thinks it's a game when she tries to grab things ...

Sharp-toothed cat scares off British postmen

At least 11 people died today when a helicopter transporting 13 people from a North Sea oil platform crashed off the coast of western Norway, rescue services said.
	"Eleven people found, none alive. Search continuing for the two others," the Sola rescue centre tweeted around three hours after the crash.
	The chances of finding the two alive were seen as slim. Sola spokesman Anders Bang Andersen told reporters that emergency crews had "not seen any sign of survivors".
	The Super Puma chopper went down around midday in the archipelago off the coast of Bergen, Norway's second biggest city, carrying 11 Norwegians, one Briton and one Italian.
	The helicopter broke into pieces near a small island and parts of the wreck were found scattered on land and at sea. Part of the chopper was resting on the seabed under five to seven metres of water, around 20 metres from land, rescue officials said.
	Bang Andersen said the chopper had been on its way to Bergen's airport when it crashed with 11 ...

At least 11 dead in helicopter crash off Norway

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta today demanded a total ban on trade in ivory to end trafficking and prevent the extinction of elephants in the wild.
	"To lose our elephants would be to lose a key part of the heritage that we hold in trust. Quite simply, we will not allow it," Kenyatta said in the keynote speech at a meeting which groups African heads of state and conservationists to boost awareness of the threat of poaching.
	"We will not be the Africans who stood by as we lost our elephants."
	Africa is home to between 450,000 to 500,000 elephants, but more than 30,000 are killed every year on the continent to satisfy demand for ivory in Asia, where raw tusks sell for around USD 1,000 (800 euros) a kilo (2.2 pounds).
	"The future of African elephant and rhino is far from secure, so long as the demand for their products continues to exist," Kenyatta added, speaking one day before he is to set fire to Kenya's nearly entire ivory stockpile.
	"Any sale of elephant ivory and rhino horn ...

Kenya demands total ivory ban to stop elephant slaughter

Turkish prosecutors have demanded up to five years jail for a British university lecturer based in Istanbul on charges of making "terror propaganda" for outlawed Kurdish militants, reports said today.
	Chris Stephenson, who teaches computer science at Bilgi University in Istanbul, was briefly arrested in mid March while protesting outside the city's main courthouse over the detention of four Turkish academics who are being tried on similar charges.
	He then left for Britain with his family, but returned to Turkey a week later after local authorities confirmed he was not subject to an entry ban.
	Turkish prosecutors have now completed the indictment and have asked for Stephenson to be given a jail sentence of between one and five years on charges of "making propaganda for a terror organisation", the Dogan news agency reported.
	A date for the trial has yet to be set.
	Prosecutors say Stephenson was on March 15 caught carrying brochures in support of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), ..

Turkey seeks up to 5 years jail for UK academic

Thousands of taxi drivers disrupted traffic across Portugal today as they protested against US cab giant Uber, which they accuse of illegally undercutting their business.
	In the capital Lisbon, between 3,000 and 4,000 cabbies were driving at a snail's pace through the city, according to the two main industry bodies organising the protest, Antral and the Portuguese Taxi Federation.
	Some 1,000 protesters were also out in second city Porto, while around a hundred mobilised in the southern resort of Faro.
	Lisbon taxi drivers adorned their cabs with black ribbons to signal a profession in "mourning". They stuck posters to their windows reading "Uber go home", "Uber is illegal" and "Uber is a national crime".
	Access to Lisbon airport was temporarily blocked by the parade of protesting cabs as it headed slowly towards the parliament, and tourists were having to make do with the city metro.
	"The government has to stop Uber's operations, which represent unfair competition with the taxis," 

Traffic chaos in Portugal as taxi drivers stage Uber protest

UEFA's fallen chief Michel Platini mounted a final challenge against his six-year ban from football on Friday in an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), with ally-turned-foe Sepp Blatter testifying for FIFA.
     The stakes could not be higher for the 60-year-old former French international, who led Europe's powerful football confederation and was favoured to take charge of world governing body FIFA before his dramatic downfall last year.
     If CAS overturns the ethics violation verdict imposed by FIFA judges, then Platini could be at the Stade de France for the Euro 2016 opener between hosts France and Romania on June 10.
     A negative verdict will see his glittering career in the sport brought to an ignominious halt.
     "Today the match begins, a new match, the final, and we are all on the same page. I'm optimistic, we're going to win," Platini told reporters.
     The Frenchman has been sanctioned over an infamous two million Swiss franc ($2 million, 1.8 ...

