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 ...

Egypt jails youth leader for three years

PTI Automatic

Israel has over the past 10 days slapped "administrative detention" orders on 84 Palestinians, a controversial procedure under which prisoners can be held without charge, a Palestinian NGO said today.
	The Palestinian Prisoners' Club said 39 Palestinians had been arrested and placed under administrative detention for periods of between two and six months, while the other 45 had their detention prolonged.
	Last Friday, journalist Mohammed al-Qiq ended a 94-day hunger strike staged in protest at his administrative detention under a deal for his release in May.
	The procedure, which dates back to the British mandate of Palestine, allows Israel to hold suspects without trial for renewable six-month periods.
	The latest orders raise to more than 700 the number of Palestinians held under administrative detention, out of a total of more than 7,000 Palestinians being held in Israeli jails, according to the NGO.
	The Prisoners' Club, which follows their cases, said it was the highest number ...

Israel orders 84 Palestinians held without trial: NGO

Clashes broke out between French riot police and migrants today as authorities began destroying makeshift shelters in the grim shantytown on the edge of Calais known as the "Jungle".
	Police lobbed tear gas cannisters at migrants who protested as around 20 workers moved in to start pulling down the shacks by hand under blue skies as an icy wind blew.
	Two bulldozers stood by but were not used.
	Migrants and members of the British "No Borders" activist group, who launched projectiles at the police, also set fire to about 20 of the shelters, according to an AFP photographer and running clashes continued late into the afternoon.
	Three members of "No Borders" and one migrant were arrested, according to local government officials.
	The demolition of the southern half of the camp began after a court petition by charities to stop it was rejected last week.
	"It's infinitely sad to see the waste of so much work that we've done in the past months," said Maya Konforti of the Auberge des ...

Clashes as France starts destroying 'Jungle' migrant camp

Apple wants a "conversation" to help settle a standoff with the lawmakers over accessing an encrypted iPhone, according to testimony prepared for a congressional hearing.
	In a statement prepared for a hearing Tuesday, Apple general counsel Bruce Sewell said the public should understand that "encryption is a good thing, a necessary thing" even if it makes the work of law enforcement more difficult.
	The hearing was called with Apple and FBI locked in battle over a warrant seeking to force Apple to help unlock the iPhone used by one of the shooters in last year's San Bernardino attacks.
	Apple's refusal has set off an intense political debate about encrypted devices which provide "keys" only to users.
	In his remarks, Sewell said Apple has been stepping up its encryption over the past few years.
	"As attacks on our customers' data become increasingly sophisticated, the tools we use to defend against them must get stronger too," he said.
	"Weakening encryption will only hurt consumers ..

Apple ready for encryption 'conversation': lawyer

Israel's military announced today the arrests of two Palestinian brothers accused of being "snipers" who shot and wounded two civilians and two soldiers in Hebron in the occupied West Bank.
	The shooting incidents took place near a flashpoint religious shrine known to Muslims as the Ibrahimi Mosque and to Jews as the Cave of the Patriarchs in late 2015 and early 2016.
	They occurred amid a wave of Palestinian attacks targeting Israelis, but most of the assaults have been stabbings.
	The two arrested were Nazar Fizel Mohamed Badie, 23 and alleged to be an operative of the Islamist movement Hamas, and his brother, Akram Fizel Mohamed Badie, 33.
	Nazar Badie is accused of firing a homemade rifle from his family's home at civilians near the shrine on November 6. Two people were wounded, one of them seriously.
	On January 3, Akram Badie allegedly fired on a group of soldiers near the shrine and seriously wounded a soldier.
	On the same day, the two brothers are accused of firing on an army 

Israel arrests two Palestinian 'snipers'

US environmental regulators have asked Mercedes-Benz for emissions data after a private lawsuit accused the German carmaker of installing emissions-cheating technology on diesel models, a government spokeswoman said today.
	The request from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
 Follows up on a civil class-action lawsuit filed earlier this month that said 14 Mercedes diesel models contain technology that spew excess emissions of nitrogen oxide, while concealing the mechanism from regulators.
	The suit from plaintiffs firm Hagens Berman takes aim at Mercedes's BlueTEC diesel technology, which the luxury automaker has touted for its environmental benefits.
	"We know about the lawsuit," said EPA spokeswoman Julia Valentine. "We have contacted Mercedes and requested the test results for the US diesel engines."
	A Mercedes spokeswoman said the carmaker, owned by Daimler, had received the EPA request and is preparing a response.
	"We consider this class-action suit to be unfounded," she 

