A Canadian held hostage by Islamic militants in the Philippines has been executed, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced today, after Filipino authorities said they had found the head of a foreign man on a remote island.
	"I'm outraged by the news that a Canadian citizen, John Ridsdel, held hostage in the Philippines since September 21, 2015, has been killed at the hands of his captors," Trudeau said.
	"This was an act of cold blooded murder and responsibility rests with the terrorist group who took him hostage."
	Ridsdel, fellow Canadian tourist Robert Hall, Norwegian resort manager Kjartan Sekkingstad and Filipina Marites Flor were kidnapped seven months ago from yachts at a marina near the major city of Davao, more than 500 kilometers from Jolo.
	Six weeks after the abduction, Abu Sayyaf gunmen released a video on social media of their hostages held in a jungle setting demanding USD 21 million each for the safe release of the three foreigners.
	The men were forced to beg 

Canadian executed by Islamic militants in Philippines: Trudeau

PTI Automatic

A car bomb killed at least seven people today near the revered Shiite shrine of Sayyida Zeinab south of the Syrian capital Damascus, state television reported.
	The Islamic State group said it was behind the bomb attack on Al-Diyabiyah, a town serving as one of the gateways for pilgrims from around the world who visit the Shiite holy site.
	Another 20 people were wounded, state news agency SANA reported.
	The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the death toll at eight and had no immediate word on whether civilians were among the dead.
	The shrine contains the grave of Zeinab, a venerated granddaughter of the Prophet Mohammed, and is known for its glistening golden onion-shaped dome.
	The bomb struck a checkpoint near a construction site and left a small crater in the pavement, an AFP correspondent reported.
	A guard at the checkpoint told AFP his bomb detector began beeping when a suspicious pickup truck pulled up.
	"We stopped the car at the checkpoint... When we began doing a ...

Car bomb kills seven near Syria Shiite shrine: state TV

The UN special envoy overseeing peace talks in Kuwait between Yemen's warring parties today welcomed "tangible progress" to end hostilities in the war-torn country.
	"Reports indicate real improvement in the situation which reflects the parties' commitment to the cessation of hostilities," Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said in a statement at the end of the fifth day of negotiations.
	His remarks come a day after he spoke of "significant differences" between the Iran-backed Yemeni rebels and the government delegation who began negotiating on Thursday.
	Ould Cheikh Ahmed said that a ceasefire coordination committee and local committees were "exerting extraordinary efforts to ensure the safety and security of Yemenis".
	The UN envoy said he was encouraged by these "positive developments" and proposed to the heads of the delegations a "general framework" for the talks to be discussed in the coming days, without giving details.
	Since the delayed talks began on Thursday, the two delegations ...

UN welcomes security 'progress' in Yemen

Actresses Kirsten Dunst, Vanessa Paradis and Valeria Golino will sit on this year's Cannes jury -- making it one of the most feminine in the film festival's 69-year history.
	The Iranian producer Katayoon Shahabi -- one of the most powerful women in the country's film industry -- will also sit on the nine-member jury presided over by George Miller, the Australian creator of the "Mad Max" films.
	At 80, the veteran American actor Donald Sutherland is the doyen of the group which will decide next month who wins the Palme d'Or, the top prize at the world's most prestigious film festival.
	Hollywood star Dunst, 33, won the best actress award at Cannes five years ago for her part in Lars von Trier's "Melancholia".
	French actress and singer Paradis is the former partner of actor Johnny Depp while Italian actor-director Golino is best known for her part in "Rain Man" alongside Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise.
	The jury also includes the Hungarian director Laszlo Nemes, the Danish actor Mads ..

Dunst and Paradis on Cannes film festival jury

A century after World War I, an archaeologist exploring ancient tunnels in northeast France made a moving discovery -- thousands of scrawlings by Allied soldiers, notably Australians, as they took a break from the hell of the Battle of the Somme.
	And now, the public can visit them too.
	"LR Blake lieut 105t How Btry 7-1-17," reads one, with the help of a torch, carved into the vast underground network in the town of Naours, near Amiens.
	Translation: Leslie Russel Blake, a lieutenant hailing from near Melbourne and fighting with the 105th Howitzer Battery who left his mark on the chalk walls on January 7, 1917.
	He was to die in battle the following year and is buried nearby.
	Archaeologist Giles Prilaux has recorded nearly 3,000 bits of graffiti, mostly etched by Australians from the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC).
	They paint a vivid picture of young men sent to join a war far from home, something Australia celebrates every April 25 as Anzac Day to remember ...

