Six endangered newborn Pakistani Urials stolen from their mother have been recovered, officials said today, in a case that has left a pair of local policemen accused of kidnapping them feeling rather sheepish.
	The three male and three female lambs were illegally picked up from the Jhelum district of central Punjab province, where around 2,500 are thought to roam in the wild.
	The Punjab Urial, known for their curved horns which keep growing throughout their lives, are listed as "endangered" according to the World Wildlife Fund for Nature in Pakistan, and are mainly threatened by degradation of their habitats as well as poaching.
	Pakistanis are forbidden from hunting them, though sixteen permits are issued each year to foreigners, who must pay USD 16,500 for the privilege.
	Rana Shahbaz, a senior local wildlife official, told AFP the lambs had been taken from the Salt Range by two local policemen who are believed to have been hired by a well-to-do client -- described as a judge by ...

On the lamb: Pak officials recover kidnapped newborn sheep

PTI Automatic

US allies, especially in Europe, are ignoring tools that US officials have given them to track potential terrorists, the head of the FBI's Terrorist Screening Centre said today.
	"It's concerning that our partners don't use all of our data," said Director Christopher Piehota, interviewed on CNN.
	"We provide them with tools. We provide them with support, and I would find it concerning that they don't use these tools to help screen for their own aviation security, maritime security, border screening, visas, things like that for travel," Piehota said.
	While the United States has a centralised database for suspected terrorists, in the European Union each country maintains its own watch list.
	Asked if those involved in the Paris and Brussels attacks were on a US watchlist, Piehota said: "We were aware of some of the people."
	Last month's bombings at Brussels airport have revived criticism of the alleged weakness of Belgian police and its intelligence services, charges that local ...

US allies ignoring some anti-terror tools: FBI

Israel began construction on a controversial part of its separation barrier in the occupied West Bank today, near a Palestinian Christian town, an AFP journalist reported.
	Cranes began lifting eight-metre(yard)-high blocks into place near Beit Jala, south of Jerusalem and close to Bethlehem, a photographer witnessed.
	This part of the wall could cut Palestinians from their olive groves.
	Nicola Khamis, mayor of Beit Jala, condemned what she saw as a land grab.
	"This land is for our families, our children," she said by phone from the bridge next to the construction site.
	The Israeli army referred questions to the defence ministry, which did not immediately respond.
	Residents of Beit Jala fear the construction of the wall may lead to the expansion of the nearby Israeli settlements of Gilo and Har Gilo.
	Khamis said they hoped to battle the wall's construction, with emergency strategy meetings planned, but she conceded they had no further appeals within the Israeli legal ...

Israel starts building part of controversial West Bank wall

Syrian rebels seized control today of the Islamic State group's main supply route to Turkey, a monitor said.
	"Rebel factions and Islamists took control of the northeast of Al-Rai," a town occupied by IS on the border between Syria and Turkey, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
	"This is the main and one of the last crossing points with Turkey."
	Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP that rebels entered Al-Rai today following two days of clashes.
	According to Abdel Rahman, the jihadists still control a crossing point further east, in the town of Halwaniyeh, but "Al-Rai was where they mainly smuggled in jihadists, whereas Halwaniyeh is reserved for top commanders".
	IS has suffered a string of setbacks in recent months, including the loss of the ancient city of Palmyra, east of Damascus, to pro-regime forces in March.
	A ceasefire that came into effect on February 27 has drastically reduced violence across Syria, but areas controlled by IS, the Al-Qaeda affiliated 

Syria rebels seize main IS supply route with Turkey: monitor

Bribe money from a giant corruption scheme at Brazilian state oil company Petrobras went into President Dilma Rousseff' reelection campaign coffers, a former CEO has told prosecutors, a report said today.
	Folha de Sao Paulo daily quoted what it said was leaked testimony from Otavio Marques Azevedo, ex-CEO of Andrade Gutierrez, Brazil's second-largest construction company, who was arrested last June.
	Testifying as part of a plea bargain with prosecutors probing Petrobras corruption, Azevedo reportedly said that millions of dollars in legal donations to the 2014 Rousseff campaign were originally funded with money from bribes paid in connection to huge contracts handed to Andrade Gutierrez.
	Folha's report said that it was not clear whether the dirty money was paid into the accounts of Rousseff's reelection committee or to her Workers' Party.
	The report fuels a potentially explosive new front in the crisis engulfing Rousseff and Brazil's government.
	She is already facing impeachment .

