Prosecutors have announced the first criminal conviction in connection with the 2014 hacking of Hollywood celebrities that resulted in the online release of hundreds of private nude photos.
	Officials in Los Angeles said yesterday that 36-year-old Ryan Colins of Pennsylvania agreed to enter a guilty plea on hacking charges as part of the "Celebgate" investigation.
	Authorities said Collins admitted to a "phishing" scheme to obtain passwords of more than 100 people, many of them movie stars, and then using that to obtain nude pictures from their "cloud" storage accounts.
	But the officials said there was no evidence that Collins published the pictures online, and that the investigation was continuing.
	The 2014 hack resulted in the release of hundreds of nude photos including those of models and actresses such as Jennifer Lawrence and Kate Upton, stunning Hollywood.
	The US attorney's office said Collins accessed at least 50 iCloud accounts and 72 Gmail accounts, most of which belonged 

Guilty plea in nude photo hack reveals 'phishing' scam

PTI Automatic

NASA said it will test the effects of a large fire in space by setting off a blaze inside an orbiting unmanned space craft.
	NASA has set off tiny controlled fires in space in the past, but never tested how large flames react inside a space capsule in space.
	This research "is crucial for the safety of current and future space missions," Gary Ruff, one of the engineers heading the experiment at the US space agency's Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, said yesterday.
	The goal is to measure the size of the flames, how quickly they spread, the heat output, and how much gas is emitted.
	The experiment will be conducted in an Orbital ATK Cygnus capsule after the craft ferries supplies to the International Space Station.
	The Cygnus capsule is scheduled to blast off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, atop an Atlas 5 rocket on its final mission on March 23.
	Once the capsule undocks from the ISS and is far away from the space station, ground control will trigger the fire on board, Ruff ...

Nasa to test fire in space by burning unmanned orbiting craft

Pope Francis today slammed governments who close their doors to migrants in comments that came as the European Union seeks to close the Balkan route into its territory.
	The leader of the world's Roman Catholics called for a more compassionate approach to "people living through a real and dramatic exile, far from their countries, with the ruins of their own homes still in their eyes, fear in their hearts and often suffering from the loss of people dear to them.
	"How is it possible that so much suffering can be inflicted on men, women and innocent children," the pope said at his weekly audience in St Peter's square.
	These people "are there, at frontiers because so many doors and so many hearts are closed."
	Francis has regularly spoken out on Europe's migrant crisis. Last month he praised Greece's efforts in seeking to deal with the huge influx of people in a humanitarian manner and said other European countries should help to share the burden.
	The pope has also urged every Catholic 

Pope slams governments who close doors to migrants

The EU denied today that its planned deal to return all migrants who land in Greece to Turkey would break international law, saying there would be no mass expulsions.
	European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans also said there would be no "free ride" for Turkey under the deal and that Ankara would need to take agreed steps to win visa-free travel for Turks to the EU.
	"There can be no blanket returns," Timmermans told a press conference on the eve of a summit at which Brussels and Ankara hope to seal the agreement.
	"We are not turning our back on the refugees because they will be assured adequate international protection, either in the EU or in Turkey."
	Timmermans added: "Returns can only take place in accordance with the international and EU legal framework... the case of each person needs to be assessed individually in the light of the charter of fundamental rights and European directives."
	Asylum seekers also need the "full possibility" of an appeal, he said.
	Under the 

EU vows 'no blanket returns' of migrants to Turkey

Kurdish-led parties meeting in northern Syria today are expected to declare a new federal system in areas under their control, two Kurdish officials said.
	The move, which would expand an already existing system of self-administration, is likely to anger Turkey which is wary of any bid by Syrian Kurds to solidify their autonomy and of their control of territory.
	Kurdish groups, which hold large stretches of northern Syria, have been excluded from ongoing peace talks in Geneva aimed at ending the country's five-year conflict.
	More than 150 delegates from Kurdish, Arab, Assyrian and other parties were meeting today in the town of Rmeilan, in Syria's northeastern Hasakeh province.
	"The gathering will try to develop a new ruling system in northern Syria," said Sihanuk Dibo, a consultant to Syria's leading Kurdish political group, the Democratic Union Party (PYD).
	"All the suggestions are now heading towards federalism," he told AFP from the conference.
	Officials said the conference's 

Syria Kurds expected to declare federal system: officials

Britain will impose a tax on excessive sugar levels in soft drinks, starting in two years' time, to cut down on spiralling childhood obesity levels, finance minister George Osborne said today.
	"I can announce that we will introduce a new sugar levy on the soft drinks industry," Osborne said, adding that the tax would be on drinks with more than five grammes of sugar per 100 millilitres.
	"We all know one of the biggest contributors to childhood obesity is sugary drinks.
	"I am not prepared to look back at my time here in this parliament, doing this job and say to my children's generation, 'I'm sorry. We knew there was a problem with sugary drinks. We knew it caused disease but we ducked the difficult decisions'."
	Britain has some of the worst obesity rates in Europe.
	Official data from last year showed 61.9 percent of British adults and 28 percent of children aged between two and 15 are overweight or obese.
	"We did it!" celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, who has long campaigned for a ...

