The White House has said that President Barack Obama called Myanmar's President Htin Kyaw and de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, praising the move toward civilian-led government.
	Obama yesterday called the pair to offer his congratulations, as military hardliners try to limit Suu Kyi's formal role.
	Banned from becoming president by a junta-era constitution, Suu Kyi has cemented conftrol over the country's first civilian-led government in decades by taking on a string of senior roles in the new administration.
	She has vowed to rule "above" the president, picking school friend and close aide Htin Kyaw for the role.
	According to the White House "the president commended Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's determined efforts, over the course of many years and at great personal cost, to achieve a peaceful transfer of power and advance national reconciliation.

Obama calls new Myanmar president, Suu Kyi

PTI Automatic

Efforts by Libya's UN-backed unity government to assert its control over the capital were thrown into chaos today as the head of a rival Tripoli-based authority backed away from ceding power.
	Contradicting an earlier announcement that his so-called National Salvation Government was ready to step aside, Tripoli's unrecognised prime minister Khalifa Ghweil urged his ministers not to stand down.
	He threatened to prosecute anyone working with the new government.
	"Given the requirements of public interest... You are requested to continue your mission in accordance with the law," Ghweil said in a statement.
	The reason for the U-turn was not immediately clear but could suggest a split within the Tripoli authority.
	There was no immediate reaction from the UN-sponsored administration of prime minister-designate Fayez al-Sarraj, which until the about-face had appeared to be cementing its control over the country's finances and institutions.
	Ghweil's administration seized control of ...

Blow to Libya govt as Tripoli rival refuses to cede power

The impeachment of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff should go ahead, the representative for a congressional commission said today, bringing the country's political crisis a step closer to a showdown.
	Jovair Arantes, rapporteur for a special impeachment commission in the lower house of Congress, said he had concluded the "legal admissibility" of the case against the leftist president.
	The decision was given in a lengthy report that Arantes read aloud, live on national television, to the 65-member impeachment commission, sometimes interrupted by deputies shouting and arguing.
	Although Arantes' decision was non-binding and mostly of symbolic value, it meant the opposition drew first blood in a lengthy and increasingly bitter battle to remove Brazil's first woman president from office.
	On Monday, the full commission will vote. That will also be non-binding but will set the tone ahead of April 18, when the lower house of Congress holds its decisive vote on whether Rousseff should ...

Rousseff impeachment should go ahead: commission rep

A man accused of murdering a Muslim shopkeeper in Scotland's largest city Glasgow issued a statement today saying he killed him because he disrespected the Prophet Mohammed.
	Asad Shah, 40, was found with serious injuries outside his store last month and was pronounced dead at hospital.
	Police described the killing as "religiously prejudiced".
	Shah, an Ahmadi Muslim who moved to Glasgow from Pakistan in 1998, had recently posted a message on Facebook wishing people a happy Easter, "especially to my beloved Christian nation".
	Tanveer Ahmed, 32, from Bradford in northern England, appeared at a preliminary court hearing in Glasgow today and afterwards issued a statement through his lawyer admitting his guilt.
	"Asad Shah disrespected the messenger of Islam the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him. Mr Shah claimed to be a Prophet," the statement said.
	"If I had not done this others would and there would have been more killing and violence in the world.
	"I wish to make it clear that the 

Man says killed Muslim in Scotland for disrespecting Islam

Cyprus said today that it had approved a request from Cairo to extradite the man accused of hijacking an EgyptAir plane and diverting it to the Mediterranean island.
	Egyptian Seif al-Din Mohamed Mostafa, 58, is accused of using a fake suicide belt to seize the Alexandria-to-Cairo flight on March 29 and force it to land in Cyprus.
	Cypriot government officials said that a legal process would now begin to send home the 58-year-old, who is in police custody on the island.
	"Instructions were given for the relevant procedures to begin," a government official told AFP.
	Nicosia is expected to try to fast-track the extradition process which could take several weeks.
	The suspect is expected to remain in custody until his extradition papers are ready.
	The Egyptian state prosecutor's office had asked for him to be handed over under a 1996 bilateral extradition treaty.
	Mostafa -- described by authorities as psychologically unstable -- has said he acted out of desperation to see his Cypriot .

