Rio de Janeiro today launched the 100 day countdown to hosting South America's first Olympic Games with government and global sports leaders insisting they can overcome Brazil's political meltdown and troubled preparations.
	At an Athens ceremony featuring ancient Greek goddess costumes, Brazilian organizers took the Olympic flame for the start of a journey that will see it carried by 12,000 people around Latin America's biggest country.
	"Rio is ready to make history," Carlos Nuzman, president of the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee, said at the torch handover.
	New Zealand athletes marked the 100 day countdown with a traditional Haka dance on an Auckland beach at sunrise. Buildings around the world lit up in special colors -- Brazilian yellow and green at Tokyo's Municipal Government Headquarters and US red-white-blue for the Empire State Building in New York.
	Several countries also unveiled their Olympic uniforms, including Britain with a set designed by Stella McCartney and the US ..

Olympics: Rio shrugs off doubts for 100 day countdown

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US authorities said today that drug giant Pfizer had agreed to pay nearly USD 785 million to settle allegations that one of its units overcharged the government for anti-acid drugs.
	Wyeth, the unit, was accused of knowingly reporting to the government false and fraudulent prices for two forms of Protonix, a drug notably used to treat symptoms of acid reflux, from 2001 at 2006, before it was acquired by Pfizer in 2009, the Justice Department said.
	Wyeth failed to report deep discounts on the two drugs it made available to thousands of hospitals nationwide, and as a result wrongfully avoided paying "hundreds of millions of dollars" in rebates to Medicaid, the government health insurance provider for the poor and people with disabilities, the department said .
	"As part of the settlement, Wyeth and Pfizer do not deny the government's allegations," it said.
	Under the Medicaid program, drug companies must report to the government the best prices they offer other customers for their ...

Pfizer to pay $785 mn for overcharging US government on drugs

Samsung kept the top spot in a global smartphone market which showed signs of flattening in the first quarter of 2016, a survey showed today.
	The report by research firm IDC said the worldwide smartphone market saw its slowest growth on record of 0.2 per cent, with shipments totalling 334.9 million.
	South Korean giant Samsung maintained its lead over US-based Apple, while Chinese-based Huawei strengthened its third-place position and two new China-based manufacturers, Oppo and Vivo, emerged as the fourth and fifth largest, respectively.
	The latest figures underscored a shakeup in a smartphone market showing signs of saturation in many markets around the world, pressuring some of the well-known vendors.
	In the new survey, Lenovo and Xiaomi, two other Chinese brands, fell out of the top five, IDC said.
	Samsung kept the number one spot with a market share of 24.5 percent even as its sales dipped 0.6 per cent, while Apple stayed at number two with a 15.3 per cent market share and its 

Samsung holds lead in flat global smartphone market

The Austrian parliament today adopted one of Europe's toughest asylum laws, as the country's political leaders struggle to halt the surging far-right which is leading in presidential polls.
	The hotly-disputed bill, which passed by 98 votes to 67, allows the government to declare a "state of emergency" if migrant numbers suddenly rise and reject most asylum seekers directly at the border, including those from war-torn countries like Syria.
	Opposition parties and rights groups have slammed the legislation, with the UN's refugee agency warning that it "removes a centrepiece of refugee protection".
	But Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka insisted Austria had no other choice as long as "so many other European Union members fail to do their part" to stop the influx.
	"We cannot shoulder the whole world's burden," he said.
	Wedged between Europe's two main refugee routes - the Balkans and Italy -- Austria received around 90,000 asylum requests in 2015, the second-highest in the bloc on a ..

Austria adopts tough new asylum laws amid far-right surge

A French court today charged Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over his role in the November 2015 carnage that left 130 dead, just hours after his extradition from Belgium.
	Abdeslam, a French national of Moroccan origin who grew up in Belgium, is believed to be the last surviving member of a terror squad that hit cafes, a concert hall and the national stadium in Paris on November 13.
	More than a month after his capture in Belgium, Abdeslam was brought to France by helicopter early today where he was formally placed under arrest before being swept off to the main Paris court, where he spent several hours.
	His lawyer Frank Berton said that investigating judges charged him with murder, association with a terrorist group, possession of weapons and explosives as well as sequestration over the hostage-taking at the Bataclan concert hall where 90 were killed.
	Berton said his client was not interrogated at length.
	"He explained to judges that in light of the hour he was removed from ..

