Global carmakers gathered in Beijing today to show off their wares as competition intensifies and growth slows in the world's biggest auto market, with the key SUV and new energy vehicle sectors the focus of attention.
	Total auto sales in China reached 24.6 million last year, making it a crucial market for foreign manufacturers as well as domestic brands, but that represented growth of just 4.7 per cent, down from 6.9 per cent in 2014, data from industry group China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM) showed.
	"It is slowing down," Ford China chairman and CEO John Lawler told reporters. "The market is really acting more and more like a mature market rather than an emerging market.
	"It is part of a more competitive environment."
	German manufacturer Audi has an enviable brand position in China and has long been seen as a marque to aspire to by consumers, but it too is feeling the pressure.
	"For sure, our competitors are trying to grab market shares from us, and some are ..

Global carmakers see rising competition in China

PTI Automatic

Clashes between different ethnic groups in west Ethiopia have left 14 dead, while UN and MSF offices were targeted by angry protesters, local security service sources said.
	The violence was sparked after an NGO car with an Ethiopian driver ran over and killed two children from the Nuer ethnic group in a camp for South Sudanese refugees on Friday, the sources told AFP.
	In response, a group of refugees attacked Ethiopians living around the camp, killing 10 men and women.
	Ethopians from the Anuak ethnic group -- traditional rivals of the Nuer -- then marched on the city of Gambela, killing four Nuer Ethiopians in separate incidents.
	"People are angry, we want revenge. If the police hadn't got involved, plenty of Nuer would have been killed," Addis Alemayu of the Anuak group said.
	"With all these refugees coming from South Sudan, things are only getting worse... This is our land, we were here before them."
	Protesters also attacked buildings and vehicles belonging to the United ...

Ethiopia ethnic violence kills 14, aid groups targeted

Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon saved a last-gasp penalty from Nikola Kalinic as leaders Juventus put one hand on a record-equalling fifth consecutive Serie A title with a dramatic 2-1 win over Fiorentina.
     Juventus will claim a fifth straight title in Italy's top flight if second-placed Napoli fail to beat Roma at the Stadio Olimpico today.
     But judging by the jubilant post-match scenes in Florence, where Allegri was thrown in the air by his players, it is now only a matter of time before Juve are crowned champions for the fifth year running.
	Yet it was a rollercoaster game at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, Alvaro Morata scrambling in what turned out to be the winner on 83 minutes just after Kalinic had cancelled out Mario Mandzukic's 39th-minute opener only two minutes earlier.
	Buffon then stopped the Croatian's spot-kick at the death after he had been hauled down by Juan Cuadrado.
	Davide Astori spurned a great chance in injury time, the Italian's header from a tight angle 

Buffon the hero as Juve put one hand on title

Burundi's Human Rights Minister Martin Nivyabandi and his wife were lightly injured in a grenade attack as they were leaving a church in the capital Bujumbura, the city's mayor told AFP.
	"A grenade was thrown in the car park of the Healing of the Souls church in Nyakabiga," mayor Freddy Mbonimpa said yesterday, referring to a neighbourhood in the city-centre.
	"They were very lightly injured by the explosion and their vehicle was badly damaged. They only had a few scratches and were discharged after treatment in a hospital," he added.
	The mayor said "armed criminals" were behind the attack, a term used by Burundian officials to refer to members of rebel groups opposed to President Pierre Nkurunziza.
	Burundi has been in turmoil since Nkurunziza decided to run for a third term, which he went on to win in July 2015, with violence leaving more than 500 people dead. More than 270,000 people have fled the country.
	Numerous politicians, civil society leaders and army officers have been ..

Burundi minister targeted in grenade attack

Nearly 72,000 cases of Zika have been reported in Colombia since October, with almost 13,000 occurring in pregnant women, although the country is going through a decline in outbreaks, health authorities have said.
	Additionally, four cases of microcephaly, the rare but irreversible condition in which babies are born with small heads and damaged brains, have been associated with the virus in the country, Colombia's National Health Institute (INS) reported.
	Another 22 cases of potential microcephaly are under investigation, according to the INS, which estimated that some 300 instances of cranial malformation are likely in babies by September, a smaller number than initially predicted.
	Earlier this month, US health authorities confirmed that Zika causes microcephaly and other severe fetal brain defects, after months of debate and uncertainty.
	Since the beginning of the epidemic in October, a total of 3,292 cases have been confirmed by laboratories and 68,660 suspected cases have been .

