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 ...

Nigeria ex-minister charged with fraud after stampede deaths

PTI Automatic

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg expressed concern over reports of violations of a three-day-old ceasefire in Syria today and urged all parties to respect the truce.
	"We have seen encouraging signs that the ceasefire is largely holding, but at the same time we have seen some reports about violations," Stoltenberg told a press conference in Kuwait City.
	"Of course, that is of concern because it is important that all sides should respect the agreement," which is the best way to renew efforts for a political solution to the devastating five-year conflict, he said.
	The ceasefire deal was brokered by Moscow and Washington and took effect at midnight on Friday. It entered its third day largely intact today despite accusations of violations from both sides.
	Stoltenberg said NATO was also concerned about Russia's military buildup in Syria, where it has carried out a five-month bombing campaign in support of President Bashar al-Assad.
	"We are concerned about the Russian military ...

NATO chief voices concern over Syria truce violations

Oil prices diverged today as traders balanced US demand hopes against the stubborn supply glut that has plagued the market in recent years.
	Around 1200 GMT, the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in April declined 22 cents at USD 32.56 a barrel.
	In London, Brent North Sea crude for April advanced 23 cents to USD 35.33 a barrel compared with Friday's close.
	Crude futures had risen in earlier Asian trading today, boosted by hopes that strengthening growth in top global consumer the United States will soak up some of the chronic supply glut.
	Chief market strategist Michael McCarthy at CMC Markets in Sydney said last week's better-than-expected US growth and manufacturing data signalled stronger demand for oil.
	The oil market has, however, slumped by about 70 percent from a mid-2014 high over concerns of a lasting surplus of supplies, at a time when growth in top consumers like China is slowing.
	Oil rallied sharply last week on hopes that top producers will cut .

Oil prices diverge

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault today called for a new meeting of a UN-backed task force overseeing a fragile Syria ceasefire "without delay" to evaluate a range of breaches.
	"We have received indications that attacks, including air strikes are continuing in areas controlled by the moderate opposition," Ayrault told reporters in Geneva.
	"This must all of course be verified. France has therefore asked that the task force overseeing the implementation of the cessation of hostilities meets without delay," he said on the sidelines of the UN Human Rights Council.
	His comments came as a fragile ceasefire, negotiated by Washington and Moscow and backed by the UN, entered its third day largely intact despite reports of violations on both sides.
	A special international task force co-chaired by the United States and Russia met Saturday, making a positive assessment after the first hours of the cessation of hostilities.
	Ayrault insisted France "fervently wants an end to ...

France demands Syria ceasefire task force meeting

A Myanmar court has sentenced three Muslim and Hindu interfaith activists to two years with hard labour, their lawyer said today, after activists raised fears over a campaign against them by Buddhist nationalists.
	The two men and one woman from the central city of Mandalay were arrested in July 2015 and accused of crossing Myanmar's frontier with India after they posted pictures of themselves at the border on social media, according to Thein Than Oo, a lawyer representing two of the defendants.
	"Zaw Zaw Latt, Pwint Phyu Latt and Zaw Win Bo were sentenced two years with hard labour" under the immigration act at Mandalay's Chan Aye Tharzan court on Friday, he told AFP.
	"I think it's too harsh," he added.
	He said Zaw Zaw Latt and Pwint Phyu Latt, both Muslims, will face a further trial on March 3, accused under the unlawful associations act for a separate visit into the territory of ethnic minority rebels in northern Kachin state.
	Fortify Rights has slammed the trial as "politically 

Interfaith activists in Myanmar get 2yrs jail with hard labour

Three pro-democracy activists went on trial in Hong Kong today over charges relating to mass rallies in 2014, with the movement's student leader accusing the government of "unreasonable" prosecution.
	Joshua Wong 19, was the teenage face of the Occupy Movement, which brought parts of the semi-autonomous Chinese city to a standstill for more than two months as protesters called for free elections for Hong Kong's next leader.
	Wong and two other prominent student leaders, Alex Chow and Nathan Law, appeared in court on charges of taking part in an unlawful assembly and inciting others to join it.
	"It's unreasonable for the government to give us charges... We were just trying to protect our own rights," he told reporters outside the court.
	All three pleaded not guilty. They could face up to five years in prison if convicted.
	"We are still confident to get a favourable outcome because we have persisted in peace and non-violence," Wong told reporters.
	"We believe finally we can find ...

