Oil slid this week on waning prospects of an output freeze by producers to tackle a supply glut that shows no signs of ending as US crude inventories hit record heights.
	After winning some support from a weaker dollar that made crude priced in the US unit cheaper for holders of rival currencies, oil prices slumped today following comments out of Saudi Arabia.
	"The suggestion that Saudi Arabia will not freeze oil production if Iran doesn't do the same, coupled with a stronger dollar, has taken a sledge hammer" to prices, said Jasper Lawler, an analyst at traders CMC Markets.
	Around 1630 GMT, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in May was down USD 1.41 at USD 36.93 a barrel compared with yesterday's close.
	Brent North Sea crude for June delivery shed USD 1.57 to USD 38.76 a barrel.
	Both contracts were down also compared with one week earlier.
	Bloomberg News today reported that according to Saudi Arabia's deputy crown prince, the kingdom should freeze its oil output ..

Oil prices retreat as Saudi cools on producers deal

PTI Automatic

China said today it would impose import deposits of up to 46 percent on flat-rolled electrical steel products from the European Union, as its domestic producers face growing financial pressure.
	China's commerce ministry said that it will levy anti-dumping duties on imports of Grain Oriented Flat-rolled Electrical Steel (GOES) from Japan, the South Korea and the European Union.
	Importers will pay deposits ranging from 14.5 percent to 46.3 percent, after an investigation showed the regions were guilty of dumping which damages domestic Chinese industry, the ministry added in a post on its website.
	The announcement came as Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron held crisis talks to salvage Britain's steel industry after Indian giant Tata Steel said it was putting its business in the country up for sale, threatening 15,000 jobs.
	Tata's decision notably puts at risk Britain's biggest steel plant at Port Talbot in the former industrial heartland of south Wales. The facility is Wales' ...

China to impose import duties on electrical steel from EU

A Virginia school bus ferrying students to and from classes this week had explosives under the hood after the CIA accidentally left them following a training exercise, the intelligence agency said.
	"Last week, a CIA K-9 unit conducted a routine training exercise with law enforcement officials in Loudoun County, VA," the CIA said in a statement yesterday. "During the exercise, explosive training material was inadvertently left by the CIA K-9 unit in one of the buses used in the exercise."
	The bus was used Monday and Tuesday to transport high school and elementary students, who were in no danger because the explosive materials were "incredibly stable," the Loudoun County sheriff's office said in a statement.
	The CIA said it had taken "immediate steps to strengthen inventory and control procedures" in the training program and would conduct a "thorough and independent" review of the incident.
	The agency placed the explosive materials inside the engine compartment while training ...

CIA leaves explosives on school bus after training exercise

French President Francois Hollande and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said today there would be no impunity for French troops and UN peacekeepers accused in a sexual abuse scandal in the Central African Republic.
	The United Nations yesterday said more than 100 victims had come forward in the country with disturbing new accounts of sexual abuse, including bestiality, by UN peacekeepers and French troops.
	"In light of new allegations of sexual abuse allegedly committed by MINUSCA and Sangaris troops (the UN and French missions to the CAR), the president and the UN secretary general both expressed the desire to establish the truth, and to reject any impunity," the French presidency said in a statement.
	Hollande, who met with Ban in Washington on the sidelines of a nuclear security summit, later said that if true, the allegations would "stain France's honor."
	French authorities this week received a UN letter outlining new allegations of sexual abuse.
	Ban was "shocked to the core" ..

Hollande, Ban say no 'impunity' in C. Africa sex abuse case

More cooperation is needed to prevent the Islamic State group's "madmen" and other extremists from getting a nuclear weapon, US President Barack Obama warned today as global leaders met in Washington.
	The threat of terrorists of using nuclear material in a "dirty bomb" -- or even obtaining an atomic weapon -- has loomed large over the summit, punctuated by revelations that IS members tracked a Belgian nuclear scientist on video.
	"ISIL has already used chemical weapons, including mustard gas, in Syria and Iraq," Obama said, using an acronym for the IS group.
	"There is no doubt that if these madmen ever got their hands on a nuclear bomb or nuclear material, they most certainly would use it to continue to kill as many innocent people as possible."
	The summit -- attended by dozens of world leaders and delegates -- is focused on securing global stockpiles of nuclear materials, much of it used in the medical and power industries.
	Obama said about 2,000 tons of nuclear materials are ...

