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 ..

Washington subway to shut for full day for safety checks

PTI Automatic

Indonesia today installed a prominent police general as its new anti-terror chief at a time when the Muslim-majority nation faces a rising threat from citizens flocking to join jihadists in Syria.
	Tito Karnavian's promotion to head of the National Counter Terrorism Agency came two months after a suicide bombing and gun attack in Jakarta claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group left four attackers and four civilians dead.
	The agency has been strongly criticised for its failure to stop hundreds of Indonesians going to Syria to join IS, and for its inadequate programmes to rehabilitate terror convicts in prison.
	One of the Jakarta attackers was an Islamic extremist who had spent years in jail, and police believe Indonesian radicals fighting in Syria may have had a role in planning the attacks along with others currently behind bars back home.
	Karnavian was promoted to head the agency from his role as Jakarta police chief. In the past he has also headed the police elite counter-terror .

Indonesia gets new anti-terror chief as threats rise

Brazil's political drama took several new twists as a senator accused President Dilma Rousseff of offering hush money to contain a corruption scandal, and her predecessor considered a return to government to help save their careers.
	Prosecutors said a senator charged in a huge graft investigation centered on state oil company Petrobras had accused Rousseff of sending a powerful cabinet minister to try to buy his silence.
	The senator, Delcidio Amaral of the ruling Workers' Party (PT), told investigators in statements given as part of a plea bargain that Education Minister Aloizio Mercadante, Rousseff's former chief of staff, contacted him via an aide to urge him not to testify.
	Amaral, the former party leader in the Senate, said the minister indicated the message came from Rousseff herself -- an accusation the leftist leader angrily denied.
	The president "vehemently and indignantly repudiates the attempt to associate her name with the personal initiative of Minister Aloizio ...

Brazil's Rousseff hit by explosive new accusations

Nestled among towers of moldering paperwork, the few flickering computer screens at Myanmar's information ministry are a sign that change is afoot, and nervous bureaucrats expect more to come under the first civilian government in decades.
	A novice administration led by Aung San Suu Kyi and her president proxy Htin Kyaw takes office later this month, facing a raft of challenges -- including conflict, poverty and a still powerful military.
	One of the new government's few stated priorities so far is to streamline the country's notoriously labyrinthine civil service, which bloomed to 36 ministries under military rule and became a byword for corruption and inefficiency.
	"We have no idea what will happen to us, we have had had no clear instruction," said one ministry official yesterday, asking not to be named, just hours after MPs across town in the capital Naypyidaw elected the country's first civilian president in decades.
	With its dimly lit corridors, papers stuffed into bags and ...

Hopes and hurdles await Myanmar's new government

New Zealand media hailed as a "masterstroke" the bold selection behind the Black Caps' stunning win over India in the World Twenty20 opener.
     "What a twist", trumpeted Fairfax NZ's stuff.Co.Nz website after New Zealand's unheralded spinners tweaked the Black Caps to a 47-run victory over the hosts in Nagpur.
     "Selection masterstroke turns the cricket world on its head, as NZ spinners slay India," it added, referring to coach Mike Hesson's decision to opt for a three-pronged spin attack and omit seamers Trent Boult and Tim Southee.
     The gambit paid off spectacularly as the slow bowlers took nine wickets on a dustbowl, including four for 11 from man-of-the match Mitchell Santner.
     "India, the world number one ranked T20 side and tournament favourites, were undone at their own game in their own conditions," the site said, pointing out New Zealand had now won their past five T20 matches against India.
     The New Zealand Herald declared it the best possible start to the ..

Kiwi gamble put India in a spin: pundits

European leaders launch a charm offensive to win backing for a migrant deal with Turkey today, seeking to heal rifts between member states on the eve of a key summit with Ankara.
	EU president Donald Tusk warned Tuesday that hard work lay ahead to finalise the deal, after Cyprus threatened to derail it over long-standing disagreements with Turkey.
	Tusk held talks in Nicosia in an attempt to win Cyprus' backing for the proposal, which has been hailed as a "game-changer" for European countries buckling under the wave of new arrivals.
	EU and Turkish leaders last week agreed a tentative plan that would see new migrants landing in Greece sent back to Turkey. For each Syrian refugee returned, the EU would resettle one from a Turkish camp.
	But there has been a growing pushback against the deal, with both France and the Czech Republic warning against attempts by Turkey to "blackmail" Europe.
	Cyprus has expressed reservations, not least because longtime adversary Turkey expects the accord .