US questions Mercedes-Benz on diesel car emissions

Dutch officials have identified 30 war crimes suspects, including 10 Syrians, among tens of thousands of asylum-seekers who arrived in the country last year, the justice ministry said today.
	Immigration authorities found the 30 after investigating 170 people, Deputy Justice Minister Klaas Dijkhoff told parliament in a letter following questions from MPs.
	Ten of them were from Syria, while the others are from Eritrea, Nigeria, Sudan and Georgia, he said.
	Under the Geneva Convention, refugees can be refused asylum "when serious grounds exist to believe that they are guilty of war crimes, crimes against humanity, or other non-political serious crimes," Dijkhoff said.
	But 20 of them could not be sent back because of ongoing wars or fears of inhumane treatment.
	A similar Dutch investigation in 2014 identified 50 war crimes suspects, even though the number of refugees reaching the country was much lower.
	The Netherlands took in 58,800 migrants last year, almost double the number which 

Dutch find 30 war crimes suspects among refugee wave

A Polish institute tasked with prosecuting communist-era crimes today searched a dictator's home as it looks into whether Solidarity freedom hero Lech Walesa was a paid communist secret agent.
	Prosecutors from the Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) "are carrying out operations at the home of the widow of General Wojciech Jaruzelski" in Warsaw, spokeswoman Agnieszka Sopinska-Jaremczak said.
	Jaruzelski, who died in 2014, was Poland's last communist leader. He was known for trying to strangle the Solidarity opposition movement in 1981 with a brutal military crackdown.
	Earlier this month the IPN had searched the home of the widow of General Czeslaw Kiszczak, who had been Jaruzelski's right-hand man when the regime imposed martial law.
	It was following that raid that the IPN said it had found a secret police file containing a collaboration agreement signed with Walesa's alleged codename "Bolek".
	The Nobel Peace laureate, renowned for negotiating a bloodless end to communism in ...

Polish officials search communist dictator's home

US bank Citigroup announced today it would sell its 20 percent stake in China Guangfa Bank to China Life Insurance Company as it focuses on its own franchise in China.
	Citigroup sold the stake to China Life for USD 3 billion, said a person close to the matter, confirming a figure in The Wall Street Journal. A Citigroup statement did not disclose the terms of the transaction.
	The move marks a shift from Citigroup's strategy in 2006, when it successfully fended off a rival bid from France's Societe Generale and bought the China Guangfa stake for $620 million.
	Citigroup continues to view China as "one of our highest priority markets around the world," said Francisco Aristeguieta, chief executive of Citi Asia Pacific, in the statement.
	Citigroup locally incorporated in China in 2007 and now operates in 13 cities in the country.
	"This transaction is consistent with the simplification of Citi and allows us to focus our resources in China on growing our core franchise further," ...

Citigroup sells China Guangfa stake for USD 3 bn

Air China said today it had ordered 12 Airbus A330-300 long-haul wide-bodied jets for USD 2.9 billion.
	Air China, which is China's third largest carier by passengers carried, did not say in its statement to the Shanghai exchange if the order for 2016 through 2018 delivery was part of a deal for 30 A330 announced last October.
	The prices are based on open market 2013 list prices which would be nearer USD 3.1 billion today but Air China indicated it had been granted price concessions in the form of credit memoranda following negotiations.
	The carrier, which said it will pay for the new jets in instalments, also indicated the purchases from the European planemaker would "optimize its fleet structure" and strengthen capacity, boosting the latter by 5.6 percent.
	 Last October, China confirmed during a visit by German Chancellor Angela Merkel an order for 30 A330 jets confirming an outline agreement from June in Paris.
	 The initial outline agreement was for the sale of 75 A330 to ...

Air China in USD 2.9 bln order for 12 Airbus A330-300 long

Fitch Ratings today cut Sri Lanka's credit rating by one notch to B+ with a negative outlook, weeks after it asked for a bailout from the International Monetary Fund.
	The ratings agency said the island's mounting debt, depleted foreign exchange reserves and evidence of capital flight had led to the downgrade.
	The move is a signal to investors that Sri Lanka's sovereign debt is now considered riskier, and will make it more expensive for the country to borrow on international markets.
	Fitch also downgraded its outlook for the economy from stable to negative.
	"In Fitch's view, (the downgrade) partly reflects a weakening in policy coherence that increases the likelihood of Sri Lanka requiring external liquidity support from the IMF and other multilateral institutions," its statement said.
	Sri Lanka is currently in talks with the IMF for a bailout, although the sum it is seeking has not been disclosed.
	The IMF, which sent a mission to review Sri Lanka's economy earlier in February, ..