Nearly 72,000 cases of Zika in Colombia since October

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un hailed a submarine-launched ballistic missile test as an "eye- opening success", state media said today, declaring Pyongyang has the ability to strike Seoul and the US whenever it pleases.
	The US, joined by Britain, said yesterday's apparent test was a violation of UN Security Council resolutions and called on the North to refrain from further moves that could destabilise the region.
	South Korea's defence ministry said the launch appeared to have failed as the missile, fired from a submarine in the Sea of Japan, flew just 30 kilometres.
	However the North's state-run KCNA news agency insisted that the test, which it said was personally monitored by Kim, confirmed "the reliability of the Korean-style underwater launching system".
	It cited the young leader as saying that Pyongyang "is now capable of hitting the heads of the South Korean puppet forces and the US imperialists anytime as it pleases."
	"This eye-opening success constitutes one more ...

N Korea's Kim hails 'successful' submarine missile test

Independent investigators issued a scathing report today on the disappearance of 43 Mexican students, accusing the government of obstructing their probe and questioning the role of federal forces in the tragedy.
	After a year-long investigation ending this month, the foreign experts from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights were unable to resolve a case that has shocked the international community and sparked protests against President Enrique Pena Nieto.
	While the mystery remains, the report calls for investigations into the conduct of federal police and the military on the night of September 26-27, 2014, when the 43 young men vanished in the city of Iguala, southern Guerrero state.
	The experts also invoked allegations of torture against as many as 17 of the more than 100 suspects detained in the case.
	But part of the 605-page report -- the second of their mission -- is dedicated to the "obstructions" that the experts faced from the authorities and which became worse from 

Foreign experts say Mexico hindered probe of 43 missing

Serbia's pro-European Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic was set to win a landslide victory in the general election, according to initial projections.
	Vucic's Serbian Progressive Party was on track to take 52.6 percent of votes, with the Socialists -- who have been in the ruling coalition since 2012 -- in second place with 12.9 percent, according to independent observing group CESID.
	The far-right Radicals were also set to return to parliament after four years without seats, led by ultra-nationalist Vojislav Seselj who was recently acquitted of war crimes charges arising from the 1990s Balkan conflicts.
	The Radicals were expected to win 7.4 percent, CESID said, clearing the five percent threshold and giving them a platform in parliament for their strongly anti-European and pro-Russian views.
	Vucic, 46, had called the early election saying he needed a clear mandate to press ahead with the potentially unpopular reforms required to join the European Union.
	But critics saw the vote as ..

Serbia's pro-European PM set for landslide win

The United Nations Security Council today blasted North Korea for firing what the hermit state claimed was a successful submarine-launched ballistic missile.
	"The members of the Security Council strongly condemned the firing of a submarine-launched ballistic missile by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea on April 23," a UN statement read, calling it "yet another serious violation by the DPRK of United Nations Security Council resolutions."
	"The members of the Security Council reiterated their serious concern... That such ballistic missile activities contribute to the DPRK's development of nuclear weapons delivery systems and increase tension in the region and beyond," the statement added.
	The Council urged Pyongyang to "refrain from further actions in violation of the relevant Security Council resolutions and comply fully with its obligations under these resolutions, including to suspend all activities related to its ballistic missile program and in this context reestablish ..

UN Security Council 'strongly' condemns N.Korea missile launch

Yemeni troops backed by Saudi-led coalition air strikes today recaptured a southeastern provincial capital held by Al-Qaeda for the past year and an oil terminal, military sources said.
	"We entered the city centre (of Mukalla) and were met by no resistance from Al-Qaeda militants who withdrew west" towards the vast desert in Hadramawt and Shabwa provinces, said the officer, speaking to AFP by phone from the city which the jihadists seized last April.
	The officer who requested anonymity told AFP that residents of Mukalla, home to an estimated 200,000 people, had appealed to the jihadists to spare the city the destruction of fighting and pull out.
	The Saudi-led Arab coalition battling Iran-backed rebels in Yemen since March 2015 carried out air strikes against Al-Qaeda positions in Mukalla to pave the way for the entry of Yemeni troops, according to military sources.
	Troops also recaptured Mina al-Dhaba oil terminal in Shehr, further east, the sources said, while a provincial ...