Hong Kong activists on trial over 'Occupy' protests

More than 150,000 Syrian babies have been born in Turkey since Syria's crisis began, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Lufti Elvan said today, underscoring the humanitarian burden incurred by Ankara during the conflict.
	Addressing the opening session of the United Nations human rights council in Geneva, Elvan said that Turkey was "doing its upmost to shoulder a large part of the humanitarian catastrophe" caused by more than five years of civil war in Syria.
	"The number of Syrian babies born in Turkey has reached almost 152,000", Elvan told the council, according to a copy of his prepared remarks, noting that his country also hosts more than 2.7 million Syrian refugees, more than any of Syria's other neighbours.
	Ankara has repeatedly chastised the international community for not doing more in the face of Syria's massive displacement crisis, with more than half of the country's population forced from their homes by fighting.
	Elvan restated that call today, urging the world nations, ...

More than 150,000 Syrian babies born in Turkey: deputy PM

European and Asian stock markets slid today after a key weekend meeting of finance ministers failed to quash concerns about stalling global growth.
	Frankfurt's DAX 30 index led Europe lower, sliding by 1.6 per cent in midday deals.
	In Asia, Chinese shares closed down 2.86 per cent, as traders remained unconvinced that the G20 group of top economic nations had promised enough to revive the world's sagging economy.
	"European equities are trading lower on the back of... the G20 meeting concluding in Shanghai without any major breakthrough where stimulating global growth is concerned," said Markus Huber, a trader at City of London Markets.
	"Souring the mood somewhat not only in Asia but also in Europe is the fact that China has once again fixed its currency lower... This does not only keep the spotlight on a slowing Chinese economy but also creates further uncertainty going forward."
	Adding to the unease was official data today showing that eurozone inflation in February fell sharply 

World stocks retreat on lack of G20 action

The UN human rights chief today warned that thousands of people risk dying of starvation in besieged areas in Syria where nearly half a million remain trapped.
	"The deliberate starvation of people is unequivocally forbidden as a weapon of warfare. By extension, so are sieges, which deprive civilians of essential goods such as food," Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said.
	In an address opening the UN Human Rights Council's main annual session, Zeid pointed to the desperate situation of an estimated 480,000 people "currently trapped in besieged towns and villages in Syria -- and have been, in some cases for years."
	Aid workers say several dozen people have died of starvation just in Madaya, which became a symbol of the plight of besieged Syrians after shocking images of starving residents spread last month.
	But Zeid warned that the situation could be far more dire.
	"Thousands of people risk starving to death," he said.
	His comments came as the UN was preparing to deliver aid to thousands of .

Thousands risk starving to death in besieged Syrian areas: UN

Pope Francis said today that "devastating" Islamist and other violence in the Middle East and Africa had brought different churches closer, as he met the Ethiopian Orthodox leader.
	It was a theme he raised in talks with the Russian Orthodox patriarch in Cuba earlier this month where he spoke extensively about church unity and the attacks faced by Christians in the Middle East and North Africa.
	"The shared suffering means that Christians, who are otherwise divided on several issues, have become much closer to one another," he said on meeting Patriarch Abuna Matthias at the Vatican.
	"The blood of martyrs belonging to different churches will serve as the seed of Christian unity," he said.
	The pope had sent a message of support to the Ethiopian patriarch last April after 28 Ethiopians were massacred on a Libyan beach by the Islamic State group, saying it was "immaterial" which strand of Christianity they followed, saying "their blood is the same".
	Today, he said the Ethiopian church .

'Devastating' Islamist violence is uniting Christians: pope

A German court today suspended the trial of former SS medic Hubert Zafke for aiding in 3,681 murders in Auschwitz after the 95-year-old failed to attend over health problems.
	Chief judge Klaus Kabisch put the proceedings on hold shortly after they opened, saying a doctor who examined the defendant yesterday found that he had "suicidal thoughts and was suffering from stress reaction and hypertension".
	He was therefore "not in a state" to be transported to the court or to be heard, the judge said.
	Zafke was working at the Nazi death camp from August 15 to September 14, 1944, a period when teenage diarist Anne Frank was interned there.
	Prosecutors charge that by serving at Auschwitz, the former medical orderly "knew of and willingly supported the industrially organised mass killing people in an insidious and cruel manner".
	Zafke's ability to stand trial had long been a key contention.
	A first court had ruled against a trial, finding that he was suffering from dementia, before an ...