IS 'madmen' would gladly use nukes, Obama warns summit

Germany said today it will take in the first Syrian refugees under an EU-Turkey pact drawing fire from rights groups, as violence broke out in a Greek camp on the front line of the crisis.
	German interior ministry spokesman Tobias Plate said that most of the arrivals expected Monday would be families with children, putting the number in the "double-digit range".
	Under the scheme agreed with the EU last month, one Syrian refugee will be settled in Europe legally in return for every migrant taken back by Turkey from EU member Greece.
	With uncertainty surrounding the returns, tensions flared in Greek refugee camps, just as Amnesty International accused Turkey of illegally forcing groups of Syrians to return to their conflict-torn country.
	Three migrants were hospitalised today after a brawl in a camp on the Greek island of Chios, aid groups and media said.
	Police used stun grenades to restore calm during the late-night fight -- the second such incident within two days in Greece -- ..

Germany to take Syrians under EU-Turkey pact as clashes flare

A man was handed a two year jail sentence today after becoming the first in England to be convicted of keeping his wife "in domestic servitude".
	In what the Crown Prosecution Service said was the first case of its kind in England, London's Woolwich Crown Court heard that Safraz Ahmed, 34, imprisoned and beat his wife after an arranged marriage in Pakistan.
	The mechanic from Charlton in southeast London forced his wife, Sumara Iram, to cook, clean and look after his mother from 5 AM to midnight every day after she moved to Britain in 2012.
	He also slapped her in the face when she asked him to consummate their marriage, throwing tins of cat food at her head and covering her face with a cushion in other attacks.
	Iram, 28, who had a master's degree in Islamic Studies, was forbidden from leaving the house alone and took an overdose before eventually calling the emergency services in 2014, the court heard.
	Sentencing Ahmed to two years in prison for holding a person in domestic ...

Englishman jailed for keeping wife 'in servitude'

Libya's UN-backed unity government won the support today of guards who secure the country's key oil terminals, the latest pledge of loyalty for a cabinet facing strong opposition from rival political forces.
	Libya's warring sides are under intense international pressure to cede power to prime minister-designate Fayez al-Sarraj, whose arrival in the capital on Wednesday angered a rival Tripoli-based government.
	Sarraj, a businessman from Tripoli who was a member of a committee that paved the way to national dialogue, appeared Friday in public for the first time since his arrival, joining weekly prayers at a mosque in the city centre.
	There are signs that allegiances are starting to shift in his favour, as a unit of guards in charge of securing installations in Libya's so-called "oil crescent" in the east of the country pledged its loyalty.
	"All the oil terminals under our jurisdiction have been placed under the authority of the unity government," a guards official told AFP.
	He ...

Support grows for Libya's new unity government

Talks aimed at ending the war in Yemen are on track to begin on April 18 in Kuwait, the UN envoy confirmed today.
	A nationwide ceasefire is due to come into effect at midnight on April 10 to bolster the new round of talks between the Saudi-backed Yemeni government and Shiite Huthi rebels.
	"With political will, good faith and balance, they could take this opportunity to end the conflict and pave the way towards a permanent and durable end of the war," UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said in a statement.
	The talks were announced last week after months of shuttle diplomacy by the UN envoy and growing pressure on a Saudi-led coalition to end its air campaign in Yemen.
	More than 6,300 people have been killed in Yemen since the coalition -- which includes Kuwait -- began an air war a year ago to push back the Huthi offensive.
	The envoy said UN teams were working "at full speed" in Sanaa and Riyadh to prepare the delegations and another team was on its way to Kuwait to finalize ...

Yemen peace talks on track for April 18: UN envoy

BlackBerry suffered another loss in its latest fiscal year and now aims to return to profitability by refocusing on business services, away from consumer handsets, the Canadian company said today.
	The Waterloo, Ontario-based firm reported a net loss of USD 208 million for the year ended on February 29, while revenues fell more than 35 percent to USD 2.16 billion.
	The company attributed much of its missed revenue estimates to restructing costs.
	BlackBerry had hoped that its new Priv handset -- its first Android-operating smartphone, which was launched with much fanfare in November -- would help restore the company to its former glory, after it once pioneered a culture of mobile users glued to smartphones.
	But sales have been lackluster.
	Some analysts had opined that BlackBerry might get out of the phone business altogether if the Priv -- the first not to use Blackberry's own operating system -- failed to take off.
	They had forecast a loss of 33 cents per share in the last fiscal .

