The Google supercomputer AlphaGo won the final game of its five-match challenge against South Korean Go grandmaster Lee Se-Dol today, to take the series 4-1.
	After Lee managed to pull one back for humanity in game four, AlphaGo returned to its best destructive form, using the much-hyped "intuitive" artificial intelligence (AI) of its formidable neural networks to outwit the 33-year-old Lee.
	A visibly upset Lee held his head in his hands at the table after resigning at the end of a five-hour battle.
	It was a disappointing finale for the South Korean who has 18 international titles under his belt and is widely considered one of the greatest Go players of the modern era.
	Described as the "match of the century" by local media, the series was closely watched by tens of millions of fans of the ancient board game - mostly in East Asia - as well as AI scientists.
	The "machine vs human" element meant the games also made headline around the world, with AlphaGo's winning performance hailed .

Computer wins final game against S Korean Go master

PTI Automatic

Pope Francis approves Mother Teresa's elevation to

Russia and fragile ex-Soviet ally Tajikistan have begun large-scale military drills close to the Central Asian state's restless border with Afghanistan, a Tajik military official confirmed today.
	A spokesman for Tajikistan's defence ministry said the drills involving around 50,000 Tajik troops and 2,000 Russian troops, including paratroopers flown in from Russia.
	"The manoeuvres involve around a thousand armoured vehicles, artillery, and 32 combat and transport aircraft," spokesman Faridun Makhmadalizoda told AFP, adding that they would continue until the end of the week.
	This is the first time troops from Russia's Central Military District have been involved in exercises in Tajikistan, highlighting Moscow's growing unease over chaos in Afghanistan's northern provinces.
	The other Russian troops engaged in the exercises are from Moscow's 201st military base in Tajikistan, the spokesman confirmed.
	Last year a contingent of 2,500 troops from the Collective Security Treaty ...

Russia, Tajikistan hold military drills near Afghan border

Tens of thousands of foreign maids in Hong Kong are in "forced labour", according to a new report that fuels growing criticism of the city's treatment of its army of domestic workers.
	The study by the Justice Centre estimates that one in six, or 50,000 of Hong Kong's more than 300,000 migrant domestic workers -- mainly from Indonesia and the Philippines -- fell into the "forced labour" category.
	Its findings come after a report by the UN Committee Against Torture in December urged Hong Kong authorities to reform laws in order to protect victims of forced labour and trafficking.
	The plight of the city's domestic workers was also thrown into the international spotlight by the high-profile abuse case of Indonesian maid Erwiana Sulistyaningsih, whose Hong Kong employer received a six-year jail sentence last year.
	The new report defined forced labour as employment for which the worker had not been recruited freely, was not doing the job freely, or could not walk away from ...

'Forced labour' for thousands of maids in Hong Kong: report

Myanmar's lawmakers today elected a close aide and longtime friend of Aung San Suu Kyi to become the country's first civilian president in decades, a historic moment for the formerly junta-run nation.
	Htin Kyaw, 69, hailed his elevation to the top post as "Suu Kyi's victory", a clear nod to her plan for him to serve as a proxy for the Nobel laureate who is constitutionally barred from becoming president.
	MPs erupted into applause after victory was announced following a lengthy ballot count by hand in the capital Naypyidaw in which Htin Kyaw took 360 of 652 votes cast.
	Myanmar is in the grip of a stunning transformation from an isolated and repressed pariah state to a rapidly opening aspiring democracy.
	Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won a thumping victory at the polls in November, allowing her party to dominate Myanmar's two legislative houses.
	But the military remains a powerful force in the Southeast Asian nation and has refused to change a clause in the junta-era ...

Historic vote hands Myanmar first civilian prez in decades

Four Islamic State group suicide bombers infiltrated an army headquarters west of Baghdad, killing a senior Iraqi general and five other soldiers, army and police officers said today.
	The bombers attacked a regimental headquarters in the Haditha area of Anbar province late last night, killing Staff Brigadier General Ali Aboud, Lieutenant Colonel Farhan Ibrahim and four others, the sources said.