Fitch downgrades Sri Lanka's credit rating in fresh blow

Parents today withdrew all the children from a Sri Lankan school after false rumours spread that a new six-year-old pupil was HIV-positive, an official said.
	Parents also protested outside Sambodi Primary School northeast of Colombo against the boy's admission after he turned up for his first day of class, the official said.
	"Parents don't want their children to be in the same school with this six-year-old boy," regional education director Saman Wijesekera told AFP.
	Sri Lanka has a national HIV/AIDS awareness programme but understanding of the disease and how it spreads is low, leading to frequent cases of stigma and discrimination against sufferers.
	The boycott by all of the school's 179 students is the latest blow for the child and his mother, who has been trying since last year to find him a school to attend.
	She said a string of schools had refused her only son a place after false rumours spread in her village last year that her husband had died from AIDS. He died of ...

Sri Lankan school empties over false AIDS rumour

Moscow police today arrested a nanny for beheading a young girl in her care, with witnesses saying the black-clad woman was carrying a severed head and threatening to "blow everyone up".
	The agitated woman, who was reportedly shouting "Allahu Akbar", was spotted pacing up and down outside a metro station in the northwestern part of the Russian capital, witness Alyona Kuratova told Dozhd TV, saying she was holding the head by its hair.
	"I saw that it was indeed a head," she told the independent channel. "Maybe it was a child's head as they started whispering in the street."
	She described scenes of chaos as police cars and ambulances began arriving at the scene, with several people yelling: "terror attack, terror attack."
	"The woman was going back and forth," Kuratova said.
	"She yelled something."
	The witness said she could not make out what the woman shouted but some media reported that she yelled "Allahu Akbar" -- Arabic for "God is greatest" -- and threatened to blow herself ...

Nanny waving child's severed head detained in Moscow

Peter Rabbit today became the first character from children's literature to appear on British coinage with author Beatrix Potter's creation featuring on 50-pence pieces commemorating her birth.
	A set of four fully-coloured coins will be released this year for the author's 150th birthday, with the first to carry an image of Peter Rabbit, her most recognisable creation.
	The series will continue later in the year with three other characters from the much-loved Potter books.
	"The coins will be available in silver proof featuring a distinctive colour-printed design, bringing Peter and his famous blue jacket to life in vivid detail," said the Royal Mint.
	Plain-metal versions of the 50p (69 US cents, 64 euro cents) pieces will appear in general circulation later this year.
	The illustrations were recreated by Royal Mint coin designer Emma Noble.
	"It is amazing to be given the opportunity to work with such famous and treasured literary characters," said Noble.
	"They are lovely images ...

Money bunny: Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit on UK coins

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari is launching a probe after week-long clashes between Muslim herdsmen and Christian farmers left "hundreds" dead, officials said today.
	Fulani herdsmen and four farming communities armed with guns and machetes battled last week in the latest round of violence of a long-running battle over grazing rights in central Nigeria.
	The predominantly Muslim Fulani have been blamed for waves of attacks on mainly Christian agrarian groups as tension grows in the central state of Benue over access to land and public services.
	Many houses in the Agatu local government area were razed and properties destroyed before security agents restored peace on Saturday.
	"I can tell you that hundreds of lives were lost in the violence between the Fulani cattle rearers and the four communities," Benue governor aide Dehen Igbana told AFP.
	"The government has set up a board of inquiry and the team is expected to visit the area any moment from now," Igbana said.
	Yesterday ...

Buhari launches probe after hundreds killed in central Nigeria

Aid workers today began carrying out the first delivery of humanitarian assistance to Syrians since a landmark truce came into effect at the weekend, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent said.
	The Red Crescent said that 10 trucks of aid including blankets and hygiene supplies provided by the United Nations had entered the besieged rebel-held town of Moadamiyet al-Sham southwest of Damascus.
	Red Crescent official Muhannad al-Asadi said it was "the first delivery since the beginning of the truce" and that another 41 trucks were set to enter the town on Monday.
	The trucks were carrying sanitary pads, soap, laundry detergent and blankets provided by the United Nations' refugee and child agencies, he said.
	It is the third delivery this month to Moadamiyet al-Sham, which is surrounded by pro-government forces and had seen an uptick in violence in recent months.
	The truce, which was in its third day on Monday, is meant to open the way for aid to the more than 480,000 Syrians living in areas ...