Britain to impose sugar tax on soft drinks to cut obesity

Nearly 2,000 migrants and two corpses have been recovered from people smugglers' boats off Libya since yesterday, Italy's coastguard said today.
	Further rescue operations were ongoing, a spokesman told AFP.
	The figures represent a pick-up in the flow of migrants attempting to reach Italy via Libya, a route through which around 330,000 people have made it to Europe since the start of 2014.
	Prior to the latest rescues, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) had reported 9,500 landing at Italian ports since the start of the year.
	This compares with more than 143,000 who have reached Greek islands by crossing the Aegean Sea since January 1.
	With efforts underway to close the entry route through Greece, Italian authorities are wary of a surge in the number of migrants attempting to come through Libya.
	So far there has been no indication of that happening. Numbers arriving from Libya have always fluctuated in line with weather conditions in the Mediterranean and other factors.
	Arrivals were ..

Two migrants dead as 2,000 rescued off Libya

An Iraqi army plane crashed during a reconnaissance flight near the city of Kirkuk today and its three crew went missing, a high-ranking military source said, blaming a "technical problem".
	The Islamic State jihadist group claimed it had shot down an Iraqi military plane in the area, killing five crew members.
	The military source said authorities had launched a search for the crew after the Cessna 208 Caravan went down near Kirkuk, around 220 kilometres north of Baghdad.
	In a statement on Twitter, IS said it had shot down a military plane with anti-aircraft artillery and that it been on a bombing run against the city of Hawija, a stronghold of the jihadists in Kirkuk province.
	Iraqi forces have been making gains against the jihadists in recent months as they seek to reclaim territory seized by IS during a major offensive in 2014.

Iraqi army plane crashes, 3 crew missing: military source

Germany's Angela Merkel said today a planned EU-Turkey deal offers the first "real chance" to end the migrant crisis but cautioned that the bloc won't seek agreement at any cost.
	Speaking on the eve of a crucial Brussels summit, Merkel made clear the EU would stand firm on civil rights in Turkey and that Ankara's bid to eventually join the 28-nation club is "not on the agenda now".
	Europe, divided and desperate to end its biggest refugee influx since World War II, is pinning its hopes on a deal with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
	Under the plan hailed as a "game-changer", Turkey would seek to stop refugees' dangerous sea journeys and take back illegal migrants from Greece. For each Syrian it accepts, it would send one to the EU in a more orderly redistribution programme.
	But the proposed deal -- which would offer Turkey the carrot of eased access to the visa-free Schengen zone and an acceleration of EU accession talks -- has drawn heavy fire on several fronts.
	Many ...

Merkel stresses conditions for EU-Turkey deal on refugees

The toll from a deadly attack in Ivory Coast by an Al-Qaeda affiliate rose to 19 today, with the body of a young man shot in the head found on the beach.
	State-run RTI television showed images of the body and quoted the person who had found it as saying it had been "washed back by the waves".
	Citizens from Burkina Faso, Germany and France were among those killed when gunmen stormed three hotels and sprayed a beach with bullets at the Grand-Bassam beach resort, an unprecedented jihadist assault in Ivory Coast.
	The sleepy town, with its pristine beaches and UNESCO-listed French colonial-era buildings, is packed with visitors on weekends from nearby Abidjan, Ivory Coast's main city and commercial capital.
	A security source said it was possible that some corpses had been washed away from the beach following the assault.
	Several witnesses had reported seeing the attackers firing on people bathing in the sea or swimming.
	Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb (AQIM) said the shooting rampage .

Ivory Coast toll rises to 19 with body found on beach

Iran's annual fire festival ahead of the Persian New Year claimed three lives and injured more than 2,500, hundreds of whom remain hospitalised, officials said today.
	Each year, Iranians celebrate Chaharshanbeh-Soori, an ancient Zoroastrian tradition on the eve of the last Wednesday of the Iranian calendar, by jumping over bonfires.
	But fireworks and improvised explosives are also used to mark the event, often causing casualties as public warnings against the revelry are largely ignored.
	After initially giving an injured toll of only 259 nationwide, the official IRNA news agency said hours later that more than 2,500 had been hurt, many seriously and some critically.
	Among the dead last night was a 45-year-old man who suffered a heart attack brought about by an explosion, said Amin Saberinia, head of Iran's Emergency Medical Service.
	The other two fatalities were a 24-year-old man and a teenager, Saberinia told IRNA.
	As of today, six people were in an intensive care unit, he ...