Brazilian bribe money funded Rousseff's reelection: report

Kurdish militants killed five members of the Turkish security forces today in a series of clashes and bomb attacks in a town under a military lockdown in the southeast of the country, the Dogan news agency reported.
	The Turkish security forces were carrying out an operation in the town of Nusaybin in Mardin province where the government has been waging a blistering offensive against the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
	A senior police officer was hit by gunfire and later died, and four other members of the security forces, including a major in the gendarmerie and another senior police officer, died in two separate bomb attacks.
	Nusaybin has been under curfew since mid-March for a military operation to push the PKK out of the town, where the authorities say the group has dug trenches and put up barricades.
	Hundreds of security forces have been killed in the region, while government says thousands of PKK militants have died.
	Ankara launched the offensive against the PKK ...

Five Turkish police killed in Kurdish militant attacks: report

UN envoy Staffan de Mistura said today the next round of Syria peace talks will begin on April 13 after he completes a diplomatic tour, including stops in Damascus and Tehran.
	"I will be very much insisting and pushing for... A serious discussion on political transition" at the upcoming round, de Mistura told reporters.
	The United Nations had previously said the negotiations aimed at ending the five-year conflict would resume on April 11.
	At the last round, which ended on March 24, the Damascus regime insisted it was premature to have a concrete dialogue on creating a transitional government, while the main opposition High Negotiations Committee (HNC) put forward its plan towards forming a new government.
	De Mistura told journalists that in order to make progress on political transition next week, he needed to meet in person with key regional players and Syria's government.
	"I need to verify the international and regional stakeholders' position" in order to have "concrete results 

Syria peace talks pushed back to April 13: UN

Two teenage girls who beat a woman in England to death in her house and then called police for a ride home were sentenced to life in prison today, with a minimum term of 15 years.
	The pair, who were aged 13 and 14 at the time of the attack, were convicted on Tuesday of using a range of weapons, including a coffee table and a computer printer to commit the killing in December 2014.
	The girls, who cannot be named for legal reasons, were led out of the courtroom in tears after hearing the verdict, following a seven-week trial.
	The jury heard that the victim, 39-year-old Angela Wrightson, was found with more than 100 injuries in her blood- spattered living room in the industrial town of Hartlepool.
	Other weapons used in the attack included a television set, a shovel, ornaments and a kettle. The court heard that Wrightson was restrained and then tortured.
	During the assault, one of the girls talked to a friend over Facebook, who overheard her say: "Go on. Smash her head in. Bray (hit) 

Life sentence for UK teenage girls guilty of 'brutal' murder

Some 250 Syrians were missing and feared kidnapped today after the Islamic State group attacked a cement factory in an advance against government positions east of Damascus.
	The jihadists launched the offensive after suffering a series of setbacks at the hands of regime troops in recent weeks including the loss of the ancient city of Palmyra, which officials said residents would start returning to on Saturday.
	The fresh fighting came ahead of a new round of peace talks due next week in Geneva following a ceasefire between the regime and non-jihadist rebels that has allowed Syrian forces to focus on fighting IS.
	After being pushed out of Palmyra on March 27, IS launched the fresh assault this week near the town of Dmeir, some 50 kilometres (30 miles) east of Damascus.
	Residents said IS attacked the cement factory outside the town on Monday and that about 250 employees had gone missing.
	"We haven't been able to reach our family members since noon on Monday after an attack by Daesh .

250 Syrians missing after IS attack east of Damascus

Saudi King Salman today started a five-day visit to Cairo in a show of support for Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, with the leaders due to sign a raft of investment deals.
	Saudi Arabia has been the key backer of Sisi since then- army chief in 2013 overthrew his Islamist predecessor Mohamed Morsi, whose Muslim Brotherhood movement was viewed with suspicion by Riyadh.
	It has pumped billions of dollars in aid and investment into Egypt's battered economy, and the two heads of state are expected to ink more investment agreements tomorrow amounting to about USD 1.7 billion.
	Live footage on state television showed Sisi greet the 80-year-old Salman at Cairo airport, before heading off in a convoy to the presidential palace.
	The two will hold meetings later in the day and tomorrow, when they will sign 14 agreements that include a USD 1.5 billion deal to invest in the Sinai Peninsula, an Egyptian government official said.
	Salman is expected to address the Egyptian parliament on ...