Abdeslam slapped with terror charges over Paris attacks

Germany will subsidise electric car purchases to give a jolt to sluggish growth in the sector and help meet national climate goals with zero-emission mobility, the government said today.
	Car buyers will receive USD 4,500 when they  choose a purely electric vehicle and 3,000 euros for a plug-in  hybrid, with the cost shared 50-50 between the public purse and car makers.
	The programme starting next month aims to help Germany approach its goal of putting one million electric cars on the road by 2020 -- up from just around 50,000 now out of Germany's 45 million cars.
	So far, German auto giants Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW have signed up to it, but the programme is open to all national and foreign brands.
	The government has budgeted 600 million euros for the purchase subsidies, which are expected to run until 2019 at the latest.
	The money will be disbursed on a first come, first served basis for cars priced no higher than 60,000 euros, said Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble.
	"If you 

Germany to boost electric cars with 1 bn euro scheme

South Yorkshire's police chief was suspended today in a bid to restore confidence after an inquest found the force was partly responsible for Britain's 1989 Hillsborough football stadium disaster.
	South Yorkshire's Police and Crime Commissioner Alan Billings, the elected official in charge of policing in the northern English region, said he had suspended David Crompton "based on the erosion of public trust and confidence".
	"I have been left with no choice other than to suspend David from his duties as chief constable of South Yorkshire police," he said.
	"I have reached this decision with a heavy heart following discussions with David both in the run-up to and following the delivery of the Hillsborough verdicts.
	"My decision is based on the erosion of public trust and confidence referenced in statements and comments in the House of Commons this lunchtime, along with public calls for the chief constable's resignation from a number of quarters."
	The inquest verdicts yesterday found .

Police chief suspended over UK football disaster response

A Bulgarian town that is home to a Roma minority practising an ultraconservative form of Islam today banned Islamic face veils in public, a first in the country.
	The town council of Pazardzhik in southern Bulgaria voted overwhelmingly in favour of the ban in all administrative buildings, schools, shops and on the street. Driving with a full-face veil, or niqab, was also outlawed.
	The council justified the measure by saying that a veil impeded identification. Fines of USD 175 can be levied, rising to 1,000 leva for repeat offenders.
	Bulgaria's centuries-old Muslim community, dating back to conversions during Ottoman times, makes up around 13 per cent of the 7.4-million population of mainly Orthodox Christians.
	Muslim women in Bulgaria generally wear just a simple scarf to cover their hair, but recently there has been a rise in the number of women from Pazardzhik's Roma Muslim minority wearing the niqab.
	The phenomenon has since spread to small numbers of women in at least three ...

Bulgarian town bans Islamic face veil in public

Only one film in five in Europe is made by a woman director, according to a new report which calls for positive discrimination to combat the imbalance.
     A damning seven-year study carried out by the European Women's Audiovisual Network (EWAN) found that although women directors made up 44 per cent of film school graduates, less than half of them end up in the industry.
     The lion's share of funding also goes to films aimed at men and directed by men, according to the report, "Where are the Women Directors?"
     Funders also see projects led by women as more "high risk", it claimed.
     "The vast majority of funding resources (namely 84 per cent) go into films that are not directed by women," said the report, which was drawn up by researchers at the University of London.
     "Low funding perpetuates the scarcity of female-directed films in circulation, in turn affecting the markets' willingness to invest and thus creating a vicious circle," it added.
     The report, which ...

Only one in five European films made by women says report

Top Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam was charged today with murder, association with a terrorist group and possession of weapons and explosives, his lawyer said.
	Abdeslam, who was transferred to France from Belgium earlier Wednesday, will have another hearing over his role in the November 13 attacks on May 20, lawyer Frank Berton told reporters, adding that his client would be held in preventive custody at a prison near the French capital.

