The only surviving play script including William Shakespeare's handwriting, and containing a passionate speech against xenophobia, is being put online to mark the 400th anniversary of the bard's death, the British Library announced today.
	The script is a section from a controversial play that revolves around how statesman Sir Thomas More quelled a 1517 anti-foreigner uprising in London by asking the rioters to imagine themselves being banished to live abroad.
	The 164-line scene has been attributed to Shakespeare, one of several writers brought in to rework "The Book Of Sir Thomas More".
	In challenging rioters, More says: "Alas, alas! Say now the King/ As he is clement if th'offender mourn,/ Should so much come too short of your great trespass/ As but to banish you: whither would you go?/What country, by the nature of your error,/ Should give you harbour?
	"Go you to France or Flanders,/ To any German province, Spain or Portugal,/ Nay, anywhere that not adheres to England:/ Why, you 

Surviving Shakespeare script urges empathy for foreigners

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The South African appeal court today accused the government of "disgraceful conduct" in allowing Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to leave the country despite an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court (ICC).
	Bashir was not arrested while attending an African Union summit in Johannesburg last year as the South African government claimed he had immunity as the head of a member state.
	When an emergency order was obtained from the High Court during the summit ordering Bashir's arrest, government lawyers admitted he had flown out of the country just a few hours earlier.
	The government subsequently filed a plea against the arrest order at the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA).
	"The assurances that he was still in the country given to the (High) Court at the commencement and during the course of argument were false," the SCA judges said.
	"It was disgraceful conduct."
	SCA ruled that the failure to arrest Bashir was unlawful and dismissed the government's appeal.
	South Africa 

S Africa's conduct 'disgraceful' in Bashir case, court says

41 'civilians' dead in coalition raids on Yemen market:

Shots were fired today at Belgian police in the capital Brussels as they carried out an operation linked to the Paris attacks, Belgian prosecutors said.
	"Police were fired at," Eric Van Der Sypt, a spokesman for the federal prosecutor, told AFP adding that the search in the southern Forest district was "linked to the Paris attacks investigation".
	Two suspects were on the run after the incident, the Derniere Heure newspaper reported.

Shots fired at Brussels police in raid linked to Paris attacks

A French cardinal today denied accusations he covered up the sexual abuse of children amid a growing scandal that has deeply embarrassed the Catholic Church in France.
	Even the fiercely secular French government weighed in, with Prime Minister Manuel Valls urging Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, the archbishop of Lyon, to "take responsibility" in the case.
	"I have never, never, never covered up acts of paedophilia," Barbarin retorted during a news conference in Lourdes, a major Catholic pilgrimage site in southwestern France where the country's bishops were meeting.
	Barbarin has been caught up in the scandal over abuses that took place 25 years ago, long before he became archbishop of Lyon in 2002.
	A priest in his diocese, Bernard Preynat, was charged in January after victims came forward with claims he had sexually abused Scouts between 1986 and 1991.
	Prosecutors say Preynat has admitted the charges.
	The victims have filed complaints against several senior diocesan officials, ...

Under-fire French cardinal denies covering up child sex abuse

A female suicide car bomber who killed at least 35 people in Ankara had links to Syrian Kurdish rebels, Turkey's interior ministry said in a statement today.
	The ministry, which identified the bomber as Seher Cagla Demir, born in 1992, said she had been affiliated with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) since 2013 and then "crossed into Syria and received terror training in the YPG terrorist organisation".
	The People's Protection Units or YPG is a Syrian Kurdish militia that Ankara regards as a terror outfit with links to the PKK.
	Nobody has claimed the attack yet that struck the heart of the capital but the Turkish government said "almost certain" evidence pointed to Kurdish rebels.
	The interior ministry said a thorough investigation was under way and offered condolences to relatives of civilians who lost their lives in the attack carried out by the "separatist terrorist organisation."
	Yesterday's bombing is the second major blast in Ankara in less than a month.
	In ...