Yemen govt troops retake key Qaeda-held city: army

US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel made a joint pitch today for deeper transatlantic trade in the face of mounting opposition, vowing to complete a vast US-EU trade pact that could spur much-needed economic growth.
	After talks in the northern town of Hanover where tens of thousands marched yesterday against the planned deal, Obama said the world's largest trade pact could be finalised by the end of the year.
	"Angela and I agree that the United States and the European Union need to keep moving forward with the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations," Obama said.
	"I don't anticipate that we will be able to have completed ratification of a deal by the end of the year, but I do anticipate that we can have completed the agreement."
	Both sides hope the pact will provide a shot in the arm to Western economies that are still struggling to erode the devastating effects of the global financial crisis.
	"As you see other markets like China ...

Obama, Merkel make case for disputed US-EU trade deal

Electric cars have their highest-profile prophet in US-based entrepreneur Elon Musk and their widest adoption in Norway, but China's vast auto market will decide their worldwide future, experts say.
	Top global brands will be fighting it out to electrify buyers at China's premier car show opening tomorrow in Beijing.
	The country is already the world's largest auto market and took the number one spot for electric models last year, with some 247,000 "zero emission" cars sold -- quadruple the number in 2014 -- according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
	So far only around one percent of cars owned in China are electric, but authorities are pushing them as a potential solution to the country's crippling air pollution health crisis.
	The central government gives buyers subsidies of up to 55,000 yuan (USD 8,500) for each car and electric vehicles are exempt from traffic restrictions in China's congested major cities.
	While electric cars are becoming more popular ...

China could electrify global rechargeable car market

US President Barack Obama made a plea today for warring parties in Syria to return to peace talks and "reinstate" a ceasefire, as he defended a refusal to establish a safe zone in the country.
	"I spoke to (Russian) President Vladimir Putin early last week to try to make sure that we could reinstate the cessation of hostilities," he told a news conference in Germany, as an increasingly troubled ceasefire was threatened by regime and rebel bombardments that claimed 26 lives today.
	Obama also argued that establishing a safe zone "is not a matter of an ideological objection on my part" but that "as a practical matter, sadly, it is very difficult to see how it would operate short of us essentially being willing to militarily take over a big chunk of that country.

Obama urges reinstatement of Syria ceasefire

Austria's anti-immigration far-right triumphed today in the first round of presidential elections, dealing a wake-up call to Vienna's cosy political establishment two years before the next scheduled general election.
	Norbert Hofer of the Freedom Party (FPOe) won 36.7 of the vote, projections showed, with candidates from the two governing parties failing to even make it into a runoff on May 22, projections showed.
	The result, if confirmed, means that for the first time since 1945, Austria will not have a president backed by either the Social Democrats (SPOe) or their centre-right coalition partners the People's Party (OeVP).
	The SPOe's candidate Rudolf Hundstorfer came joint fourth with just 11.2 per cent, level with Andreas Khol of the OeVP.
	It was the best-ever result at federal level for the FPOe, whose entry into government in 2000 under the late SS-admiring Joerg Haider sent shock waves through Europe.
	Facing Hofer on May 22 will instead be either Alexander van der Bellen, ...

Austrian far-right triumphs in presidential election

The United States and the European Union should keep pressing for a transatlantic free trade deal, US President Barack Obama said today, adding that he expected an agreement by year's end despite widespread opposition to the pact.
	"Angela and I agree that the United States and the European Union need to keep moving forward with the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership negotiations," Obama said in the northern German city of Hanover after talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel.
	"I don't anticipate that we will be able to have completed the ratification of a deal by the end of the year but I do anticipate that we have completed the agreement," he said.
	"Then it will be presented to our various legislatures, but at that point we will have the negociations completed and people will be able to see why this would be good for our two countries."
	The planned trade pact known as TTIP has run into major opposition, not least in Europe's top economy Germany, where critics have raised .

Obama eyes disputed EU-US free trade pact by year's end

Three members of a British family, including two children, were killed today in a crash on a motorway in eastern France, police and firefighters said.
	The family's Nissan hit a safety barrier on the A39 motorway around 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of the city of Dijon, jumped over an embankment and hit a bridge pillar before falling back onto the road, according to initial investigations.
	The 31-year-old father and two children aged four and 12 were killed on the spot, emergency services said. A third child was airlifted to hospital with serious injuries, while the mother escaped with only minor injuries.
	The family's surname was given by the authorities as Crompton, but no further details were immediately available.