EU leaders push migrant plan ahead of Turkey summit

The United Nations condemned insurgents in Thailand's deep south today for seizing a hospital during a recent attack on security forces in the violence-plagued Muslim majority region.
	The assault was one of several small-scale but coordinated attacks on Thai forces in the region on Sunday night, following a recent surge in violence by insurgents.
	More than 6,500 people - mostly civilians - have been killed in a 12-year revolt by insurgents seeking greater autonomy from majority-Buddhist Thailand, which annexed the culturally distinct region more than a century ago.
	Both the insurgents and the military have been accused of widespread rights abuses.
	In one of Sunday's attacks, a group rebel fighters took over the Cho Ai Rong Hospital in Narathiwat province and used the building to fire on a nearby Thai army post.
	The gunfight lasted around 30 minutes and while no-one was killed, patients and medical staff were inside the building during the fighting.
	"Hospitals, medical units and .

UN condemns Thai insurgents for seizing hospital during attack

Oil prices rebounded in Asia today after a two-day sell-off fanned by concerns over planned talks between major producers to freeze output.
	Both main contracts tumbled around five per cent on Monday and yesterday after Iran said at the weekend it would not join the talks until its production had hit 4.0 million barrels per day.
	But investors bought back into the black gold today, sending US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for delivery in April up 1.51 per cent, or 55 cents, to USD 36.89. Brent for May was up 1.06 per cent, or 41 cents, at USD 39.15.
	One of the world's biggest producers, Iran returned to the export market in January after years of Western sanctions linked to its nuclear programme.
	The meeting proposed by the world's top two producers Russia and Saudi Arabia has been pushed back to April from March 20, raising doubts it would ever take place or that an agreement will be reached.
	Iran increased output by 187,800 barrels a day to 3.13 million in February, the ...

Oil prices bounce back in Asia after sharp losses

North Korea today sentenced an American student, who admitted to stealing propaganda material, to 15 years hard labour for crimes against the state, China's official news agency reported.
	The sentence was handed down on Otto Warmbier, a 21-year- old student from the University of Virginia, by North Korea's Supreme Court, Xinhua said in a brief dispatch datelined Pyongyang.
	There was no immediate confirmation of the sentence on North Korean state media.
	Warmbier, who was arrested in early January as he was leaving the country, later said he had removed a political banner from the staff-only area of the Pyongyang hotel being used by his tour group.
	His detention came at a sensitive time, as the US took a leading role in efforts to secure tough international sanctions on North Korea over its nuclear test on January 6 and a long-range rocket launch a month later.
	In recent weeks, Pyongyang has maintained a daily barrage of nuclear strike threats against both Seoul and Washington, ...

'N Korea sentences US student to 15 years hard labour'

Injuries to centre-backs Vincent Kompany and Nicolas Otamendi overshadowed proceedings as Manchester City reached the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time after drawing 0-0 with Dynamo Kiev on Tuesday.
     Leading 3-1 from last month's away leg, Manuel Pellegrini's side completed the job in forgettable fashion, with Jesus Navas's shot against the post for City the nearest either side came to breaking the deadlock.
     But first-half injuries to captain Kompany and Otamendi cast a pall over the evening at a hushed Etihad Stadium, leaving City vulnerable in defence ahead of Sunday's derby with Manchester United in the Premier League.
     "It is a very important achievement for the club. This is a club that is growing and continuing to develop as a big club," said Pellegrini.
     "Vincent unfortunately has another muscular injury in his calf, which he has had before. We'll know tomorrow (Wednesday) or after tomorrow how serious it is. Usually with muscular injuries, ...

Injuries mar Man City's history night

They dream of being the next Cristiano Ronaldo, but for many budding young stars who arrive in Portugal from Africa and Latin America, Europe's football riches remain an illusion.
     Abandoned by unscrupulous agents, some are unceremoniously deported, others left to fend for themselves on the streets. Few top clubs are interested.
     Valentine Akpey, 20, trains tirelessly with his fellow Nigerian Sunday Akoh, juggling the ball, passing and repassing, the snow-capped peaks of Portugal's Serra da Estrela mountains in the background.
     For two years he has been on the books of Nogueirense, an amateur club in Portugal's third division.
     "I work hard so I can win a place in a higher division", he said.
     His face drawn, and with well-maintained dreadlocks, the young Nigerian has lofty ambitions.
     "I dream of playing for Barcelona, like Lionel Messi. The best football is in Europe, all young Africans want to come here."
     He was not even 18 when he arrived in Portugal ..