Turkey says Ankara bomber linked to Syrian Kurdish rebels

New York kicks off its annual week of Asian art sales today, red-faced after stolen Indian statues were impounded from Christie's and testing the market in the face of a Chinese economic slowdown.
	US special agents seized the sandstone statues, dating back to the eighth and 10th centuries, from Christie's auction house following an international investigation with assistance from India and Interpol, US officials said.
	Both objects had been valued at USD 150,000 and USD 300,000, and were listed in Christie's sale of Indian and Himalayan art today.
	"We have withdrawn the lots and we are fully cooperating with the authorities on their investigation," a spokesperson for the auction house said.
	US agents said both artifacts came from a specific smuggler, and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance warned art dealers and auction houses to do everything possible to avoid selling stolen cultural heritage.
	Christie's said the auction house would never knowingly offer art for sale when ...

Asian art auctions kick off in NY after theft shame

With cash flowing faster than the Yangtze river, Hollywood is awash with ever-expanding volumes of Chinese funding, but analysts are warning the film industry there's no such thing as a free lunch.
	The Beijing-based Wanda Group's record-breaking deal in January to buy US film studio Legendary Pictures finally confirmed the long-heralded emergence of the world's second biggest box office as a major player in Tinseltown.
	The USD 3.5 billion agreement is the largest-ever cultural takeover by China, with US studios keen to capitalize on its burgeoning cinema market at a time when Beijing is pushing entertainment as a source of "soft power."
	Legendary, the maker of "Jurassic World," "Godzilla" and the latest Batman trilogy, has grossed more than USD 11 billion worldwide since it was founded in 2005, mostly with the kind of big-budget blockbusters popular with Chinese audiences.
	"It's a win-win situation... Because the China market is really incredibly taking off and Hollywood has a ...

China buys soft power with hard cash in Hollywood

Authorities in North Carolina have decided there is not enough evidence to charge Donald Trump with incitement after one of his supporters punched a protester in the face at a campaign rally there last week.
	Police launched an investigation into whether the Republican frontrunner in the White House race could be charged with "inciting a riot" after a chaotic rally in the city of Fayetteville, where a white Trump supporter sucker- punched an African-American protester.
	Critics say the billionaire businessman's inflammatory rhetoric and barely-veiled threats directed at protesters have been fueling an increasingly toxic atmosphere surrounding his rallies.
	But law enforcement officials said the violence in Fayetteville could not be blamed on Trump.
	"The evidence does not meet the requisites of the law... to support a conviction of the crime of inciting a riot," read a statement late Monday from the Cumberland County sheriff's department.
	"Accordingly, we will not be seeking a ...

No charges against Trump after protester sucker-punched

Britain's biggest business lobby said today that most of its members want the country to stay in the European Union, ahead of a key referendum to be held in three months.
	The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said a survey of its members showed 80 per cent believed remaining in the EU would be "in the best interests of their business and the wider UK economy".
	Just five per cent said that "Brexit" -- or Britain exiting the EU -- would be in their best interests, while 15 per cent were uncertain.
	The CBI survey, carried out by independent pollsters ComRes, quizzed 773 small, medium and large companies across Britain.
	Britons will vote on June 23 in a critical referendum to decide whether or not their country should remain in the 28-nation bloc.
	Prime Minister David Cameron is leading the battle to keep Britain in, but several key members of his Conservative party -- notably Mayor of London Boris Johnson -- have joined the Leave campaign.
	However, the CBI, which represents ..

British business lobby says members back staying in EU

Britain's Serious Fraud Office said today it was dropping a criminal investigation opened in July 2014 into alleged malpractice on the foreign exchange market because of a lack of evidence.
	"The Director of the Serious Fraud Office has today closed the SFO's investigation into allegations of fraudulent conduct in the foreign exchange market,"  the SFO said in a statement.
	"This decision follows a thorough and independent investigation lasting over one and a half years and involving in excess of half a million documents.
	"There is insufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction," it said, adding however that at the time the probe was opened "there were reasonable grounds to suspect the commission of offences involving serious or complex fraud".
	The SFO added it would continue to liaise with the US Department of Justice, which is running its own ongoing investigation.
	London is the biggest hub in the world for foreign exchange trading.
	Allegations about rigging ...