King Salman starts Egypt visit

The Maldives government has kicked off a controversial USD 800-million expansion of the country's main airport by a Chinese company, a move likely to irritate giant neighbour India.
	President Abdulla Yameen inaugurated construction work in a ceremony on Wednesday night in the capital Male of the politically troubled country.
	"The president stated that with the expansion, the airport would become the economic backbone of the Maldives and that this would be the main gateway of modern day development," a government statement said on Thursday.
	Chinese company Beijing Urban Construction Group was awarded the contract during President Xi Jinping's visit to the strategically located Indian Ocean islands in September 2014.
	Two years earlier, the Maldives kicked out Indian infrastructure firm GMR which was given the airport under a privatisation deal and cancelled its lucrative contract to run the airport.
	The move sparked fury from New Delhi which threatened to cut off aid to the ...

Maldives launches USD 800 mn airport expansion

Nelson Mandela's former wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela today lost a court bid to claim ownership of his rural home, in a ruling welcomed by his family after a bitter legal dispute.
	The Eastern Cape High Court dismissed the case in which Madikizela-Mandela said she was the rightful owner of the property in Qunu, in the Eastern Cape province.
	Nelson Mandela spent much of his childhood in Qunu after being born nearby, and he returned there regularly after his retirement.
	He was buried in Qunu in 2013.
	In his will, the anti-apartheid icon left the house to his family trust, but Madikizela-Mandela claimed it belonged to her under customary law because it was bought in 1989 while they were still married.
	The couple were wed in 1956 and divorced in 1996.
	"The family is grateful that this saga has now come to a close and trusts that Winnie will makes peace with the judgement," the Mandela family said in a statement.
	"It is deeply regrettable that this challenge to his final wishes ...

Mandela's ex-wife loses court bid to claim his home

A key Israeli minister said today that the government is at risk of collapsing if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's narrow coalition is not enlarged soon.
	Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan's comments came amid claims that talks have taken place between Netanyahu and the opposition Zionist Union on joining the coalition, which currently holds a one-seat majority in parliament.
	Speculation over such a move began shortly after elections in March 2015, but there have been claims in recent days of fresh negotiations.
	"The government will not be able to last much longer," Erdan, a senior member of Netanyahu's rightwing Likud party, told army radio.
	"I hope that the Labour Party and other parties will do what is needed."
	Erdan said a major obstacle will be this summer's budget discussions.
	Netanyahu's government is one of the most rightwing in Israel's history and its razor-thin majority has left it little room for manoeuvre.
	Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon this week spoke of ...

Israeli minister says government at risk of collapse

Russian President Vladimir Putin today denied any "element of corruption" after the Panama Papers claimed his cellist friend Sergei Roldugin ran a USD 2-billion offshore empire, adding that his own name is not in the documents
	Putin also claimed that United States officials were behind the journalistic investigation, citing a tweet from WikiLeaks.
	He boasted that the investigation had tried and failed to find any compromising information on his own financial dealings.
	"They combed through these offshore accounts. Your humble servant is not there. What is there to talk about?" Putin said, referring to himself, speaking at a televised forum for regional media held in Saint Petersburg.
	Those working on the Panama Papers instead took "some friend of the Russian president" and suggested his activities have "an element of corruption," Putin said.
	"What element of corruption? There is none at all," he insisted.
	"WikiLeaks has shown us now the fact that officials and official organs of .

Putin denies Panama Papers' claims of graft in inner circle

US Secretary of State John Kerry urged Iran today to help end wars in Yemen and Syria, where Tehran and its Gulf Arab rivals are backing opposing sides.
	On the first visit by a US chief diplomat to Bahrain since 2010, Kerry told authorities in Manama accused of discriminating against the country's Shiite majority that respect for human rights was "essential".
	Kerry was to meet his Gulf counterparts later today, two weeks before President Barack Obama is scheduled to attend a Gulf Cooperation Council summit in Riyadh when Washington's Middle East policy is likely to come under the microscope.
	Kerry called on Iran to "help us end the war in Yemen... help us end the war in Syria, not intensify, and help us to be able to change the dynamics of this region".
	He told a news conference in Manama that Tehran should "prove to the world that it wants to be a constructive member of the international community and contribute to peace and stability".
	Iran struck last year a landmark deal with 

Kerry urges Iran to help end wars in Yemen, Syria

Copenhagen police said today they had detained four people on suspicion of joining the Islamic State group in Syria and seized weapons and ammunition in a search linked to the arrests.
	All four were suspected of breaking Denmark's terrorism law while in Syria, and were arrested in the Copenhagen area, police said in a statement without giving any further information on their identities.
	"The suspects have been identified through investigations carried out in close cooperation between the Danish Security and Intelligence Service and Copenhagen police," the statement said.
	Under Danish terrorism law, "letting oneself be recruited to commit acts of (terrorism)" is punishable with up to six years in jail.
	"At one of the addresses we (searched) today we found some weapons and ammunition," police inspector Poul Kjeldsen told reporters.
	A person living at the address had links to one of Copenhagen's criminal gangs, police later said on Twitter.
	"The arrests took place as part of the ...