French motorway crash kills three members of British family

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his interior minister warned today on the eve of planned anti-government demonstrations that security forces would deal firmly with protesters.
	"I see there are people calling once again for damage to (Egypt's) security and stability," Sisi, who has ruled the country with an iron fist and cracked down on all dissent, said in a televised speech.
	"Our responsibility is to protect security and stability, and I promise Egyptians that no one will terrorise them again," he said.
	Interior Minister Magdy Abdel Ghaffar, in a statement, said "the nation's security and stability... Constitute a red line and no attempt to damage them will be tolerated".
	"Security services... Will confront with extreme rigour any attempt to disturb public order."
	In defiance of a ban on unauthorised demonstrations, secular and leftist activists have called for an anti-government protest tomorrow, a holiday to mark the anniversary of Israel's return to Egypt in 1982 ..

Egypt warns of firm action against protesters

A Norwegian fighter jet on a training exercise jet mistakenly machine-gunned a control tower with three officers inside, who survived unhurt, the military said today.
	Two F-16s were taking part in a mock attack on the uninhabited island of Tarva off Norway's west coast when one of them opened fire with its M61 Vulcan cannon, which is capable of firing up to 100 rounds a second.
	"An investigation has been opened," Captain Brynjar Stordal, a spokesman for the Norwegian military, told AFP.
	A hail of bullets hit the tower in the incident, which happened on the night of April 12, but the officers inside were not injured.
	In a similar incident in 2009, F-16s fired in error on the same tower, with at least one round piercing the structure, but again no-one was injured.

Norwegian F-16 machine-guns control tower by mistake

Serbians voted today in a general election that is likely to return pro-European Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic to power, but also give a voice in parliament to the pro-Russian far right.
	While Vucic's nominally conservative Serbian Progressive Party is projected to win about half of the votes, resurgent ultra-nationalists who want the Balkan country to deepen its alliance with Russia, instead of Europe, are also expected to win seats.
	Casting his vote in a Belgrade suburb, Vucic said he was "not going to make any compromise" with right-wing parties and expressed hope that voters would choose a "European path".
	"I'm almost certain that we'll carry on our EU integration process," he said.
	Vucic called the early election saying he needed a clear mandate to press ahead with the reforms required to join the European Union.
	Serbia, home to seven million people, opened the first formal stages in EU accession negotiations in December, although Brussels has said there will be no further 

Serbia votes with PM calling for European future

Burkina Faso, Africa's top cotton producer and the sole West African nation to venture into biotech farming, is dropping genetically-modified (GM) cotton on quality grounds.
	The world's 10th largest cotton producer, with four of its 19 million people dependent on the "white gold", Burkina Faso earlier this month said it was giving up Monsanto's GM Bt cotton because it had proved uneconomical.
	Burkina took up GM cotton in the 2000s in the hopes of bumping up returns on what was then its top export product, surpassed in 2009 by gold.
	But the country's association of cotton producers now say GM cotton, though producing higher yields, has caused a drop in crop quality.
	"The cotton fibre we are producing today is short," Burkina Faso's new President Roch Marc Christian Kabore told AFP this month.
	Fibre length is key in textiles with longer ones tending to produce stronger yarns because they allow fibres to twist around each other more times, also enabling higher spinning speeds.
	But .

Top African producer bans GM cotton

Israel freed 12-year-old Palestinian Dima al-Wawi from prison today, more than two months after jailing her for an attempted stabbing attack.
	Wawi was handed over to Palestinian authorities at Tulkarem crossing point into the northern West Bank, an AFP photographer said.
	She was to travel from there to her family home near Hebron in the south of the territory.
	She was arrested, wearing her school uniform, on February 9 at the entrance to a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank and found to be carrying a knife.
	A wave of Palestinian knife, gun or car-ramming attacks has left 28 Israelis dead since last October, with 201 Palestinians killed over the same period, most of them while carrying out attacks.
	Under a plea bargain with Israeli military prosecutors, Wawi pleaded guilty to attempted murder and possession of a knife and was sentenced to four months in an Israeli prison and a further six-week suspended sentence.
	"She is the youngest Palestinian girl ever imprisoned," ...

AFP

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