Cyprus agrees to extradite EgyptAir hijacker

The US domestic security chief today compared current anti-Muslim sentiment to the anti-communist "Red Scare" of the 1940s and '50s, suggesting that divisive statements by Republican presidential candidates are to blame.
	Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, who is black, noted that his grandfather was forced to testify in front of the House of Representatives in 1949.
	"He had to, in the height of the Red Scare, to deny he was a member of the communist party, and went on to give an impassioned statement about how American negroes are patriotic," Johnson said at a conference in Washington about countering violent extremism.
	"Efforts and dialogue that have the effect of vilifying American Muslims are counter to our homeland security interest," he said, without specifically naming any political candidates.
	Those who don't know history "are bound to repeat it," Johnson added.
	Republican presidential hopefuls Donald Trump and Ted Cruz have both been criticized for statements seen ..

US security chief compares anti-Muslim remarks to Red Scare

As-well as shining a spotlight on the secret financial arrangements of the rich and powerful, the so-called Panama Papers have laid bare London's role as a vital organ of the world's tax-haven network.
	The files leaked from Panama law firm Mossack Fonseca exposed Britain's link to thousands of firms based in tax havens and how secret money is invested in British assets, particularly London property.
	Critics accuse British authorities of turning a blind eye to the inflow of suspect money and of being too close to the financial sector to clamp down on the use of its overseas territories as havens, with the British Virgin Islands alone hosting 110,000 of the Mossack Fonseca's clients.
	"London is the epicentre of so much of the sleaze that happens in the world," Nicholas Shaxson, author of the book "Treasure Islands", which examines the role of offshore banks and tax havens, told AFP.
	The political analyst said that Britain itself was relatively transparent and clean, but that ...

Panama Papers reveal London as centre of 'spider's web'

Irish lawmakers today failed to elect a new prime minister for the second time in 40 days since an inconclusive general election, while forming a new government remains an elusive prospect.
	The February 26 election resulted in political stalemate and there is little sign of the logjam being broken, according to lawmakers from all sides.
	Neither Fine Gael or Fianna Fail, the two main parties, have the numbers to form a government without the support -- active or passive -- of the other.
	The election of a prime minister, or taoiseach, is a prerequisite to agreeing the composition of the next government.
	Meanwhile the outgoing Fine Gael-Labour coalition government remains in office in a caretaker capacity, as does Prime Minister Enda Kenny.
	Kenny's Fine Gael party won 50 seats in the vote -- 27 fewer than in the previous election in 2011.
	Its bitter centre-right rival, Fianna Fail, increased its vote substantially to 44 in the 158-seat Dail, the lower house of parliament.
	In ...

Irish MPs fail to chose PM - again

Panama mounted a fierce defense of its crucial financial services sector today, trying to head off a feared international clampdown on its offshore business in the wake of the "Panama Papers" leak.
	Diplomats accredited to the small Central American nation were called to the foreign ministry to hear officials argue that it was unfair to single out Panama in the scandal.
	They heard "what is the truth about Panama," the state secretary for communication, Manuel Dominguez, told AFP.
	The government has also written a harshly worded letter to the head of the OECD, Angel Gurria, attacking a statement he made describing Panama as "the last major holdout that continues to allow funds to be hidden offshore from tax and law enforcement authorities."
	Those accusations were false, "unfair and discriminatory," Deputy Foreign Minister Luis Miguel Hincapie wrote in the letter, which was obtained by AFP.
	Gurria and others relying on reports from the Panama Papers were seeking to "distort the ...

Panama mounts fierce defense of vital financial sector

A far-right Israeli lawmaker sparked anger today after he said he would not want his wife to give birth in a hospital next to Arab mothers -- comments widely condemned as racist.
	Bezalel Smotrich, a member of the nationalist right-wing Jewish Home party, made the comments on Twitter yesterday.
	"My wife is totally not racist but after giving birth she wants to rest and doesn't want the massive celebrations that are customary for the families of the Arab women who give birth," he said.
	Referring to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, he also tweeted that "it's natural that my wife would not like to lie next to someone who just gave birth to a baby who might want to murder her baby in another 20 years."
	He later deleted both tweets.
	Smotrich, who lives in a settlement in the occupied West Bank, has long been known for his harsh rhetoric.
	His comments were in response to reports that some Israeli hospitals were improperly segregating Jewish and Arab mothers in maternity .

