Gas-rich Qatar signed a USD 470-million deal on Sunday to build its first solar energy plant, capable of meeting up to one-tenth of peak national power demand.
The Al-Kharsaah plant, near the capital, is a 10-square-kilometre joint venture with French and Japanese partners due for completion in 2022 ahead of the football World Cup.
"Eight times the solar power pledged in the World Cup bid will be produced," Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi told a media briefing in Doha.
Qatar's ruler, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, vowed at the United Nations last year that the tournament would be carbon neutral, but gave little detail on how this would be achieved.
"Production capacity will be around 800 megawatts and 10 percent of peak demand," said Kaabi following a signing ceremony between Qatari state firms, France's Total and Japan's Marubeni.
"Eight-hundred megawatts will be the largest (solar power plant) built by Total," said the French energy giant's chief executive, Patrick Pouyanne.
By 

Qatar signs USD 470 mn solar deal

PTI Automatic

Avalanches, heavy snow and poor visibility hampered the search Sunday for four South Koreans and three Nepalis caught in an avalanche in the popular Annapurna region of the Himalayas, officials said.
Relatives of the missing Koreans have arrived in Kathmandu alongside several officials sent by Seoul to help with the emergency rescue efforts, Ang Dorjee Sherpa of the Korean Alpine Federation told AFP.
The missing group was near the Annapurna base camp around 3,230 metres (10,600 feet) above sea level when the avalanche struck after heavy snowfall on Friday.
"Our team reached the area but could not proceed with their search because of more avalanches. We are exploring ways to move the operation forward," said Mira Acharya from Nepal's tourism department.
Rescuers were working with Korean officials to deploy drones in the search on Monday, said Dilip Gurung of the tourism management committee in Chhomrong, which lies on the trekking route.
"It is difficult for people to go. We will try ..

Heavy snow hampers search for missing S Korean, Nepal trekkers

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Sunday that Britain would be ready to send "people and experts" to help monitor a Libya ceasefire should one be brokered by world powers at a summit in Berlin.
Johnson told Britain's Sky News television on his arrival in the German capital that it was time for "external proxies" to stop interfering in the war.
"Proxy conflicts only come to an end when the external proxies decide that they want to bring it to an end," said Johnson.
"We want to have a UN-led peace process and stop this jockeying for position. The people of Libya have suffered enough."
Asked whether UK forces could play a ceasefire monitoring role, Johnson replied: "If there is a ceasefire, yes of course there is a case for us doing what we do very well, which is sending people, experts to monitor the ceasefire.
"I don't see any ceasefire at the moment," he added. "That's what we are arguing for today."
The Berlin summit's main goal is to get foreign powers wielding influence, including .

Britain's Johnson says open to Libya monitoring role

Kenyan authorities have arrested five people suspected of preparing a terror attack in Nairobi, according to a police report seen by AFP on Sunday.
The group comprises three men -- a US citizen, a Somali and their Kenyan driver -- and two Somali women who were believed to be on a reconnaissance mission for an attack in the north of the capital, the report dated Saturday said.
Police received information on Friday saying that "suspected terrorists" were carrying out a surveillance operation at a pub on Kiambu Road, a spot popular for its many bars and nightclubs.
Kenyan security forces have been on high alert since the Somali Al-Shabaab group, close to Al-Qaeda, stepped up attacks in the east of the country this month, threatening to target more Kenyan and US interests.
On January 5, the Somali Al-Shabaab group attacked Camp Simba, killing three Americans and destroying several aircraft and warning Kenya to withdraw its forces from Somalia while they still "have the chance".
Kenya sent 

Kenya arrests five for suspected terrorism

The European Union has urged Turkey to drop plans to drill for oil and gas around Cyprus and the eastern Mediterranean, saying such exploration was "illegal".
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed Thursday that Turkey would start exploring for gas in the eastern Mediterranean "as soon as possible" this year, after signing a maritime deal with Libya.
"Concrete steps towards creating an environment conducive to dialogue in good faith are needed," EU foreign policy spokesman Peter Stano said in a statement released Saturday.
"The intention by Turkey to launch further exploration and drilling activities in the wider region goes, regrettably, in the opposite direction." Ankara has angered neighbouring countries in the Mediterranean with an agreement signed with the Tripoli government in November, which claimed extensive areas of the sea for Turkey.
Greece says the deal fails to respect its maritime rights around the island of Crete.  Turkey has already upset Cyprus by sending ships to ...