'Danish police arrest four alleged IS fighters, seize weapons'

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said today that radical talk from critics of the country's nuclear deal with world powers was dangerous and he urged more, not less, diplomacy and dialogue.
	His comments came just days after a speech by the commander of the elite Revolutionary Guards, who said the accord, which lifted international sanctions on Iran, amounted to a humiliation.
	Rouhani, a moderate cleric under Iran's theocratic system, was boosted in February elections when his allies made gains in parliament and their conservative rivals lost dozens of seats.
	However, the polls have been followed by gestures from hardliners within the regime that appear aimed at preventing the nuclear agreement leading to any wider rapprochement.
	A flurry of ballistic missile tests conducted by the Guards since October last year triggered fresh US sanctions after a UN panel said they breached previous resolutions.
	The tests, however, do not amount to an infringement of the July nuclear accord as it 

Iran's Rouhani says radical talk won't deliver results

Kosovo's powerful former premier Hashim Thaci was sworn in as president today in a session boycotted by opposition parties which dispute his election to the top job.
	Thaci's inauguration followed his election to the post by MPs in February, in a tense vote marred by opposition tear gas protests in parliament and clashes on the streets of the capital Pristina.
	"I swear that I will dedicate all my powers to preserving the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Kosovo," Thaci said as he took oath before MPs from the ruling coalition and diplomats.
	Later addressing parliament, he said his goals were Kosovo's integration into NATO and the EU and continuing "the process of normalising relations with Serbia".
	Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 under Thaci's leadership, but Belgrade refuses to recognise its sovereignty.
	Opposition members refused to attend Thaci's swearing in because they insist his election was unlawful, claiming ...

Kosovo's former premier Thaci becomes president

Panama is fighting off a feared international crackdown on its pivotal finance sector, calling for talks to calm a worldwide storm sparked by revelations of its role in a mass of secretive offshore dealings.
	The small Central American nation launched the fierce rearguard action after a huge leak of 11.5 million documents from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca, the so-called Panama Papers, exposed the confidential dealings of world leaders, celebrities and sports stars.
	The revelations have toppled Iceland's prime minister, led to a Swiss police raid on the headquarters of European football body UEFA, and prompted media allegations against the inner circles of both the Russian and Chinese presidents.
	Faced by accusations that Panama has allowed the rich and powerful to hide their funds from international tax authorities and the law, President Juan Carlos Varela vowed to "confront whoever comes to put down Panama's image".
	"I call on the OECD countries to return to the table for ..

Panama urges talks to avert financial crackdown

Extraditing Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam from Belgium to France is likely to take several weeks, as investigators question him about a shootout with police in Brussels last month, his lawyer said today.
	"He will be handed over to France in several weeks. He must first be heard in another case," lawyer Sven Mary told reporters, referring to a March 15 shootout in which Abdeslam is implicated.
	Abdeslam is believed to be the sole survivor of the group which carried out coordinated suicide bomb and gun attacks in Paris in November that killed 130 people and were claimed by the Islamic State group.
	Abdeslam, a 26-year-old French national who grew up in Brussels, is thought to have fled from an apartment in the Forest district of Brussels when it was raided by police on March 15.
	The raid triggered a shootout that killed terror suspect Mohamed Belkaid, an Algerian.
	The prosecutor's office later said police had found Abdeslam's fingerprints in the apartment.
	Abdeslam was ...

Transfer of Paris attacks suspect to France 'will take weeks'

Samsung Electronics today posted a better-than-expected 10 per cent increase in first quarter profits, on robust sales of the South Korean electronics giant's new Galaxy S7 smartphone.
	The world's largest smartphone producer said operating profit in the January-March period was expected to reach around 6.6 trillion won (USD 5.6 billion), up from 6.0 trillion won a year ago.
	The profit figure was substantially higher than the 5.53 trillion-won average of analysts' estimates compiled by Bloomberg News, and up from the 6.1 trillion won posted in the fourth quarter of 2015.
	The result will encourage shareholders after a disappointing 2015 that saw Samsung lose more than USD 8.0 billion in market value, with its flagship smartphone business sandwiched by top-end rivals like Apple's iPhone and lower-end devices from fast-growing Chinese outfits like Huawei and Xiaomi.
	In an effort to defend its smartphone share, Samsung rolled out the latest version of its flagship Galaxy smartphone in .

AFP

AFP

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