Suicide bombers penetrate Iraq army HQ, kill senior general

Suicide bombers penetrate Iraq army HQ, kill senior

Iranian voters chose "the right and proper path for the country", moderate President Hassan Rouhani said today after final election results showed his allies had made significant gains.
	Friday's twin elections - to parliament and to top clerical committee, the Assembly of Experts - were crucial for the president and a de-facto referendum on his administration after its nuclear deal with world powers.
	In the parliamentary election, hardliners who vocally opposed Rouhani's diplomacy with the West and his moves to open Iran up to foreign investment were soundly beaten by reformists. Conservatives also lost seats.
	"The owners of this country are the people... They determine the path and direction of this country," the president said.
	"I thank our intelligent and brave people who have taken a step forward," he said at an auto industry conference in Tehran.
	Buoyed by new backing from reformists supportive of the government, the president urged a spirit of cooperation among MPs from ...

Rouhani says Iran voters chose 'right and proper path'

Human Rights Watch has slammed "virginity exams" conducted on Afghan women and girls accused of so-called moral crimes, saying the invasive tests by government doctors were tantamount to sexual assault.
	Women face growing levels of violence and harassment in Afghanistan more than 14 years after the Islamist Taliban regime was toppled from power by a 2001 US-led invasion.
	Of 53 women and girls as young as 13 accused of pre-marital sex -- punishable by up to 15 years in jail -- 48 were subjected to virginity exams, Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission found in a recent study.
	Nearly half of them were examined more than once, often in the presence of multiple people, according to the study which was highlighted in a new HRW report yesterday.
	"These so-called virginity exams are not just demeaning -- they constitute sexual assault and are often used as evidence against women in court for the 'crime' of zina, or sex outside of marriage," said HRW researcher Heather ...

HRW slams Afghan 'virginity tests' as sexual abuse

A Thai tuna processing factory has agreed to pay staff USD 1.3 million compensation for a litany of labour abuses, an official said today, a rare victory for migrant workers in the kingdom's scandal-stricken seafood industry.
	Hundreds of Myanmar labourers at Golden Prize Tuna Canning, a processing plant in Samut Sakhon that sells fish to markets around the globe, have spent months seeking compensation for exploitative working conditions.
	Thailand is the world's third-largest seafood exporter, but the industry is plagued with rights abuses and fuelled by trafficked labour from neighbouring Myanmar and Cambodia.
	The sector has come under heightened scrutiny from foreign governments over the past year, with the European Union currently weighing an all-out ban on Thai fishing products.
	The United States also passed a bill last week outlawing goods produced by forced labour that could see Thailand targeted with import bans.
	Rights groups say Golden Prize workers had long been subject .

Rare Thai labour win as tuna factory pays out USD 1.3m

Beleaguered South African President Jacob Zuma today faced a no-confidence vote in parliament  for a second time in less than a year and a legal bid to reinstate corruption charges against him.
	The mounting pressure on the president comes against a background of economic crisis sparked by his firing of two finance ministers within days in December.
	The fallout was followed by a public row between the respected new Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan and the head of the tax authority, which has again rattled markets.
	The no-confidence vote was called by the official opposition, the Democratic Alliance (DA).
	"A motion of no confidence is the best mechanism to ensure that President Zuma is removed from the presidency," said DA chief whip John Steenhuisen.
	The motion is highly unlikely to succeed as Zuma's African National Congress (ANC) has an overwhelming majority in parliament.
	The DA has asked for a secret ballot, so ANC lawmakers who would like to see Zuma go can vote without fear .

S Africa's Zuma faces no-confidence vote in parliament

Eighteen people were publicly caned today for breaking Islamic law in Indonesia's Aceh province, including a young unmarried couple who were caught spending time alone together.
	A hooded man meted out lashings with a rattan cane on a stage next to the mosque in Banda Aceh, the capital of the western province, in front of a large, cheering crowd.
	A 19-year-old woman and a 21-year-old man were caned eight times each after they were found spending time alone together, which is against the law for unmarried Muslim couples in the province.
	Public caning happens on a regular basis in Aceh, the only province in the world's most populous Muslim-majority country to implement Islamic sharia law, but is less common for women.
	Six young men were also caned 40 times each after they were caught drinking alcohol, which violates Islamic law, at a birthday party in a hotel room in December.
	Authorities did not disclose the offences committed by the rest of the group, who were all men.
	Aceh began 