Britain drops currency market fraud investigation

A Bahraini court jailed three people for 15 years each in two separate trials for attacking policemen, the prosecution said in a statement.
	Two of the convicts, one of whom was tried in absentia, were jailed for carrying out a bomb attack targeting police in a Shiite village near Manama two years ago, said prosecutor Ahmed al-Hammadi.
	The attack had caused damages but left no casualties, he said in a statement carried by the official BNA news agency.
	In the second trial the same criminal court jailed a third defendant of opening fire at policemen last year in another Shiite town wounding one of them, Hammadi said.
	He said that his citizenship would also be revoked.
	The defendants were not identified but dozens of Shiites have been put on trial and handed lengthy jail terms in the Sunni-ruled kingdom during the past five years.
	The criminal court yesterday sentenced three people to life in prison for possessing weapons which they planned to use to carry out a "terrorist" ...

Bahrain jails three for attacking police

Russian helicopters pounded jihadist positions around the ancient city of Palmyra today as Syrian troops pressed a ground advance, a monitoring group said.
	"Russian helicopters and warplanes, that are likely Russian, are bombarding Islamic State group positions near Palmyra," said Syrian Observatory for Human Rights director Rami Abdel Rahman.
	"These strikes have allowed regime troops to advance, and they are now four kilometres (2.5 miles) south and west of Palmyra," he told AFP.
	The strikes came a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the pullout of the "main part" of his forces from the war-torn country.
	A security source in Syria confirmed the monitor's report.
	"The Syrian army, backed by Russian warplane and helicopter strikes, have taken control of a hilltop to the west of Palmyra after a fierce battle against IS, which still holds the city," he said.
	Should the regime retake Palmyra, "it would be an important victory because it would open the way towards the .

Russian air strikes near Palmyra as Syrian troops push advance

Eurostar, the high-speed rail service between Britain and mainland Europe, said today that passenger numbers dropped sharply after the Paris attacks, but that a recovery was underway.
	"Whilst the business saw a sharp drop in passenger numbers in the aftermath of the Paris terrorist attacks in November, trading has started to pick up over the first two months of the year and forward bookings for the summer are looking positive," it said in a statement.
	The impact of the November attacks kept passenger numbers for all of 2015 flat compared to the previous year, at 10.4 million.
	Sales fell by five per cent as sterling strength meant that revenue in other currencies translated into fewer pounds. Stripping out currency factors, sales were flat.
	Operating profit fell to 34 million pounds from 55 million pounds because of the adverse currency movements, but also because of the cost relating to disruptions, it said.
	Eurostar also said it will boost the deployment of its new e320 trains ..

Eurostar saw 'sharp drop' in bookings after Paris attacks

Israel has declared 234 hectares of West Bank territory as state land, officials said today, leading a watchdog to warn of possible settlement expansion that could increase tensions with Palestinians.
	COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry body responsible for implementing government policies in the Palestinian territories, said the move was taken "in accordance with the decision of the political level".
	It gave no further explanation nor more details, but settlement watchdog Peace Now said the land involved is south of the Palestinian city of Jericho and close to the Dead Sea.
	Peace Now said the land -- equivalent in size to more than 250 international football pitches -- is the biggest reclassification since a seizure of 400 hectares in 2014.
	The NGO said the order to seize the land was signed on March 10 as US Vice President Joe Biden wrapped up a visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories, though COGAT refused to comment on the timing.
	Palestinians who claim ownership of ...

Israel seizes 234 hectares of West Bank land: officials

Stock markets around the world slid today after the Bank of Japan decided against more stimulus to support the economy, ahead of a key meeting of the US Federal Reserve.
	Europe's main indices were down between half and one per cent in afternoon deals, erasing gains won a day earlier on hopes of central bank action to boost the global economy.
	Fresh slides for oil prices and share prices of heavyweight miners heaped further pressure on markets, while traders were also pricing in geopolitical concerns.
	"Stocks fell on Tuesday after the Bank of Japan decided against adding to stimulus and concerns re-emerged over a drop in the price of oil," said Jasper Lawler, analyst at trading group CMC Markets.
	"Talk of another North Korea nuclear weapons test hasn't helped market sentiment."
	Lawler added that London's benchmark FTSE 100 index was weighed down also by a slump in miners' share prices after Chilean miner Antofagasta scrapped its dividend in "a sharp reminder of the industry's ...