Anger over Israeli lawmaker's 'racist' hospital remarks

A Canadian boy who robbed a convenience store for money for a plane ticket to Syria was sentenced today to two years detention plus 12 months probation for terrorism offenses.
	The 16-year-old is already incarcerated for another related crime and will serve the sentence consecutively, the Public Prosecution Service of Canada said.
	He had become radicalized and stole USD 1,680 at knife-point from a Quebec store in order to pay for travel to Syria where he hoped to join the Islamic State group and take part in the conflict there.
	His father alerted police and the boy, who was 15 years old at the time, was arrested before he could leave the country.
	Under Canadian law, youths convicted of crimes cannot be publicly identified.
	Local media citing expert court testimony said he has started to renounce radicalism.

Canadian teen who robbed store for airfare to Syria sentenced

Kathryn Sargent made history today by becoming the first female master tailor to open her own premises on London's Savile Row -- the epicentre of traditional British bespoke tailoring.
	Sargent, who worked her way up the ranks during 15 years on the prestigious street at Gieves and Hawkes, opened her first tailoring house around the corner in 2012, before seizing the opportunity to move back onto Savile Row in her own right.
	"It has always been a dream of mine. It feels fantastic. There's a real sense of achievement," the 41-year-old told AFP.
	Sargent has started with a six-month residency covering the spring and summer season, with a view to her tailoring house becoming a permanent fixture on the Row.
	Having become well-known for her skills in the close-knit Savile Row community, she was offered the chance to open her own premises.
	"We're always talking and working together on how we can promote our craft nationally and internationally and also preserve our skills and keep the ...

First female master tailor cuts through on London's Savile Row

A member of the Qatari royal family has been released by kidnappers in Iraq nearly four months after being taken captive while on a hunting trip, Qatar said today.
	A Pakistani national was also released, the Qatari foreign ministry said.
	The pair, who have not been named, were among more than 20 people abducted from a desert hunting party close to the Saudi border last December.
	"Efforts are still ongoing to free the rest of the 26 kidnapped," a brief statement published on Qatar's official QNA news agency said.
	It was unclear if any other Qatari royals were still being held.
	Faleh al-Zayadi, the governor of Muthanna province where the hunters were seized, told AFP at the time that "a number of members" of the Qatari ruling family were among those abducted.
	He said the kidnappers were heavily armed and travelled in dozens of vehicles.
	A foreign ministry spokesman told AFP that negotiations were continuing with the Iraqi government to try to secure the release of the remaining ..

Qatari royal freed by Iraq kidnappers

One of the jihadists who blew themselves up in Islamic State attacks in Brussels on March 22 briefly worked as a cleaner at the European Parliament several years ago, the EU body said today.
	"He held a summer holiday job cleaning at the Parliament for one month in 2009 and one month in 2010. Those were the only instances he worked at the Parliament," it said in a statement.
	It did not name the individual, but a source close to the inquiry told AFP it was Najim Laachraoui.
	Laachraoui and fellow suicide bomber Ibrahim El Bakraoui blew themselves up at Brussels airport in coordinated attacks two weeks ago that also struck a Brussels metro station and killed a total of 32 people.
	Laachraoui is also suspected of being the bomb-maker for the Paris terror assaults last November after his DNA was found on some the explosives used in the attacks, which killed 130.
	The European Parliament said the suspect did not have a criminal record when he worked for the cleaning firm it had contracted 

Brussels bomber 'had cleaning job' at European Parliament

"You won't have my hatred" -- the defiant words of a Paris attacks widower that won sympathy around the world -- are the title of his poignant new book, already translated into 18 languages.
	"You stole the life of an exceptional being, the love of my life, the mother of my son, but you won't have my hatred," Antoine Leiris posted on Facebook after identifying the body of his 35-year-old wife Helene, one of the 90 concertgoers killed by jihadists at the Bataclan venue on November 13.
	The measured remarks quickly went viral as people sought to make sense of the bloodbath, which claimed 130 lives across the French capital.
	Nearly five months later Leiris, a 34-year-old journalist, has published a book recounting the aftermath of the tragedy.
	An initial print run of 30,000 copies is already sold out, and the book is in a second printing.
	The moving and dignified account starts with the fateful night when Leiris stayed at home with the couple's son Melvil, then 17 months old, while ...