French court charges Abdeslam over Paris attacks: lawyer

A female suicide bomber blew herself up in the Turkish city of Bursa today, wounding seven people in the latest attack to strike the country, officials said.
	The bombing took place near Bursa's 14th century Grand Mosque, a historic symbol of the city that was the first capital of the Ottoman empire.
	"A woman believed to be a suicide bomber blew herself up. Seven citizens were injured according to initial findings," said a statement from the local governor's office.
	Security sources confirmed that the blast was a "suicide attack", while Turkish media identified the bomber as a 25-year-old woman.
	Nobody has yet claimed responsibility for the blast.
	But Turkey remains on high security alert after a series of deadly attacks since last summer blamed on the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group and Kurdish rebels.
	The powerful explosion smashed windows in shops near the mosque, and television footage showing the injured being treated in ambulances.
	Police sealed off the area for ...

Female suicide bomber wounds seven in Turkey's Bursa

Two American stealth F-22 fighter jets landed in Lithuania today in an apparent show of force, after tensions with Moscow flared this month when a Russian aircraft buzzed an American warship in the Baltic Sea.
	The US air force's most advanced planes landed at the Siauliai air base which currently also hosts Spanish jets from NATO's air policing mission, created to help small Baltic members protect their borders with Russia.
	Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said the planes' brief visit from their base in Britain demonstrated US commitment to defend the region, which keeps a wary eye on the Kremlin's territorial ambitions.
	"It is a signal that the alliance is ready and capable to respond to any kind of threats," she said at the air base, standing in front of Lithuanian, US and NATO flags.
	Asked if that was a message to Russia, the outspoken president responded: "Everyone should abstain from sticking his nose into things here."
	Lithuania and other NATO members formerly behind 

US F-22 fighter jets land in Lithuania amid Russia tensions

French court charges Abdeslam over Paris attacks: lawyer,

A Palestinian author has won the International Prize for Arab Fiction for the first time for a novel about the Palestinian exodus in 1948 and the Holocaust.
	Rabai al-Madhoun received the USD 50,000 award, known as the "Arabic Booker," for "Destinies: Concerto of the Holocaust and Nakba" late yesterday in Abu Dhabi, which sponsors the competition.
	Nakba, or catastrophe, refers to the exodus of Arabs from British-mandate Palestine following the creation of Israel in 1948.
	Madhoun's novel is described as being divided into four parts "simulating concerto moves".
	It features four narrations that are said to "meet at the end and address issues related to the Nakba, the Holocaust and the right of return" for Palestinians.
	Madhoun was born in British-mandate Palestine in 1945 and fled with his family to Gaza. He later became a British citizen.
	The novel has "stories from five Palestinian cities," Madhoun said after winning the award, which is supported by the Man Booker Prize, ...

Palestinian novelist wins top Arab fiction prize

A woman suicide bomber today blew herself up in the Turkish city of Bursa, killing herself and wounding at least 10 people, local media reported.
	The attack took place near the city's 14th century Grand Mosque, a historic symbol of the northwestern city, the private CNN-Turk television reported.

Suicide bomber blows herself up in Turkish city of Bursa: TV

Embattled South African President Jacob Zuma today appeared to rule out resigning before his second term ends in 2019, as protesters used the anniversary of the country's first democratic polls to renew calls for him to quit.
	"If you're elected at one point, and people no longer want you, humble yourself, accept it," Zuma told thousands of supporters at a rally in northern Limpopo province to mark the 22nd anniversary of the election that brought anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela to power.
	But Zuma also warned there could be no "shortcuts" to a shake-up at the top, saying any change of government had to come through "democratic institutions, so that we can have a peaceful state where the will of the majority prevails."
	Zuma has faced a chorus of calls to step down following a flurry of scandals, most notably over his use of millions of dollars in public money to furnish his private residence with a swimming pool, amphitheatre, chicken run and other amenities.
	Today, hundreds of ..