Couple among 18 caned in Indonesia's staunchly Islamic Aceh

The US Supreme Court hears its most important abortion case in decades on Tuesday, with all eyes on the critical swing vote of Justice Anthony Kennedy.
	The case has huge implications on this hot-button issue that could determine the availability of abortion services across the country, just as a highly polarized American electorate goes to the polls in this election year.
	But the sudden death of stalwart conservative Justice Antonin Scalia could complicate the outcome of this high-stakes debate.
	The vacancy on the nine-seat bench leaves the court evenly split 4-4 between conservatives and liberals.
	If the liberal justices fail to swing Kennedy to their side, a lower court decision that had ended up before the Supreme Court will be upheld, in this case meaning a restrictive Texan abortion law would stay in place.
	The vote of Kennedy, who helped draft a ruling 24 years ago that reaffirmed a woman's right to abortion and said any state restrictions could not impose an "undue burden" 

US high court takes up explosive abortion debate

A Palestinian man was killed and 10 others wounded by gunfire from Israeli soldiers and police at the Qalandiya refugee camp near Jerusalem in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian medical sources said today.
	Violent clashes broke out after a jeep carrying two border guards entered the camp by mistake overnight, a police spokesman said, adding that five policemen were injured, one seriously.
	A wave of violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories since October has killed 178 Palestinians as well as 28 Israelis, an American, a Sudanese and an Eritrean, according to an AFP toll.
	The Palestinian health ministry identified the victim as Eyad Omar Sajdia, a 22-year-old student.
	According to police, the jeep with two officers which entered the refugee camp was attacked with stones and Molotov cocktails.
	Troops and police reinforcements were sent in to rescue the pair, who were found uninjured.
	Fresh clashes took place when Palestinian demonstrators threw explosive devices and shot .

Israeli forces shoot dead Palestinian, wound 10

An unprecedented war crimes case brought against a Malian jihadist for allegedly destroying centuries-old shrines at the world heritage site of Timbuktu opens at the International Criminal Court today.
	Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi will be the first jihadist to appear before the tribunal in The Hague, and the first person to face a main war crimes charge for an attack on a global historic and cultural monument.
	A member of an Islamic court set up by the jihadists to enforce strict sharia law, Faqi is said to have jointly ordered or carried out the destruction of nine mausoleums and Timbuktu's famous Sidi Yahia mosque dating back to the 15th and 16th centuries.
	ICC prosecutors say he was a leader of Ansar Dine, a mainly Tuareg group, which held sway over Mali's northern desert together with Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and a third local group from early 2012 until being routed in a French-led intervention in January 2013.
	Faqi will also be the first person to appear at the ICC ..

Malian jihadist to face charges of razing Timbuktu shrines

The UN Security Council will vote today on a US-drafted resolution imposing a raft of new sanctions on North Korea following its nuclear test and rocket launch, US diplomats said.
	The 15-member council will meet at 3:00 pm (2000 GMT) to decide on the package of measures that the United States says will impose the toughest sanctions yet on North Korea.
	The United States presented the draft resolution to the council last week after reaching agreement with China, Pyongyang's sole ally, on the new sanctions.
	US Ambassador Samantha Power said that adoption of the resolution would send "an unambiguous and unyielding message to the DPRK regime: The world will not accept your proliferation. There will be consequences for your actions."
	She was using the acronym for North Korea's formal name.
	The measure "would break new ground and represent the strongest set of sanctions imposed by the Security Council in more than two decades," Power said.
	The council decided to impose new measures on .