German court suspends trial of ill ex-Auschwitz medic, 95

The US embassy in Iraq has released evacuation recommendations it said could help save up to 1.5 million lives at risk from a catastrophic failure of the Mosul Dam.
	Concern has grown in recent months over a possible collapse of Iraq's largest dam, which would unleash a wave that would devastate second city Mosul and flood much of the capital Baghdad.
	The dam in northern Iraq was built on an unstable foundation that continuously erodes, and a lapse in required maintenance after the Islamic State jihadist group briefly seized it in 2014 weakened the already flawed structure.
	"We have no specific information that indicates when a breach might occur," the US embassy said in a statement posted on its website late yesterday.
	"But out of an abundance of caution, we would like to underscore that prompt evacuation offers the most effective tool to save lives of the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis living in the most dangerous part of the flood path in the event of a breach."
	The embassy's .

US releases Iraq dam collapse evacuation advice

Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny faced a struggle to form a new government today after apparently failing to win a majority, as counting continued after a vote marked by anger against austerity.
	Voters punished Kenny's Fine Gael party and its junior coalition partner Labour, stripping dozens of lawmakers of their seats.
	With all but 10 seats declared, the two parties had just 53 seats between them -- leaving them short of the 80 required for a majority and raising the prospect of a second vote if no deal can be reached.
	"The people have spoken, it's going to take a while to figure out what exactly they have said," said outgoing Fine Gael junior minister Simon Harris after he was re-elected.
	The outgoing coalition campaigned for a second term on a platform of maintaining a recovery that has seen Ireland become the fastest-growing country in the European Union, but which many felt had yet to improve things for ordinary people squeezed by years of austerity cuts.
	The results left ...

Ireland facing struggle to find new government

Hundreds of refugees today tried to break through a border fence into Macedonia from Greece where more than 6,000 people are stranded, as Germany lashed out at EU states for abandoning Greece to refugee chaos.
	Macedonian police fired tear gas as a group of some 300 Iraqi and Syrian protesters forced their way through a Greek police cordon and raced towards a railway track where they tried to get through the barbed wire marking the frontier between the two countries, an AFP correspondent said.
	"Open the borders!" they shouted, prompting police to fire volleys of tear gas which prevented them from crossing.
	The angry protest took place several hours after Macedonia allowed some 300 Syrians and Iraqis to cross before resealing the frontier, keeping thousands of others out.
	With Austria and Balkan states capping the numbers of migrants entering their territory, there has been a swift buildup along the Greece-Macedonia border with Athens warning that the number of people "trapped" on ..

Teargas as migrants try to run Greece-Macedonia border fence

Omnipresent on the chaotic streets of Mumbai, Jakarta and Bangkok, Asia's three-wheeled "tuk-tuk" has now come to Africa -- and with a two-fold bonus: providing much-needed jobs and slashing accidents.
	Cheap to run and safer than the traditional motorcycle taxi, the auto-rickshaw is an increasingly common sight trundling along the traffic-choked streets of the continent's sprawling capitals.
	Known in Tanzania and Ethiopia as "bajaj", in Egypt as "toktok", in Nigeria as "keke-marwa" and in Sudan as "raksha", the tuk-tuk has now hit Liberia, where delighted locals have christened their own version the "kekeh".
	Motorcycle taxis, known locally as "two-tires", were the go-to means of public transport in Liberia's capital Monrovia until lawmakers outlawed them in 2013 amid concerns over reckless riding and the high toll of accidents.
	The ban paved the way for the kekeh, imported from India and China by numerous operators, mostly Nigerian and Guinean, who employ young Liberians.
	"What's 

Asia's tuk-tuks providing a wheel boost to Africa

China's central bank today cut the proportion of funds banks must set aside as reserves, according to a statement, in the latest attempt to tackle slowing growth in the world's second-largest economy.
	The People's Bank of China (PBoC) said it would trim the so-called "reserve requirement ratio" (RRR) for financial institutions by 0.50 per centage points.
	The move came immediately after a G20 finance ministers' meeting in Shanghai, which stressed the use of all available tools to boost growth, and with Chinese and global stock markets assailed by worries over the economy.
	The decision also preempted the opening this weekend of the annual session of the National People's Congress, China's rubber stamp parliament.
	China's economy grew an annual 6.9 per cent in 2015 -- the lowest in a quarter century -- and analysts widely expect it to slow further this year.
	The RRR cut, which was widely expected by analysts, is the first across-the-board reserve ratio cut since October last year, ..