WWI soldiers live on in cave graffiti near Battle of the Somme

Yemeni troops have recaptured a key port city from Al-Qaeda militants who held it for a year, in what a Saudi-led coalition hailed today as a major victory in which over 800 jihadists were killed.
	The assault on the southeastern city of Mukalla, home to some 200,000 people, was part of a wider counter-offensive against the Sunni extremists launched by pro-government forces last month after a year in which they had focused their firepower on Shiite Huthi rebels who control the capital.
	It comes as government and rebel delegations hold peace talks in Kuwait and after US President Barack Obama during a visit to Saudi Arabia called for a negotiated settlement that would enable both sides to turn their attention on Al-Qaeda.
	At the talks, which opened last Thursday, UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said that "significant differences... Remain but nonetheless there is consensus on the need to make peace".
	The peace talks and Obama visit have contributed to a change in "strategic ...

Yemen govt forces retake key port city from Qaeda

At least 19 civilians were killed and 120 wounded in rebel bombardment of Syrian government-held districts of the northern city of Aleppo today, a monitoring group said.
	"Shells fired... By rebel groups at districts under regime control left 19 dead, including three children, and 120 wounded," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights head, Rami Abdel Rahman.
	The official SANA news agency reported 16 dead and 86 wounded by "fire from the terrorist groups Al-Nusra Front (Syrian branch of Al-Qaeda) and its allies" on at least five residential districts.
	The Observatory also reported four people including a child killed by regime fire into rebel-held neighbourhoods of the city.
	Since Friday, at least 86 civilians have been killed in the divided city in artillery, rocket and air strikes.
	Several districts of the city, once Syria's commercial hub, have also seen sporadic fighting between government forces and rebel groups.
	Rebel-held neighbourhoods in eastern Aleppo have had their 

19 civilians dead in rebel shelling of Aleppo: Monitor

Senior Pakistan batsman and former national captain Younis Khan on Monday escaped a three-match ban after apologising for a row with umpires in a domestic one-day tournament.
     Younis, 38, was fined 50 percent of his match fee and faced a ban for not attending the disciplinary hearing and withdrawing from the tournament.
     He apologised for his behaviour in a call with Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar Khan.
     A PCB news release confirmed the phone call and apology.
     Younis was angry at several umpiring decisions in his team's two matches, but denied misbehaving towards the umpires.
     "I had objected to a no-ball which was above chest height and that's all," Younis told a private Pakistani TV channel. "I have given assurances that I will play the remaining matches so the matter ends here."
     Younis is Pakistan's highest Test run-scorer, with 9,116 runs in 104 Tests.

Pakistan's Younis Khan escapes ban over umpiring row

Chinese legislators are considering a new draft of a controversial law requiring foreign non-profit organisations to report activities to government agencies while curtailing the recruitment of supporters, state media said today.
	The law on overseas non-governmental organisations (NGOs) was delayed after an outcry from charities and concerns from foreign governments that it gave wide-ranging discretionary powers to police amid a domestic crackdown on civil society.
	A draft of the bill -- covering foreign charities, business associations and academic institutions in China -- has been submitted to a legislative session being held this week, the official Xinhua news agency said.
	The rubber-stamp National People's Congress is controlled by the ruling Communist Party and if the measure is put to a vote it is certain to be approved.
	Xinhua indicated that the law's third draft preserved features which previously triggered concerns, including a requirement that NGOs "partner" with a ...

China mulls tighter control of foreign charities: report

Saudi society, not the government, will determine whether women will be allowed to drive cars, Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said today.
	He was speaking to reporters after the unveiling of a vast plan, known as Saudi Vision 2030, to transform the oil-dependent economy.
	Mohammed was asked whether one of the plan's goals, to increase women's participation in the workforce from 22 per cent to 30 per cent, could lead to their right to drive.
	"So far the society is not persuaded -- and it has negative influence -- but we stress that it is up to the Saudi society," he said, adding that change cannot be forced.
	Saudi Arabia has one of the world's toughest restrictions on women and is the only country where they cannot get behind the wheel.
	The sexes are separated in restaurants and other public facilities. Women are subject to male "guardians", family members who must authorise a woman's travel, work or marriage.
	The kingdom's major cities are expanding their public transport 