EU warns Turkey off Mediterranean gas exploration plans

Jordan's parliament Sunday voted in favour of a law to ban gas imports from Israel, weeks after the Jewish state began pumping it to the kingdom in a USD 10 billion deal.
It remained unclear however whether the government in Amman would back the legislative push against an agreement which it has said improves energy security for Jordanians.
Earlier this month Israel began exporting gas from the offshore Leviathan field to neighbours Jordan and Egypt -- the only two Arab countries it has peace treaties with -- under a 15-year agreement.
The deal struck with the Amman government sparked streets protests in Jordan, where many consider Israel as an enemy.
"The majority has voted to send an urgent motion to the government" requesting a law banning Israeli gas imports to Jordan, parliamentary speaker Atef Tarawneh said, in remarks carried live by state television.
TV footage showed a majority of MPs in parliament's lower house stand up to back the motion, which was decided after 58 out of ..

Jordan parliament demands ban on Israel gas imports

Twelve people were killed and another 46 injured when two buses collided early Sunday in Algeria's northeast, emergency services said, in the latest tragedy of its kind in the North African country.
Emergency teams arrived at "around 1:10 am (local time) following a fatal accident, a collision between two buses, on the state highway near the city of Astil" in the province of Biskra, 500 km southeast of Algiers, a statement said.
"Twelve people, aged 19 to 73, were killed and 46 were injured," it added.
Public radio quoted Ahmed Baoudji, director of emergency services for the nearby city of El Oued, as saying preliminary investigations indicated speeding was the probable cause.
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune offered his condolences to the victims' families and asked Prime Minister Abdelaziz Djerad to oversee assistance, the radio added, while Interior Minister Kamel Beldjoud and Health Minister Abderrahmane Benbouzid went to the scene.
According to the national road safety ...

Twelve dead after buses collide in Algeria

Iran on Sunday accused Asian football's governing body of bias for a mooted ban on it hosting club matches, after a spate of security incidents including the downing of an airliner.
"It appears that the decision of your Competitions Committee was influenced by foreign media hostile" towards Iran, Sports Minister Masoud Soltanifar told the head of the Asian Football Confederation, according to the ministry's news agency.
"Iran is a safe and powerful country... We have no problems regarding the security of aviation," he was quoted as saying in the call with AFC chief Salman Bin Ibrahim al-Khalifa.
The minister said that in addition he would "personally guarantee the security of visiting football teams".
The row comes as tensions soar between the West and Iran following the killing of top commander Qasem Soleimani in a US air strike in Baghdad on January 3.
Iran retaliated five days later by launching a wave of missiles at US troops stationed in neighbouring Iraq.
It had still been on ...

Iran accuses AFC of bias over 'ban' on hosting football

Protests escalated across Iraq's south and its capital Baghdad on Sunday as demonstrators sealed off streets with burning tyres in outrage at the government's slow pace of reform.
The youth-dominated rallies demanding an overhaul of the ruling system have rocked Shiite-majority parts of Iraq since October, but had thinned out in recent weeks amid the geopolitical storm of rising Iran-US tensions.
On Sunday the anti-government protest movement was re-ignited with hundreds of angry young people descending on the main protest camp in Baghdad's Tahrir Square as well as the nearby Tayaran Square.
Others burned tyres to block highways and bridges, turning back cars and leading to traffic jams across the city.
"This is only the first escalation," one protester with a scarf wrapped around his face told AFP as smoke from the tyres turned the sky behind him a charcoal grey.
"We want to send a message to the government: stop procrastinating. The people know what you're doing," he said.
Security .

Iraq protests swell with youth angry at slow pace of reform

World leaders gathered in Berlin on Sunday to make a fresh push for peace in Libya, in a desperate bid to stop the conflict-wracked nation from turning into a "second Syria".
Chancellor Angela Merkel will be joined by the presidents of Russia, Turkey and France and other world leaders for talks from around 2:00 pm (1300 GMT) held under the auspices of the United Nations.
The summit's main goal is to get foreign powers wielding influence in the region to stop interfering in the war -- be it through weapons, troops or financing.
Leaders of both warring factions -- strongman Khalifa Haftar and the head of Tripoli's UN-recognised government Fayez al-Sarraj -- are also expected at what is the first such gathering since 2018.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday said the summit could be "an important step on the way to cementing the ceasefire and a political solution" in Libya.  But pro-Haftar forces upped the ante ahead of the talks by blocking oil exports at Libya's key ports, 