Iran fire festival celebrations kill three, injure 2,500

A British World War II veteran living in Italy launched a legal challenge today against a rule barring long-term expatriates from voting in Britain's European Union referendum.
	Lawyers for Harry Shindler, 94, and his co-claimant, Belgium resident Jacquelyn MacLennan, say they are being penalised for exercising their right of free movement across the EU.
	Britons who have lived abroad for more than 15 years are prohibited from voting in British general elections and as a result cannot participate in the referendum on June 23.
	But lawyers from Leigh Day solicitors argue that the referendum franchise has already been extended beyond what is normal for elections, and should also include expats.
	The EU Referendum Act passed last year gives an exceptional vote to members of the unelected House of Lords, as well as to Irish and Commonwealth citizens living in the British territory of Gibraltar off the southern Spanish coast.
	"The people it arbitrarily excludes are those UK citizens who ..

British expats challenge exclusion from EU referendum

The German government today approved a tightening of the country's rape law to cover cases in which a victim withheld consent but did not physically fight back.
	Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet signed off on the measure, which still requires parliamentary approval, after a rash of sexual assaults in crowds on New Year's Eve in the western city of Cologne drew intense media coverage.
	Justice Minister Heiko Maas called the draft law "an important step toward strengthening sexual self-determination", noting that there were "unacceptable gaps in protection" against sexual coercion and assault under German law.
	"It is high time that changes," he said in a statement.
	"We owe that to the victims."
	Currently, rape victims in Germany must not only demonstrate that they verbally declined sex but that they physically resisted against their assailant.
	Maas said the new legislation would now cover "the actual situations in which most attacks occur".
	These include cases in which the victim 

Germany tightens rape law in wake of Cologne assaults

FIFA today demanded tens of millions of dollars in damages from the "sordid" officials now facing charges in the United States over mass bribery scandals that have rocked world football.
     In a wide-ranging admission to US authorities on the scope of soccer corruption, football's governing body openly accused South Africa of paying a USD10 million bribe to secure votes for the 2010 World Cup.
     FIFA also highlighted how one of the main accused, former FIFA vice-president Jeffrey Webb, has allegedly been leading a champagne lifestyle despite agreeing to hand over millions of dollars as part of a plea deal with US authorities.
    	World football is at the centre of multiple inquiries into bribery and misconduct and the award of World Cup tournaments.
	On top of 39 individuals facing charges seven in the United States over more than USD200 million in bribes, its former leader Sepp Blatter and his heir apparent Michel Platini have both been banned.
     FIFA acknowledged the ...

FIFA makes huge damages claim against 'sordid' officials

Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi thanked her supporters today and sounded a hopeful note for the future, in her first comments after lawmakers approved her chosen proxy to become the nation's first civilian president in decades.
	The veteran activist said she was proud of MPs from her National League for Democracy for rallying around Htin Kyaw, a close aide and longtime friend, who will now lead the former junta-run country in her place as it embarks on a new era of democratic rule.
	She also thanked the millions of voters who handed her party a whopping election win in November polls, the freest in generations.
	"I don't know how to properly express thanks to our people who have long peacefully supported the works of the NLD. I believe we can overcome all of the challenges we will have to face along with our people," she said in a written statement.
	Though Htin Kyaw took the title of president yesterday following a parliamentary vote, he hailed the day as "Suu Kyi's victory".
	The ...

Suu Kyi thanks supporters after historic presidential election

Four Singaporeans have been arrested under the city-state's tough Internal Security Act (ISA) for taking part or intending to join armed groups in the Middle East, the interior ministry said today.
	Two men -- Mohammad Razif Yahya, 27, and Amiruddin Sawir, 53 -- were arrested in August 2015 and held under the ISA, which allows for detention without trial, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said.
	Both men had gone to Yemen at different times for religious studies but they also took part in the country's armed sectarian conflict.
	MHA said the men volunteered for armed sentry duties at the religious institution they were studying at and were involved in gun battles against Yemen's Houthi rebels.
	"Razif and Amiruddin were prepared to kill and be killed as 'martyrs' in the sectarian conflict in Yemen," MHA said in a statement.
	"By taking up arms in Yemen, they have demonstrated a readiness to use violence to pursue their religious cause. As such, they are assessed to pose a security ...