Paris attacks widower's defiant message turns into book

Norwegian police today announced the recovery of a valuable lithograph by Edvard Munch which was stolen in 2009, with two men arrested.
	The artwork, named 'Historien' or 'History' in Norwegian, was retrieved undamaged, a statement said.
	It shows an elderly bearded man speaking to a young boy and was valued at the time of its theft at USD 2,44,000, but art experts said it was too well-known to be put on the market.
	Police said two men had been arrested at the start of the week on suspicion of handling stolen goods but not for the theft itself.
	The lithograph was stolen after one of the windows of Nyborg Kunst, a leading Oslo gallery, was smashed with a rock.
	"My client denies the charge," Oystein Storrvik, the lawyer of one of the arrested men, told Norway's NTB news agency.
	The works of Munch (1863-1944) have long been targeted by thieves.
	In 2004, two of his masterpieces -- "The Scream" and "Madonna", with a combined value of USD 100 million -- were stolen in a brazen ...

Stolen Munch recovered in Norway, two arrested

Blow to Libya unity govt as rival refuses to cede power

Gibraltar and the Falkland Islands have accused Spain and Argentina of "bullying" after the two countries called for talks with Britain to end the "colonial situations" of the two territories.
	In a rare joint statement issued late on yesterday, the disputed territories accused the two nations of "ganging up" on them and ignoring the wish of the people of Gibraltar and the Falklands Islands to remain British.
	The statement was issued a day after Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said Argentina and Spain were "committed to ending the two colonial situations" of the Falkland Islands and Gibraltar "through bilateral negotiations with the United Kingdom".
	The minister was speaking during a joint news conference with his Argentine counterpart Susana Malcorra in Buenos Aires.
	"It also does not say much for the democratic credentials of two large countries that they should seek to gang up in this way in order to bully two very small territories and in the process ...

Gibraltar, Falklands accuse Spain and Argentina of bullying

Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate confirmed today the death of its spokesman Abu Firas al-Suri in a US air strike earlier this week.
	In a statement circulated on Twitter, Al-Nusra Front said Suri and other members "were killed during a Crusader (Western) air strike... On April 3, 2016."
	It said the raid had hit a training camp, but did not specify where in Syria.
	On Monday, the Pentagon said the US military conducted an air raid on an Al-Nusra meeting in northwest Syria the previous day but could not confirm whether Suri had been killed.
	Suri was a Syrian national and a "legacy" Al-Qaeda member who fought in Afghanistan in the late 1980s and 1990s, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said.
	He "worked with Osama bin Laden and other founding Al-Qaeda members to train terrorists and conduct attacks globally," Cook said, adding that Sunday's strike killed several enemy fighters.
	Suri's death had been reported by the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which said that his ...

Qaeda in Syria confirms death of spokesman

Australia's elite female cricketers were handed a significant pay rise today to make them the top earners of any women's team sport in the country.
     Cricket Australia said the maximum retainers for contracted players, many of whom helped Australia reach the final of the World Twenty20 in India where they lost to the West Indies on Sunday, had been boosted to AUD 65,000 (USD 49,150).
     This is up from AUD 49,000 and, with extra money earned from the Women's Big Bash T20 League, match payments and tour fees, some will pull in more than AUD 100,000 annually.
     But this is still a long way behind the top men with the minimum value of a Cricket Australia contract for the likes of Steve Smith and David Warner for the 2016-17 season AUD 270,000.
     This substantially increases when match and tour fees are taken into account.
    	CA chief executive James Sutherland said Australia's female cricketers were among the most successful sportswomen in the country and deserved to be ...

Australian women stars earn big pay rise

Iceland's coalition parties held talks today on the government's future, a day after the prime minister's resignation over the Panama Papers scandal that propelled the Pirate Party to the top of polls ahead of a possible snap election.
	Prime Minister Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson stepped down yesterday, the first major political casualty to emerge from the massive leak of 11.5 million documents detailing hidden offshore accounts held by world leaders and celebrities.
	The documents revealed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) showed that Gunnlaugsson and his wife owned an offshore company in the British Virgin Islands and had placed millions of dollars of her inheritance there.
	The prime minister sold his 50-per cent share of the company to his wife for a symbolic sum of USD 1 at the end of 2009, but he had neglected to declare the stake as required when he was elected to parliament six months earlier.
	Gunnlaugsson, of the centre-right Progressive ...

AFP

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