Dreams of football stardom dashed for young Africans

The World Indoor Athletics Championships get under way here Thursday with the credibility of track and field on the line as the sport grapples with the fallout from the worst doping scandal in its history.
     The four-day meeting is the first global championships to take place since Russian athletes were banned from competition last year after a devastating World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) report which detailed evidence of systemic doping.
     Five other nations -- Ethiopia, Morocco, Kenya, Ukraine and Belarus -- have also been given a stern warning by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) that they need to clean up their acts or face suspension.
     Months of tumultuous headlines have left the IAAF chiefs battling to restore the sport's integrity as more than 600 athletes from around 200 nations gather in Portland for this week's championships.
     Russia's ban means the country will not be able to defend the three titles won at the last World Indoor ...

Doping spectre looms over World Indoor Championships

Rafael Nadal saved five set points to finish off a two-set victory over Fernando Verdasco 6-0, 7-6 (11-9) in the third round at Indian Wells.
     Nadal, the nine-time French Open champion who turns 30 in June, avenged his first-round loss to fellow Spaniard Verdasco at the Australian Open in January.
     He moved a step closer to a fourth trophy in the California desert, where he took the title of the hardcourt ATP and WTA event in 2013, 2009 and 2007.
     The fourth seeded Spaniard next faces German Alexander Zverev who defeated Gilles Simon in straight sets 6-2, 6-2.
     Nadal roared through the first set without dropping a game, but Verdasco came to life in the second, eventually forcing it to a tiebreaker.
     Nadal fought off five set points before clinching it when Verdasco hit a backhand long to end the one hour, 41 minute third round match.
     "It was a tough match, but I resisted," Nadal said. "I lost a few matches this year that I had a chance to win so I need to play 

Nadal topples Verdasco to advance at Indian Wells

US Secretary of State John Kerry will visit Russia next week to discuss the Syria crisis, Washington has said, after Moscow began withdrawing most of its forces from the country.
	Kerry said he would hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin to "try to take advantage of this moment," which he described as the best opportunity in years to end the bloodshed.
	Russia's withdrawal has spurred hopes for peace talks being held in Geneva to try to end Syria's brutal five-year conflict, which has killed more than 270,000 people and displaced millions.
	Putin ordered the "main part" of Russia's forces out of Syria on Monday, but pledged to keep some air and naval bases in the war-torn nation.
	A senior official said yesterday strikes would also continue against "terrorist targets", and a monitoring group said Russian aircraft had struck the Islamic State group around the ancient city of Palmyra.
	UN envoy Staffan de Mistura described the withdrawal as a "significant development" for the 

Kerry to visit Moscow as Russian pullout boosts Syria peace

Apple has fired anew at the US government's legal fight to force it to break into an attacker's iPhone, saying the tactic would "appall" the country's founders.
	Apple dug into its legal position in a written filing ahead of a hearing set for March 22 before a federal judge in Southern California.
	Apple stuck to its argument that the FBI was overstepping legal bounds by using an All Writs Act to compel the company to help break an iPhone used by one of the shooters in the December terror attack in San Bernardino, California.
	"The government attempts to rewrite history by portraying the Act as an all-powerful magic wand rather than the limited procedural tool it is," Apple attorneys yesterday said in a filing that responded to one submitted to the court a week earlier by the Justice Department.
	"Thus, according to the government, short of kidnapping or breaking an express law, the courts can order private parties to do virtually anything the Justice Department and FBI can dream up. .

Apple says FBI out to 'rewrite history' in iPhone case

Civil rights groups have decried the unexplained deaths of two foreign nationals in one week while in Canadian immigration custody awaiting deportation.
	"These sudden and successive deaths in the custody of CBSA (Canada Border Services Agency) are troubling," Monia Mazigh, director of the International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group, said in a statement yesterday.
	The CBSA reported the deaths of two persons at Toronto area detention facilities, but gave no cause of death or other details.
	According to the ICLMG, Francisco Javier Romero Astorga, from Chile, was found Sunday "in his cell without vital signs."
	A week earlier, Melkioro Gahungu of Burundi, committed suicide, according to unnamed sources cited by the rights groups.
	The ICLMG and the immigration rights coalition End Immigration Detention Network noted that since 2000 there have been 14 "suspicious deaths" of immigration detainees in Canada.
	"The circumstances of these deaths are shrouded in secrecy and to our ...