Four Singaporeans linked to overseas armed groups arrested

Iran's annual fire festival ahead of the Persian New Year claimed three lives and left 259 injured, officials said today, as warnings against dangerous celebrations were ignored.
	Each year Iranians celebrate Chaharshanbeh-Soori, an ancient Zoroastrian tradition on the eve of the last Wednesday of the Iranian calendar, by jumping over bonfires.
	But fireworks and improvised explosives are also used to mark the event, often causing casualties.
	Among the three who died on Tuesday night was a 45-year-old man who suffered a heart attack brought about by an explosion, said Amin Saberinia, head of Iran's Emergency Medical Service.
	The other two were a 24-year-old man and a teenager, Saberinia told the official IRNA news agency.
	Some of the injuries were serious, including of a 14-year-old boy who lost both hands and was in a coma, Saberinia said.
	The youngest victim was a three-year-old girl who lost fingers. Most of the injured -- 234 out of 259 -- were men.
	Many Iranian actors, ...

Iran fire festival celebrations kill three, injure 259

A joint Hollywood and Chinese production house today announced a slew of upcoming films including an action-horror flick about a giant shark, as moviemakers increasingly look to tap into China's vast market.
	The announcement in Hong Kong was made by Flagship Entertainment, a tie-up between Warner Brothers, China Media Capital and Hong Kong television broadcaster TVB and comes with Hollywood awash with constantly growing Chinese funding.
	US studios are also keen to capitalise on China's burgeoning cinema market at a time when Beijing is pushing entertainment as a source of "soft power".
	"Working with our esteemed partners in Flagship... Warner Brothers is looking forward to helping create high-quality Chinese and Hong Kong films of every genre for audiences in China and around the world," the studio's chairman Kevin Tsujihara told reporters at the city's International Film and Television Market exhibition.
	"We want Flagship to be a true cultural exchange between our companies and ..

Joint China-Hollywood venture unveils movie line-up

North Korea today sentenced an American student who admitted stealing a propaganda banner from a hotel to 15 years' hard labour for subversive activities, state media said.
	The judgement was handed down on Otto Warmbier, a 21-year-old student from the University of Virginia, by North Korea's Supreme Court, the North's official KCNA news agency said.
	Observers said the harsh sentence was likely a reflection of soaring military tensions on the divided Korean peninsula following the North's nuclear test in January and long-range rocket launch a month later.
	The United States took a leading role in securing the resulting sanctions that the UN Security Council imposed on the North earlier this month.
	In recent weeks Pyongyang has maintained a daily barrage of nuclear strike threats against both Seoul and Washington, ostensibly over ongoing large-scale South Korea-US military drills that the North sees as provocative rehearsals for invasion.
	In announcing the jail sentence, KCNA said ..

N Korea sentences US student to 15 years' hard labour

Police have shot dead two Chinese Uighurs who were allegedly fighting with an extremist group in central Indonesia led by the country's most wanted Islamic radical, an official said today.
	The members of the mostly Muslim ethnic minority were killed in a shootout yesterday morning in mountains on the island of Sulawesi, as authorities hunted for the radical group's leader.
	"We can confirm that the two who died were Uighurs," Central Sulawesi police chief Rudy Sufahriadi told AFP.
	The Uighurs were fighting alongside Santoso, who leads the Eastern Indonesia Mujahideen, a group that has been waging a guerrilla campaign against authorities from remote bases in the jungles and mountains.
	The government has launched numerous operations to try to catch Santoso, who has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group. The current operation involves about 2,000 police and military personnel.
	Sufahriadi said that based on testimony from detainees, there are four more Uighurs still ...

Two Chinese Uighur radicals killed in Indonesia: police

Washington's metro train system will shut all day today for emergency inspections after an electrical fire in a tunnel, transport chiefs said, in an unprecedented move that threatens to cause mass disruption in the US capital.
	It is the subway's first system-wide closure for non-weather-related conditions in 40 years of operations, Metro chairman Jack Evans said yesterday, admitting it would likely trigger transport misery for hundreds of thousands of commuters and tourists.
	The metro system -- the second busiest in the United States after New York -- serves about 700,000 customers a day in Washington and the neighboring states of Maryland and Virginia, where many commute from into the capital.
	The closure, which was expected to spark fierce competition for taxis and see buses badly overloaded, was due to begin at midnight (0400 GMT Wednesday).
	"We will suspend rail service for 24 hours to inspect 600 underground jumper cables. The entire rail system will be closed until 5:00 am ..

AFP

AFP

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