Platini in court for make-or-break appeal

In the absence of world number one Serena Williams, who withdrew from the tournament on Friday after suffering with flu, a whole host of players will be targeting victory at the WTA Madrid Open.
     Williams has played just three tournaments all season, losing in the final of the Australian Open and at Indian Wells.
     With the world's dominant player missing for so much of the season, 16 different women have already lifted WTA titles this year, with Sloane Stephens, Victoria Azarenka and Angelique Kerber the only multiple winners.
     That makes it hard to pick a winner for the tournament that starts this weekend, with Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska now the top seed, while five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova is still in the wilderness after failing a drugs test at Melbourne Park in January.
     Williams's conqueror at the Australian Open, Kerber, is in fine form after backing up her first Grand Slam by retaining her title on the indoor clay of Stuttgart last week.
     ..

Serena's absence blows Madrid tournament wide open

An air strike hit a clinic in a rebel-held district of Aleppo today, the civil defence said, the second time this week a medical facility in Syria's second city has been hit.
	The strike on the Al-Marja neighbourhood wounded several people, including at least one nurse, the civil defence, known as the White Helmets, said.
	The clinic had been providing dental services and treatment for chronic illnesses for about five years.
	Earlier this week, 30 people were killed -- including two doctors -- when air strikes hit the Al-Quds hospital and a nearby block of flats in the rebel-held Sukkari neighbourhood.
	The attack on the hospital, which is supported by Doctors Without Borders (MSF), has been roundly condemned by world leaders, including US Secretary of State John Kerry who said it appeared to be a "deliberate strike."
	More than 200 civilians have been killed in Aleppo over the past week as rebels have pounded government-held neighbourhoods with rocket and artillery fire and the ...

Air strike hits clinic in rebel area of Syria's Aleppo

Gunmen in trenchcoats burst into a bar firing at drinkers in Burundi's capital Bujumbura killing five, police said today, the latest in a string of attacks in the troubled country.
	Four civilians and a soldier were killed and three others were wounded in the shooting yesterday.
	"A group of four armed criminals wearing long coats entered ... They started shooting at customers," police spokesman Moise Nkurunziza said.
	Hundreds have been killed and a quarter of a million people have fled Burundi since President Pierre Nkurunziza's controversial decision last April to run for a third term, a vote he won amid opposition boycotts in July.
	The latest efforts to hold talks between rival factions are due to open on Monday in the Tanzanian town of Arusha.

Gunmen kill five in Burundi bar attack: police

A female suicide bomber who blew herself up in the centre of one of Turkey's most historic cities this week was linked to Kurdish militants and had also fought in Syria against jihadists, a report said today.
	There was no fingerprint evidence available from the remains of the woman who blew herself up in front of a mosque in the former Ottoman capital of Bursa on Wednesday but she has now been identified after DNA testing, the Hurriyet daily said.
	The woman has been identified as Suzan B., who the report said is a member of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which has been fighting the Turkish security forces since a truce collapsed last summer.
	It said she had also spent time in Syria fighting with the Kurdish Peoples' Protection Units (YPG) militia against Islamic State (IS) jihadists and had crossed back into Turkey in April.
	This fits the narrative of the Turkish government that the YPG is the Syrian branch of the PKK, an assertion disputed by Washington which works with the ...

Suicide bomber in Turkey's Bursa 'linked to Kurdish militants'

A helicopter crashed off the western coast of Norway today, police said, with media reporting that 15 to 17 people were on board.
	Several witnesses described seeing a powerful explosion and people were seen in the sea, television station TV2 reported, adding that some people had been rescued.

Helicopter with about 15 people on board crashes off Norway

South African President Jacob Zuma should face almost 800 corruption charges that were dropped in 2009, a judge said today, piling further pressure on the embattled leader.
	The charges, relating to a multi-billion dollar arms deal, were dropped by the chief state prosecutor in a move that cleared the way for Zuma to be elected president.
	"The decision... To discontinue the charges against Mr Zuma is irrational and should be reviewed," Pretoria High Court judge Aubrey Ledwaba said.
	"Mr Zuma should face the charges as applied."
	The prosecutor had justified dropping the charges by saying that tapped phone calls between senior officials in then-president Thabo Mbeki's administration showed political interference in the case.
	The recordings, which became known as the "spy tapes", were kept secret but finally released in 2014 to the main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), after a five-year legal battle.
	DA leader Mmusi Maimane said Friday's court ruling was a major blow ..

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