World powers seek elusive Libya peace in Berlin talks

Zimbabwe made sedate progress and reached lunch at 62 without loss against Sri Lanka after winning the toss in Harare on Sunday in their first home Test since 2017.
Prince Masvaure compiled a watchful 42 and will resume the afternoon session alongside debutant Kevin Kasuza, unbeaten on 20, in Zimbabwe's first Test in 14 months.
Zimbabwe captain Sean Williams elected to bat first despite overcast skies at the Harare Sports Club as the hosts handed Test debuts to three players -- opening batsman Kasuza, left-arm spinner Ainsley Ndlovu and seam bowler Victor Nyauchi.
Fast bowler Suranga Lakmal returned for Sri Lanka, having missed the entire Pakistan series, while Angelo Mathews was also included in an experienced side led by Dimuth Karunaratne.
The two-Test tour was only announced by the Sri Lankan cricket board earlier this week.
Zimbabwe were readmitted as an ICC member last October following a three-month suspension over political interference.
The Sri Lanka games represent their ...

Zimbabwe make steady start in first home Test since 2017

England enforced the follow-on after they needed only 28 balls to dismiss South Africa's last four batsmen on the fourth day of the third Test at St George's Park on Sunday.
But rain delayed their progress with South Africa on 15 for no wicket in their second innings, still 275 runs behind England's first innings total of 499 for nine declared. Rain started to fall 57 minutes before lunch and no further play was possible before the interval.
Stuart Broad took three wickets as South Africa added only one run to be bowled out for 209.
Armed with the second new ball, Broad struck with the fourth delivery of the morning when Vernon Philander missed a drive against a full delivery which swung in between bat and pad. He was out for 27.
Sam Curran uprooted Quinton de Kock's middle stump with the fifth ball of the next over with the left-hander missing an extravagant drive against a ball angled in from the left-armed bowler. De Kock had not added to his overnight score of 63.
Keshav Maharaj ..

England enforce follow-on before rain stops play

More than 80 Yemeni soldiers have been killed and scores injured in a missile and drone attack blamed on Huthi rebels in central Yemen, medical and military sources said Sunday.
Saturday's strike follows months of relative calm in the war between the Iran-backed Huthis and Yemen's internationally recognised government, which is backed by a Saudi-led military coalition.
The Huthis attacked a mosque in a military camp in the central province of Marib -- about 170 kilometres (105 miles) east of the capital Sanaa -- during evening prayers, military sources told AFP.
A medical source at a Marib city hospital, where the casualties were transported, said that 83 soldiers were killed and 148 injured in the strike.
Death tolls in Yemen's grinding conflict are often disputed, but the huge toll in Marib represents one of the bloodiest single attacks since the war erupted in 2014 when the rebels seized Sanaa.
The drone and missile strike came a day after coalition-backed government forces ...

More than 80 soldiers killed in Yemen missile, drone attack

The flag-draped coffins of the 11 Ukrainians who died in a plane mistakenly shot down by Iran amid heightened tensions with Washington arrived in Kiev on Sunday.
President Volodymyr Zelensky, Prime Minister Oleksiy Goncharuk and other officials attended the solemn ceremony at Kiev's Boryspil airport to see the downed plane's nine Ukrainian flight crew and two passengers being removed from the aircraft, according to live video footage.
Ukraine International Airlines staff, some in tears, stood on the tarmac clutching flowers.
The Kiev-bound UIA Boeing 737, crashed shortly after taking off from Tehran on January 8, killing all 176 people on board, mostly Iranian and Canadian citizens.
The Boeing crashed shortly after Iran launched missiles at US forces in Iraq in response to the killing of top Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in a US drone strike in Baghdad.
Tehran admitted it had mistakenly shot down the plane several days later.

Bodies of Ukrainian victims of downed plane repatriated from Iran

Almost 400 people have been wounded during running battles between Lebanese anti-government protesters and security forces in Beirut, rescuers said, the heaviest toll since the demonstrations erupted three months ago.
More street rallies were expected later Sunday as part of the wave of popular protests that has demanded the wholesale ouster of the Lebanese political class, which the activists condemn as inept and corrupt.
At least 377 people were injured -- both protesters and members of the security forces -- according to a toll compiled by AFP from figures provided by the Red Cross and Civil Defence.
Protesters had called for a week of "anger" as an economic crisis deepened while efforts remained deadlocked to form a new government to replace a leadership that stepped down under street pressure late last year.
Saturday's clashes began after dozens of protesters, some concealing their faces with scarves, threw rocks, plant pots and other objects at anti-riot police guarding the road 

Hundreds hurt as Lebanon protests turn violent

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei

iran, protests, soleimani, US, air strike

Since May 2019, Iran has progressively scaled back some commitments under the agreement in response to the US sanctions and Europe's inability to circumvent them.