Saudi society will decide if women can drive: prince

Goldman Sachs has officially launched an online bank aimed at households and small businesses as it expands from its Wall Street base and aims for the masses.
	The online-only GS Bank permits consumers to open an account for as little as USD 1, a big shift for a financial powerhouse that has built itself around serving billionaires and giant companies undertaking mega-mergers.
	The move comes on the heels of Goldman's acquisition of GE Capital's online deposit platform, after which it assumed about USD 16 billion of deposits from some 145,000 customers.
	"Welcome to Peace-of-Mind Savings," reads the bank's pitch to consumers who desire federally insured savings accounts.
	Goldman is offering savers a relatively robust interest rate of 1.05 per cent, much higher than the 0.01 per cent now available at JPMorgan Chase and other retail banks.
	Goldman is also offering a five-year certificate of deposit at 2.0 per cent, also much higher than the going rates at other large banks.
	Goldman ..

Goldman Sachs launches online bank for the masses

Israel's Shin Bet security service today accused a Palestinian journalist arrested at the weekend of belonging to a "terror group" after colleagues called for international support for his release.
	Omar Nazzal, a member of the general secretariat of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS), was detained by Israeli officials on Saturday at the border between the occupied West Bank and Jordan.
	He was seeking to travel to a meeting of the European Federation of Journalists in Bosnia.
	The Shin Bet service said in response to an AFP query that he had been recently appointed a director of Palestine Today, a TV channel it declared illegal in February, and was active in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine -- a leftist political party Israel accuses of terrorism.
	"Omar has for years been known to be a Popular Front activist: he was arrested now because of his involvement in current Popular Front activities," Shin Bet said in a written reply.
	It said he was not detained ...

Israel holding Palestinian journalist as 'terror' suspect

Global donors today pledged additional money to help Ukraine keep Chernobyl safe for generations after causing the world's worst nuclear power disaster 30 years ago.
	The 87.5-million-euro (USD 99 million) commitment toward the construction of a new spent nuclear waste storage facility comes on the eve of the former Soviet republic's commemoration of an accident whose death toll remains in dispute to this day.
	Ukraine will still need to find an additional 15 million euros for the underground site to be able to start safely storing the hazardous material in metal caskets by the end of the year.
	"It's an important project for the world as well as, of course, for Ukraine and Ukrainians," said Suma Chakrabarti, head of of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), which is spearheading the project.
	Three of Chernobyl's four reactors continued churning out power and creating spent nuclear fuel for 16 years after the April 26, 1986 accident.
	An additional 200 tonnes of 

Donors pledge cash to keep Chernobyl safe 30yrs after disaster

Volkswagen said today it was postponing a recall of tens of thousands of vehicles to remove a device designed to cheat pollution tests, after failing to obtain regulatory approval for the repair.
	"The recall for Passats was planned for the ninth calendar week and to date our vehicles are still undergoing checks at the Federal Motor Transport Authority (KBA)," a VW spokesman told AFP, referring to a VW car model.
	"The KBA is still not completely satisfied with some measures and requiring new information," said a spokesman, adding that it was hoping that the recall approval could come "in coming weeks".
	VW has so far also failed to obtain an approval for the recall of its popular Golf models.
	Volkswagen was forced to recall vehicles around the world after it admitted it had installed so-called "defeat devices" aimed at cheating emissions tests into 11 million diesel engines worldwide.
	In Europe alone, some 8.5 million vehicles are to due to be sent back to workshops.
	VW has set ...

VW delays German recall after failing to get regulatory nod

US and European Union negotiators began meeting in New York today for a new round of talks on an ambitious transatlantic trade pact.
	But the discussions on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, which both sides want completed by year-end, come amid rising anti-free trade talk in the US presidential election race and the threat that Britain could move to pull out of the 28-nation EU this year.
	The week-long talks are the 13th round of negotiations on the TTIP pact since they began in July 2013. They have run well past the original target deadline of last October.
	TTIP is billed as a free-trade and investment deal for the 21st century, focused heavily on harmonizing regulations and standards, lowering barriers on investment, opening access to government contracts and addressing new areas like data trade and consumer protections.
	But they face rising resistance and protectionist sentiment on both sides, as critics question the benefits of more open trade.
	In the United 