Defiant Zuma says no 'shortcut' to new S.Africa president

The "Panama Papers" trove of leaked documents revealing the vast extent of global tax evasion will be made available to the public on May 9, the organisation behind the leak said today.
	The searchable database will include information about more than 200,000 secret companies, trusts and foundations based in 21 tax havens "from Hong Kong to Nevada in the United States," said the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ).
	Since early April, the ICIJ-coordinated limited release through roughly 100 media outlets of the "Panama Papers" have become a worldwide scandal, spurring numerous investigations and the resignation of Iceland's prime minister and a Spanish minister.
	About 11.5 million leaked documents of the Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, reveal the large-scale use of offshore entities to conceal assets from tax authorities.
	In its statement, the ICIJ said that the public release next month "is the next step in our ongoing year-long investigation" and that 

'Panama Papers' to go public May 9

Two European climbers have plunged to their deaths in China's Himalayas while two Asian trekkers have died of suspected altitude sickness in Nepal's Everest region in separate incidents, a tour operator and police said today.
	The Swiss and Austrian climbers were part of a team of nine mountaineers attempting to summit China's 8,027-metre high Shisha Pangma mountain when they fell down a crevasse on Sunday.
	"The two climbers have died but the others are safe," Subash Shrestha, manager of their Kathmandu-based operator, Active Holiday Nepal Treks, told AFP.
	Shrestha said he had received an email from the team leader confirming their cause of death, but had not been able to communicate with the climbers since then.
	Closed to Westerners until 1978, Shisha Pangma is considered a relatively straightforward peak to summit, although mountaineers have died in accidents in the past.
	Experts recommend that climbers attempt it as part of their training before turning to tougher ...

Four foreign climbers killed in Himalayas

An Albanian bishop who died after being tortured and 37 other Catholic victims of the country's former communist regime have been recognised as martyrs, the Vatican announced today.
	The move, in a decree signed by Pope Francis yesterday, clears the way for each of the 38 to be beatified, a step which involves being officially recognised as 'Blessed' and can lead to sainthood at a later date.
	The Holy See also confirmed that Francis has approved the attribution of a miracle to a fellow member of the Jesuit order, the Irish priest and teacher John Sullivan (1861-1933), enabling him to also be beatified.
	The 38 Albanians, mostly clerics or aspiring clerics, were killed between 1945 and 1974 under the isolated and dictatorial communist regime of Enver Hoxha, who declared Albania the world's first atheist state in 1967.
	The bishop who was beatified, Vincens Prenushi, was the Catholic primate of Albania and rejected Hoxha's demand for the formation of a breakaway Albanian church.
	He ...

Pope approves Albanian martyrs, Irish Jesuit for beatification

Yahoo struck a compromise today with a hedge fund seeking to take control of the troubled Internet giant, agreeing to shake up its board with four new members.
	A Yahoo statement said four members will be added as part of an agreement with investment firm Starboard Value, which last month launched a bid to replace the entire Yahoo board.
	"This constructive resolution will allow management and the board to keep our focus on our extremely important objectives," chief executive Marissa Mayer said in a statement.
	It was not immediately clear what impact the board change would have on Yahoo's evaluation of its "strategic" options, which could involve a sale of its core Internet business.
	The new board members include Starboard chief Jeff Smith, who last month announced the plan to take over the board of the troubled Internet giant, saying it was "undervalued" and that management had "failed to deliver."
	Smith said in a statement today: "I am pleased that we were able to reach a ...

Yahoo strikes board compromise with activist investors

From the Queen of Sheba to Britain's Duchess of Cambridge, Sri Lanka's sapphires have adorned royalty through the ages, but a flood of cheap imitations is threatening the island's reputation for the precious stones.
	Ceylon sapphires, known after the island's colonial-era name, enjoyed a huge boost five years ago when it was revealed that one formed the centrepiece of the engagement ring Prince William gave Catherine Middleton.
	They are renowned as the best sapphires in the world, but gem traders say artificial stones -- coloured glass that to the untrained eye are virtually indistinguishable from sapphires -- are being passed off as the real thing to unsuspecting buyers.
	They fear that is tarnishing the image of the gems, seen as a major potential income stream for an economy still recovering from decades of civil war.
	"This is the biggest threat to our industry. Our reputation is at stake," said Nissanka Weerasena, who owns a chain of upmarket jewellery stores in Sri ...

AFP

AFP

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