UN Security Council to vote today on N Korea sanctions

Gonzalo Higuain claimed his 25th Serie A goal of the season as Napoli maintained their title push with a thrilling 1-1 draw at Fiorentina.
     Napoli were under the cosh after champions Juventus stretched their lead at the top of the table to four points with a 2-0 win over hapless Inter Milan on Sunday.
     But despite pushing La Viola hard in a thrilling encounter at the Artemio Franchi, a share of the spoils against a Fiorentina side yesterday that looks worthy of a top three finish to qualify for next season's Champions League left Napoli with no complaints.
     Napoli remained in second place at three points behind Juventus, with Roma and Fiorentina both five points further adrift in third and fourth places respectively.
	Fiorentina coach Paolo Sousa underlined his side's Champions League hopes on Sunday and after just six minutes they were in front when Marcos Alonso rose above the Napoli defence at a corner to send a glancing header past Pepe Reina.
	But Alonso went from ...

Higuain hits 25th goal to maintain title push in Viola draw

A police officer in Raleigh, North Carolina fatally shot a man wanted on a drug charge, prompting protests amid accusations that the victim was shot in the back.
	The officer was chasing the suspect -- wanted for a felony drug charge -- on foot, Raleigh police chief Cassandra Deck-Brown told reporters yesterday.
	"During the course of the pursuit, the suspect was shot and killed by the officer," she said.
	"Initially, it is known that a firearm was located within close proximity to the deceased suspect," she added without elaborating.
	Deck-Brown asked for patience while the authorities investigate the incident.
	Police did not identify the officer or the suspect.
	However, local media reported a woman at the scene as saying a cousin had told her a police officer had shot and killed her 24-year-old son.
	Rolanda Byrd said her son, Akiel Denkins, was unarmed and had been shot in the back, the paper reported.
	She said witnesses told her Denkins, an African-American, was "shot seven ...

Police officer fatally shoots man in North Carolina

One person died and four others were missing in flooding that hit Haiti, leaving at least 9,600 houses in the deeply impoverished Caribbean country under water, officials have said.
	The floods were caused by heavy rainfall on Sunday linked to a cold front.
	One person was killed while crossing a river in the southwestern department of Grand-Anse, civil defence spokesman Edgar Celestin said yesterday.
	The person accompanying the deceased has not been located and three fishermen in the same region have also been reported missing, he added.
	Problems linked to the downpours were also reported in the city of Cap-Haitien on the northern coast, where some 8,100 houses were flooded.
	Another 1,530 residences were submerged in the community of Limonade some 15 kilometres (10 miles) to the east, according to Bernadin Francisque, a spokesman for the regional civil defence unit.
	An emergency plan setting up shelters was not activated, meaning that people affected by the flooding have had to ..

One dead, four missing as flooding hits Haiti

Canadian federal police has charged an American, a Briton and two Canadians with stealing sensitive satellite imaging technology and selling it to China in violation of export laws.
	Two of them stole the sensor from their employer Teledyne Dalsa of Waterloo, Ontario with help from a former employee, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
	They then sold it to two Chinese firms, one of them state-owned, in violation of the Canadian Controlled Goods Program and other laws.
	The fourth accused works for one of the Chinese companies allegedly involved in the scheme.
	The microelectronics were "intended for space satellite use," the RCMP said in a statement yesterday.
	"This investigation is an example of foreign governments having an interest in Canadian-based controlled technology and it highlights the RCMP's commitment to keeping Canadian's safe from the potential misuse of that technology," RCMP Superintendent Jamie Jagoe said.
	The two-year probe also involved the Canadian ..

Four charged with selling stolen satellite tech to China

An Egyptian court has sentenced an April 6 leader and three other activists of the banned youth movement to three years in jail for possessing leaflets calling for the regime's overthrow, officials said.
	April 6 spearheaded the January 25, 2011 uprising that ended the autocratic rule of president Hosni Mubarak. It also opposed Mubarak's Islamist successor Mohamed Morsi as well as the military-installed regime that replaced him.
	Amr Ali, the movement's general coordinator, and three colleagues were sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay fines of USD 65, prosecution officials and lawyers said yesterday.
	They were found guilty of possessing leaflets calling for the overthrow of the current regime, being part of an illegal organisation, inciting a general strike and causing unrest.
	Ali has been in detention since September, while the three others were tried in absentia.
	His lawyer, Anas Sayyid, contested the charges saying there was "no evidence" to support ...

AFP

AFP

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