World stocks retreat on Japan inaction

Uber has agreed with the Moscow government to use only officially licensed taxi drivers and to provide the authorities with information on passengers' itineraries, officials said today.
	Under the agreement which Uber signed with the Moscow City Hall, the controversial California-based company will "only cooperate with drivers who have official permission to carry passengers," the City Hall said in a statement.
	For the purpose of traffic analysis, Uber will also provide the city authorities with information about passengers' trips, the statement said.
	The Moscow City Hall has already signed similar agreements with other online taxi services, including with the one owned by Russia's Internet giant, Yandex.
	Uber -- the world's most valuable start-up -- has sparked protests from taxi drivers around the world over allegations the app sidesteps regulations and impacts their incomes.

Uber to only work with official taxis in Moscow

Palestinian leaders expressed hope for a new French push for peace efforts in talks with a Paris envoy today, after he faced skepticism in meetings with Israel.
	Pierre Vimont, France's point man on efforts to hold an international peace conference by the summer, held talks today in Ramallah with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, foreign minister Riad al-Malki and top negotiator Saeb Erekat.
	"The French ideas are timely, the French ideas are realistic and the French ideas are the only thing in town, and those who care about peace between Palestinians and Israelis must fully support the French ideas," Erekat said.
	France launched the effort earlier this year to host an international conference to revive peace talks. It initially vowed to recognise a Palestinian state if talks failed, but French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault later said the recognition would not be automatic.
	Vimont yesterday met Israeli foreign ministry director general Dore Gold, a close ally of Prime ...

French envoy meets Israelis, Palestinians on peace plan

A ceremonial flypast, pilots tossed in the air in celebration and dozens of cheering supporters - the first Russian warplanes today returned home to a hero's welcome as part of the withdrawal of armed forces from Syria.
	Several Su-34 strike fighters landed at an airbase outside the city of Voronezh located some 580 kilometres (360 miles) southeast of Moscow after performing a fly-past for top commanders, relatives and supporters.
	After pilots disembarked from the aircraft they were tossed in the air in celebration as cheering supporters clutched flags, flowers and balloons, national television showed in a live broadcast.
	Critics say that after the start of Russia's aerial campaign in Syria in September, Moscow's powerful propaganda machine shifted its attention from the nearly non-stop coverage of the Ukraine conflict to Syria, the country's first major military engagement outside the former Soviet Union since the occupation of Afghanistan in 1979.
	After Putin's surprise order to .

Hero's welcome for first Russian warplanes back from Syria

German police opened a homicide probe today after a car bomb killed a driver on a central Berlin street, with authorities saying there was currently no terrorism link.
	The blast caused by an explosive device "on or in the vehicle" occurred during morning rush-hour traffic on Bismarckstrasse, within sight of the Victory Column monument.
	The explosion flipped over the vehicle, leaving its front severely dented and debris strewn several metres away.
	No other injuries were reported, although the car rammed into a parked vehicle.
	Identifying the victim as a 43-year-old man, Berlin police said on Twitter: "There is currently no indication that this was linked to terrorism."
	"We believe this was a homicide," prosecutor's office spokesman Martin Steltner told the daily Tagesspiegel.
	Spiegel Online said the victim had previously been investigated by police for offences including drug trafficking and that investigators believe today's attack was linked to organised crime.
	The Volkswagen .

Berlin police open homicide probe after car bomb

Silvio Berlusconi sparked fury today by claiming that being mayor of Rome was "no job for a mother" while backing a male candidate who advised a pregnant rival to stick to breastfeeding.
	The three-time former premier claimed the task of cleaning up the scandal-hit capital would be too much for far right candidate Giorgia Meloni, who is due to give birth soon after the election in May or June.
	"A mother cannot dedicate herself to a terrible job and running Rome today is terrible job which will require 14 hours a day in the office," Berlusconi said.
	The media tycoon, famed for his bunga bunga parties with young female escorts, was speaking in support of Guido Bertolaso, who said yesterday that Meloni would be unable to "sort out the rubbish, the traffic jams and the rats in Rome when she will have to be at home nursing."
	Meloni replied tersely. "I don't want a row, I simply say politely and proudly that I hope to be a very good mother, as are all the women who, with a thousand ...

AFP

AFP

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