BlackBerry posts fresh losses as it focuses on biz software

US President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping have agreed to fully implement sanctions against North Korea, in a meeting that was promptly followed by a provocative Pyongyang missile launch.
	The White House said today that Obama and Xi agreed to "narrow differences" between the world's two major powers during a meeting the day before.
	"Both leaders committed... To strengthen coordination in addressing the shared threat presented by North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missile systems," the White House said.
	"Both leaders affirmed their commitment to achieving the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2270."
	In January, North Korea detonated a nuclear device and a month later launched a long-range rocket, prompting the United States, China and other UN partners to implement sanctions.
	Washington's efforts to build pressure on North Korea has long been a point of friction with ...

Obama, Xi agree to fully implement North Korea sanctions

Around 4,000 Europeans have travelled to Syria and Iraq to join extremist groups as foreign fighters, most from just four EU countries, a new study released today said.
	Of the estimated 3,922 to 4,294 foreign fighters from EU member states, some 2,838 came from Belgium, Britain, France and Germany, said the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism in The Hague.
	Using data supplied by 26 EU countries, the independent think-tank found that while around 30 percent have since returned home, about 14 percent were killed on the battlefield.
	The centre also found that there was "no clear-cut profile" of a foreign fighter. Some 17 percent of the group were women, and up to 23 percent were converts to Islam.
	More than 90 percent come from large metropolitan areas, some from the same neighbourhoods suggesting the "radicalisation process" is short and "often involves circles of friends radicalising as a group and deciding to leave jointly for Syria and Iraq."
	The report -- complied before 

Most EU foreign fighters in Iraq, Syria are from 4 nations

Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia will only freeze output if other key producers, including Iran, take a similar measure, its deputy crown prince said.
	"If all countries agree to freeze production, we're ready," Mohammed bin Salman told Bloomberg News in an interview published today. "If there is anyone that decides to raise their production, then we will not reject any opportunity that knocks on our door."
	His remarks come ahead of a meeting of major oil producers led by Russia and Saudi Arabia set to take place in Doha on April 17 to discuss measures to stabilise prices, including a proposal not to pump out oil above a certain level.
	Iran indicated it was "ready to participate" in the meeting demanded an exemption from the freeze in order to boost its exports, according to Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak.
	Oil prices are being hit in part owing to the return of Iranian crude to markets after crippling economic sanctions on Tehran were lifted following last year's nuclear deal 

Saudi says will only freeze oil output if Iran, others do

US President Barack Obama told a global nuclear security summit today that the world had made progress in preventing terror groups like Al Qaeda and Islamic state from acquiring nuclear weapons, but more needs to be done.
	"By working together our nations have made it harder for terrorists to get their hands on nuclear material. We have measurably reduced the risk," he told leaders gathered in Washington.
	But he also warned that thousands of tonnes of fissile material lies in stockpiles, under sometimes patchy security, and that material the size of an apple could cause devastation that would change the world.

Obama: World has made progress in preventing nuclear terror

A massive gas explosion destroyed the top floors and roof of a residential building in central Paris today, injuring 17 people, rescuers and police said.
	The blast near the Jardin de Luxembourg park caused jitters in the French capital, which remains on edge after the Paris attacks in November and the Brussels bombings last month.
	It was traced to a fire that caused a gas stove to blow up, sending a thick cloud of smoke into the sky, police said.
	"People were scared, they thought it was a bomb," an employee of the nearby Ferrandi culinary institute told AFP.
	The force of the blast blew out some of the windows at the prestigious school, a witness said.
	A fireman was seriously injured in the blast and another 16 people were also hurt, including 10 firefighters.
	"I was at home, the windows shook in my building two streets away... We thought it was an attack," said local resident Sylvie Guillaumin, 51, adding that gas supplies had been cut in the area.
	The blast came more than four 