China cuts bank reserve requirements for economic boost

The United Nations prepared to deliver aid to thousands of besieged civilians in Syria today as a fragile ceasefire entered its third day largely intact despite accusations of violations.
	UN humanitarian coordinator Yacoub El Hillo said the world body hoped to take advantage of the first major truce in five years of conflict to distribute supplies to an extra 154,000 people living in besieged areas over the next five days.
	A successful truce would also create a more favourable backdrop for peace talks that collapsed in acrimony in early February as a Russia-backed regime offensive in northern Syria caused tens of thousands to flee.
	UN envoy Staffan de Mistura aims to relaunch the talks on March 7 if the ceasefire lasts and more aid is delivered.
	The main opposition grouping yesterday described the ceasefire as "positive" but lodged a formal complaint with the United Nations and foreign governments about breaches.
	"We have violations here and there, but in general it is a lot ...

UN eyes Syria aid deliveries as truce enters day three

Three people died and five are missing after water flooded a mine in a mountainous gold rush town in the southern Philippines, police said today.
	Rescuers lowered tubes to pump water out of the mine in the impoverished town of Monkayo during the search for the missing, said provincial police commander Senior Superintendent Albert Ferro.
	It was not immediately clear how the tunnel became flooded early yesterday but there was heavy rain in the area at the time, Ferro told AFP.
	Twelve miners were initially trapped. Two bodies were retrieved while five others were rescued and five are still missing, he said.
	A rescuer drowned yesterday while trying to save those trapped, he said, bring the death toll to three.
	Deadly landslides are common in Monkayo in the west of the main southern island of Mindanao. But these have not deterred poor residents, some of them children, from working in the poorly-regulated mines.

Three dead, five missing in Philippine mine accident: police

Five Mexican states were put on alert after a truck carrying a container of potentially dangerous radioactive material was stolen, the interior ministry said.
	The National Coordination of Civil Protection issued the warning yesterday after a company in the central state of Queretaro reported that a pick-up truck carrying radioactive iridium-192 had been stolen.
	The ministry said the material "can be dangerous for people if not handled safely" and could cause "permanent or serious injury to a person who is handling or in contact with it for a short time".
	Such damage could occur after contact lasting anywhere from minutes to hours, it added.
	Officials said the radioactive material represented a significant health risk if taken outside its container, but was not dangerous if kept sealed.
	The material, which is used in industrial radiography, belonged to the company Industrial Maintenance Center located in the city of San Juan del Rio.
	In addition to Queretaro, the states of ...

Mexico issues alert after theft of radioactive material

Three former executives of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant operator were indicted today over the 2011 atomic accident, in what will be the first criminal trial linked to the disaster.
	Ex-Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata, then-vice president Sakae Muto and former vice president Ichiro Takekuro were formally charged with professional negligence resulting in deaths and injury.
	The trio were not taken into custody.
	"We were notified from our lawyers that the three were indicted," a spokeswoman for a campaign group pushing for a trial told AFP.
	A judicial review panel composed of ordinary citizens ruled in July -- for the second time since the accident -- that the trio should be put on trial.
	The decision compelled prosecutors to press on with the criminal case under Japanese law.
	Prosecutors had twice refused to press charges against the men, citing insufficient evidence and little chance of conviction.
	It will be the first criminal trial over ...

Former TEPCO bosses indicted over Fukushima disaster

At least 30 people have been killed in twin bomb attacks claimed by Shebab Islamists in the Somali city of Baidoa, the regional governor said today.
	"The official number of the dead has reached 30 people - all of them civilians - and 61 others have been wounded, 15 of them seriously," Abdurashid Abdulahi, governor of Bay region, told AFP.
	An initial car bomb struck a popular restaurant in a busy part of the regional capital yesterday afternoon, with a suicide bomber nearby hitting people as they fled the area.
	"The explosion occurred in a densely populated area," said Abdirahman Ibrahim, a police officer in Baidoa.
	Another policeman, Abdi Hared, said there were "twin blasts" from a car bomb and a suicide bomber.
	The explosions shredded the roofs of nearby buildings, tore chunks out of vehicles and left bodies, plastic chairs and tables strewn across the road.
	The Al-Qaeda aligned Shebab jihadists claimed responsiblity for the attacks, saying local officials were targeted.
	"The .

AFP

AFP

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