Rights groups decry foreigners dying in Canadian immigration

"Acrimony and resentment" would follow if Britain voted to leave the European Union in a June referendum, Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said in London.
	"The UK would need to be treated as a friend, but not as family. Relations would be polite but not intimate. The UK would be respected but not trusted," Muscat said.
	Britain is set to vote on whether to remain in the 28-member bloc on June 23, and Malta is set to take over the EU presidency shortly afterwards for the first half of 2017.
	Speaking at the Chatham House think-tank in London yesterday, Muscat said that the process of revising relations with Britain would involve "acrimony and resentment".
	"Negotiating an exit arrangement for the UK would be perceived a time-consuming distraction," Muscat said.
	"EU leaders would be keen to show to their national audiences which might warm to the idea of leaving the union that such a process would be very ugly, painful and costly."
	Because Malta is part of the Commonwealth, a ...

Britain 'not trusted' if it leaves EU: Malta

A woman infected by the Zika virus during the first three months of pregnancy faces a one-in-100 chance her child will suffer severe brain damage, according to a study released today.
	Zika increases the risk of microcephaly -- an otherwise rare condition that results in an abnormally small head -- by fifty-fold, the researchers calculated.
	"The first trimester is the most critical," lead author Simon Cauchemez, a scientist at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, told AFP.
	His team's statistical analysis of a Zika outbreak in French Polynesia in 2013-14 that spread to two-thirds of the population is the most rigorous attempt yet to quantify the risk of microcephaly, which emerges in foetuses.
	Brazil has been hardest hit by the mosquito-borne virus, with some 1.5 million people infected and 745 confirmed cases of the brain-deforming syndrome, but the ongoing epidemic and patchy data have thwarted similarly rigorous analyses.
	One study from Brazil estimated the chance of birth defects for 

Birth defect risk 1-in-100 for Zika-infected pregnant women:

Polls closed in the US states of Ohio and North Carolina -- a key date in the race for the White House, with frontrunners Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton looking to consolidate their leads.
	Voters were still casting ballots in Florida, Illinois and Missouri. US networks made no early projections in the various contests, which are seen as crucial to shaping the Republican and Democratic nominating races.

US primary polls close in Ohio, N Carolina

EU president Donald Tusk has warned that hard work lay ahead to finalise a proposed deal with Turkey to end Europe's migration crisis, after Cyprus threatened to derail it over longstanding disagreements with Ankara.
	Tusk held hastily arranged talks in Nicosia in an attempt to win Cyprus's backing for the proposal, which has been hailed as a "game-changer" for countries buckling under the burden of a mass refugee influx.
	But there has been a growing pushback against the deal, with both France and the Czech Republic warning yesterday against attempts by Turkey to "blackmail" Europe.
	Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades said his country would not accept "Turkish demands without (the) implementation of Turkey's long-pending obligations," including Ankara's official recognition of the Cyprus government.
	EU and Turkish leaders agreed last week to a tentative proposal that calls for the return to Turkey of all new migrants landing in Greece. For each Syrian refugee returned, the EU ...

Cyprus threatens to block EU-Turkey migrant deal

France has vowed to step up anti-terrorist cooperation in Africa after Al-Qaeda's North African branch said it carried out a deadly weekend attack on an Ivory Coast beach resort.
	"We must reinforce our cooperation so that the terrorists have no chance" of success, said French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault yesterday, who arrived in Abidjan earlier Tuesday along with Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve.
	The two ministers flew in after Sunday's attack on the Grand-Bassam resort that left 18 people dead, among them four French nationals. Thirty-three people were wounded in the attack, 26 of whom are still in hospital.
	After visiting some of the wounded, the French ministers met with Ivorian Defence Minister Alain-Richard Donwahi and Interior Minister Hamed Bakayoko.
	Also in Abidjan as a mark of solidarity were Benin President Thomas Boni Yayi and Togolese counterpart Faure Gnassingbe, who urged a regional response to terror.
	"You don't fight terrorism alone... There are national 

AFP

AFP

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