Spectacular gas blast rocks central Paris apartment block

US President Barack Obama today said it will take time for Iran to rejoin the global economy, as the country's leadership and citizens express unease that a sanctions windfall has been slow to materialise.
	"It will take time for Iran to reintegrate into the global economy, but Iran is already beginning to see the benefit of this deal," Obama said at a meeting of world powers in Washington.
	The international community lifted a raft of sanctions on Iran in exchange for the country curbing its controversial nuclear programme.
	Earlier this month, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Washington of failing to respect the terms of the agreement.
	The United States has lifted sanctions "on paper," he said, "but they are using roundabout paths to prevent the Islamic Republic from achieving its targets."
	"They have said they lifted the sanctions... But, in fact, they are working to prevent the lifting of sanctions from taking effect," he said.
	The limited polls that are ...

Obama says will 'take time' for Iran to rejoin global economy

Egypt's antiquities minister said today that more tests were needed to determine whether there is a secret chamber in the tomb of Tutankhamun that some believe may hide Queen Nefertiti's remains.
	The announcement by Khaled al-Anani at a press conference in Luxor dashed hopes that another radar scan conducted yesterday would provide certainty on whether the ancient tomb had hidden chambers.
	His predecessor Mamduh Damati had said earlier this month that there was a "90 percent chance" of two hidden chambers containing organic material, behind a wall in the ancient Egyptian boy king's tomb.
	He said experts would conduct a fourth scan of the tomb in the end of April, then invite scholars for a conference to study the results in the first week of May.
	"Nothing will be announced until there is a precise study," he said.
	Renowned British archaeologist Nicholas Reeves, who attended the press conference, has said that Nefertiti's tomb could be in a secret chamber adjoining Tutankhamun's ..

Egypt minister says more scans needed for King Tut's chamber

Obama says world has made progress in preventing nuclear

A 30-year-old woman has died in the Liberian capital after contracting Ebola, officials said today, more than two months after the epidemic was declared over in the country.
	"Lab results confirm a new case of Ebola virus disease in Liberia -- a 30-year-old woman who died yesterday afternoon while being transferred to a hospital in the capital Monrovia," the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement.
	A Liberian health ministry official confirmed the case to AFP and said further details would be released later on the woman's death, with an emergency meeting convened to co-ordinate a response.
	A resurgence of Ebola in a rural Guinean community has killed seven people in the last few weeks, but it is not known if the new Liberian case is linked.
	The WHO said one of its teams and local experts were sent to the area near Monrovia where the woman was living and to a clinic that treated her.
	They were to "begin case investigation and identification of individuals who may have ..

New Ebola case confirmed in Liberian capital

Lebanon's security forces have dismantled the country's largest known sex trafficking ring and freed 75 mainly Syrian women, a security source said today.
	They had been raped and beaten, while some showed signs of "mutilation", a statement from the Internal Security Forces said.
	"This is the largest sex trafficking ring we've uncovered since the outbreak of the Syrian war," a Lebanese security source told AFP.
	Police officers in the Mount Lebanon region north of Beirut "identified and arrested a group of people who made up Lebanon's most dangerous human trafficking network", the ISF statement said.
	They "rescued 75 women, most of them Syrian nationals who had been subjected to beatings and psychological and physical torture, forced to perform sexual acts and had indecent images of them taken and distributed," it said.
	The ISF arrested two men and eight women guarding the apartments where the victims were kept, but two other suspects remain at large, according to the ...

Lebanon police rescue 75 mainly Syrian 'sex slaves'

Serbia's prime minister lashed out today at the UN war crimes court that tried radical Serb leader Vojislav Seselj, accusing it of being "political" and failing to reconcile the Balkans.
	Ultranationalist Seselj was acquitted yesterday on nine charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity arising from the 1990s Balkan conflicts after "what was without a shadow of a doubt a political trial", Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said.
	He told reporters in Belgrade that the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) at The Hague had "acted mainly as a political court, not a legal institution".
	Many Serbs feel the court has unfairly targeted them in its quest to bring alleged Balkan war criminals to justice. Croats and Muslims, on the other hand, reacted angrily to Seselj's surprise acquittal.
	A week before the verdict, the tribunal's judges sentenced wartime Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic to 40 years in jail for genocide, war crimes and crimes against ...

AFP

AFP

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