Iran threatens nuclear non-cooperation with IAEA if European pressure rises

Press Trust of India

Several police officers were beaten bloody by pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong Sunday as violence erupted at a rally calling for greater democratic freedoms in the heart of the city.
Trouble flared when police ordered the gathering to disperse from the city's commercial district, with protesters gathering behind shields of umbrellas.
A group of plainclothes officers negotiating with the rally organisers was set upon by masked protesters, who beat them with umbrellas, an AFP reporter on the scene said.
At least two officers were seen with bloody head wounds.
Riot police swept into the area and fired tear gas to disperse the crowds.
Brief cat and mouse clashes ensued with police making multiple arrests, including one protester who had blood streaming from the back of his head.
Hong Kong's protests have raged for seven months after being sparked by a now-abandoned proposal to allow extraditions to the authoritarian mainland, where the opaque legal system answers to the Communist ...

Officers beaten after police disband Hong Kong democracy rally

Israel's army said it would start drilling to install ground sensors along its border with Lebanon on Sunday, a year after an operation to destroy tunnels dug across the frontier.
"We are deploying a defensive system into the ground.. in various locations" along the border, spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus told journalists.
Work would get underway Sunday at the Israeli kibbutz town of Misgav Am, he said, to deploy the new noise-detecting technology.
The move comes a year after Israel concluded a weeks-long operation to destroy tunnels it accused Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah of building.
At least six tunnels were discovered in the operation dubbed "Northern Shield" along the border where a United Nations peacekeeping force is deployed.
Conricus said the drilling is "not related to any new intelligence" and all military activity would take place on the Israeli side of the border.
Work at Misgav Am is expected to last a number of weeks before the sensors are installed ...

Israel starts to install sensors along Lebanon border

World leaders gather in Berlin on Sunday to make a fresh push for peace in Libya, in a desperate bid to stop the conflict-wracked nation from turning into a "second Syria".
Chancellor Angela Merkel will be joined by the presidents of Russia, Turkey and France and other world leaders for talks from around 2:00 pm (1830 IST) held under the auspices of the United Nations.
The summit's main goal is to get foreign powers wielding influence in the region to stop interfering in the war -- be it through weapons, troops or financing.
Leaders of both warring factions -- strongman Khalifa Haftar and the head of Tripoli's UN-recognised government Fayez al-Sarraj -- are also expected at what is the first such gathering since 2018.
Speaking to reporters before leaving Istanbul for Berlin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the summit could be "an important step on the way to cementing the ceasefire and a political solution" in Libya.
But pro-Haftar forces upped the ante ahead of the talks .

World powers in Berlin to seek elusive Libya peace

At least eight people died and thirty were injured after a fire at a home for people with learning disabilities in a western Czech town early Sunday, rescuers said.
"A total of 38 people were affected by the fire, of them eight unfortunately died," emergency services spokesman Prokop Volenik told AFP.
He said 30 people were taken to hospital -- one in critical condition, three with serious injuries and 26 with light or no injuries.
Czech media said the fire which was now under control was reported at 0349 GMT.
"The fire broke out in the boys' section of a home for the mentally handicapped," said Jitka Gavdunova, the mayor of Vejprty, a small town on the German border some 100 kilometres (60 miles) northwest of Prague.
Originally, rescuers said the fire had occurred at a nearby home for the elderly.
"It's insane, we're swamped with phone calls from the relatives of the pensioners," said Gavdunova.
Volenik said it was too early to talk about the causes of the blaze.
He added seven ...

At least eight die in blaze at Czech disability home

At least 70 Yemeni soldiers have been killed in missile and drone attacks blamed on Huthi rebels, on a mosque in the central province of Marib, medical and military sources said Sunday.
Saturday's strike follows months of relative calm in the war between the Iran-backed Huthis and Yemen's internationally recognised government which is backed by a Saudi-led military coalition.
The Huthis attacked a mosque in a military camp in Marib -- about 170 kilometres (105 miles) east of the capital Sanaa -- during evening prayers, military sources told AFP.
A medical source at a Marib city hospital, where the casualties were transported, said that at least 70 soldiers were killed and more than 50 injured in the strike.
The attack came a day after coalition-backed government forces launched a large-scale operation against the Huthis in the Naham region, north of Sanaa.  Fighting in Naham was ongoing on Sunday, a military source said according to the official Saba news agency.
"Dozens from the ...

AFP

AFP

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