US, EU resume trade talks shadowed by election, Brexit

A top Tutsi general was gunned down in Burundi today, the latest bloodshed in a year of violent political turmoil that has now prompted a preliminary probe by international prosecutors into a litany of atrocities.
	A wave of unrest, targeted assassinations and alleged torture has left some 500 people dead and forced more than 270,000 from their homes since April last year, with some analysts warning the central African nation may now be on the brink of a new civil war.
	General Athanase Kararuza, a security advisor to one of Burundi's vice presidents, was shot dead in the capital Bujumbura as he was dropping his daughter off at school.
	Kararuza, also a former commander of the African Union-led peacekeeping force in the Central African Republic, his wife and daughter were killed in the attack by unidentified heavily-armed men.
	"Those who killed my colleague General Kararuza and (perpetrated) other similar attacks are trying to sow divisions in the army and the police," presidential ..

Burundi-politics-unrest-ICC WRAP-update-CORRECTION

At least 19 dead, 120 wounded in rebel bombardment of

Thousands of Jewish worshippers attended a prayer ceremony at Jerusalem's Western Wall today as Israel marked the week-long Passover festival amid increased surveillance over tensions with Palestinians.
	The Wall's administrators said 50,000 people crammed into the vast square in front of the wall to be blessed simultaneously by hundreds of men believed to be descendants of the ancient Jewish priestly caste the Cohanim, who wore prayer shawls draped across their heads and shoulders.
	"May God bless and protect you, may God shine His face upon you and be gracious on you, may God turn his face onto you and give you peace," they chanted.
	The blessing is said in individual congregations around the world during every morning prayer, but Passover in Israel gives the faithful the chance to visit the Western Wall for a mass blessing rite.
	Israeli security forces were heavily deployed in and around the Old City.
	The wall is located below the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound in east ...

Thousands of Jews throng Jerusalem 'priestly blessing'

NATO is ten weeks away from launching a naval mission off Libya as part of a controversial US-backed plan to close the Western Mediterranean migrant route to Europe, officials said today.
	The advanced state of preparations for the operation was revealed by Italian Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti as leaders of the US, Britain, France, Germany and Italy met in Germany.
	Their talks were due to touch on the migrant crisis and instability and Islamist infiltration in Libya.
	Modelled on an existing NATO operation in waters between Turkey and Greece, the Libya mission is set to be approved by NATO leaders at a Warsaw summit on July 7, Pinotti said in an interview with Italian daily La Stampa.
	The plan forms part of a broader Italian strategy to stop migrants using Libya as a launchpad for reaching Europe by flying those with no claim to asylum back to their home countries, which will be paid to set up reception centres to reintegrate them.
	The plans have been slammed by refugee and ...

NATO to close Libya migrant route to Europe

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani today threatened diplomatic reprisals against Pakistan if it refuses to take action against the Taliban, in a new hardline stance after a brazen insurgent attack left 64 people dead.
	The assault last Tuesday on a security services office in the heart of Kabul appeared to be the deadliest on the Afghan capital since the Islamists were ousted from power in 2001.
	It cast a pall over international efforts in recent months to jumpstart Pakistan-brokered peace talks, which stalled last summer after the Taliban belatedly confirmed the death of longtime leader Mullah Omar.
	"I want to make it clear that we no longer expect Pakistan to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table," Ghani said in a sombre address to both houses of the Afghan parliament.
	"But we want Pakistan to fulfil its promises... And take military action against their sanctuaries and leadership based on its soil. If they can't target them they should hand them over to our judiciary.
	"If we do 

Afghan leader demands anti-Taliban action from Pakistan

President Barack Obama today said the US would send up to 250 more special forces and other military personnel to Syria to help rebels fight Islamic State group jihadists.
	Obama was in Germany for talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel, and both later met the British, French and Italian leaders to discuss the battle against IS in its self-declared "caliphate" across northern Syria and Iraq.
	In a speech in the German city of Hanover, Obama hailed NATO partners' progress so far in pushing back IS, which he called "the most urgent threat to our nations".
	"A small number of American special operations forces are already on the ground in Syria and their expertise has been critical as local forces have driven ISIL out of key areas," he said, using an alternative acronym for the militant group.
	"So, given the success, I have approved the deployment of up to 250 additional US personnel in Syria, including special forces, to keep up this momentum."
	The US forces will not lead the fight on ...

AFP

AFP

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