'First UN aid delivery in Syria since start of truce'

Tribune Media, the entertainment group created from the breakup of the Tribune Co. conglomerate, said today it is looking at a "full range" of options, including asset sales, to boost its value.
	The group which owns the WGN cable television channel as well as local broadcast outlets and digital media, said it was considering "the sale or separation of select lines of business or assets, strategic partnerships, programming alliances and return of capital initiatives."
	The move comes less than two years after the conglomerate that included newspaper and television assets broke itself up to help sharpen the focus on two industry segments.
	Tribune Media chairman Bruce Karsh said the new effort aims to "unlock value" for the company, saying it is undervalued in the market.
	"The board of directors and management remain focused on maximizing shareholder value," he said in a statement.
	"We believe that the value of the portfolio of businesses of Tribune Media is not fully reflected in ...

Tribune Media eyes 'range' of strategic options

Russian police today arrested a nanny for beheading a young girl in her care, investigators said, with local media reporting she was arrested while carrying the child's severed head.
	The Investigative Committee said the body of a child aged three or four years with "signs of violent death" had been found earlier today in an apartment in northwest Moscow after a fire was extinguished there.
	"According to preliminary information, the child's nanny -- a native of one of the Central Asian countries, born in 1977 -- waited until the parents left the apartment with their elder child and, guided by unknown motives, killed the little one, set the apartment on fire and left the scene," the Investigative Committee said in a statement.
	State news agency TASS, citing a source, said: "The child's body was without the head. According to a preliminary version, the nanny carried away the head."
	Investigators said the woman was detained and a criminal probe opened. They said the suspect would ...

Nanny detained for decapitating young girl in Moscow: media

A suicide car bombing killed four people today when it hit a gathering of loyalist forces in Yemen's Aden, the southern city serving as a government base, a security official said.
	Five others were wounded in the attack in the residential Sheikh Othman district, the official said.
	The suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into an area where security forces and pro-government militiamen had assembled, the official said.
	President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi has declared Aden as Yemen's temporary capital as Sanaa remains in the hands of the Iran-backed Huthi rebels and their allies since they seized it in September 2014.
	Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group have stepped up attacks in Aden despite the efforts of the government and its backers in a Saudi-led coalition battling the Huthis and their allies to secure it.
	The rebels controlled Aden for months before government loyalists pushed them out in July.
	Because of the unrest gripping Aden, Hadi himself and many senior ...

Suicide bombing kills 4 in Yemen's Aden: official

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls today retreated on controversial labour reform plans, announcing a new round of consultations before submitting them to cabinet.
	Unveiled in mid-February, the reforms provoked criticism from within the ruling Socialist Party's own ranks and from labour unions.
	"Probably over the next week I will meet with all social partners, labour unions and employers' organisations, one by one," Valls told reporters.
	After the separate consultations Valls said he hoped to bring the parties together with the labour and economy ministers, Myriam El Khomri and Emmanuel Macron, to renew debate on the reform plans, which would make it easier for companies to lay off workers.
	The submission of the proposals to the cabinet has been postponed from March 9 to March 24, a government source told AFP.
	The reforms are part of government efforts to combat record unemployment levels in a country where employers are loath to take on permanent workers, as letting them go can .

French PM retreats on hot potato labour reforms bill

Nigeria's anti-graft agency today charged the country's former interior minister with fraud and money laundering over the death of some 20 job seekers in a 2014 stampede.
	Former President Goodluck Jonathan's interior minister Abba Moro was arrested last week by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in connection with a recruitment stampede which claimed the lives of desperate job seekers.
	Dozens were injured in the March 2014 stampede when job seekers scrambled to take screening tests for employment, according to media reports. There was no official death toll.
	Tens of thousands of people had turned up across the country and officials were blamed for not making adequate arrangements for effective crowd control.
	The recruitment exercise was cancelled after it emerged that millions of dollars in application fees collected from the young job seekers was unaccounted for.
	At the Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday, Moro and two senior officials of his ministry were ...

AFP

AFP

Page 1800 - Afp