Romania's parliament today rejected a motion of no-confidence in the government of Prime Minister Victor Ponta who has been embroiled in a corruption inquiry.
	The motion -- the third of its kind against the government since Ponta took office in 2012 -- fell far short of the 278 votes needed for it pass.
	Only 194 lawmakers in the 554-member assembly, where Ponta's centre-left coalition has a large majority, voted in favour.
	Coming three days after the parliament voted against stripping Ponta of his immunity the outcome of the vote came as little surprise.
	"We're going to get to work because the country needs to be governed," the 42-year-old Social Democratic premier said afterwards.
	On Tuesday, lawmakers rejected a request from the DNA anti-corruption agency to lift Ponta's immunity to allow prosecutors investigate him for conflict of interest.
	The agency said it would however continue investigating him on suspicion of money laundering and tax evasion between 2007 and 2011, ...

Romanian PM survives no-confidence vote amid corruption claims

PTI Automatic

The main areas of contention in UN climate talks are as follows.
	Most parties agree overall global warming must be limited to two degrees Celsius over pre-Industrial Revolution levels, though states that are most exposed to climate change want a lower ceiling of 1.5 C.
	One proposal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40-70 per cent from 2010 levels by 2050 and near-zero emissions by 2100, as advised by UN climate scientists.
	Some parties want deeper cuts, sooner, while others are against setting any numerical targets in stone.
	The issue that permeates everything, "differentiation" is about apportioning responsibility between rich and developing nations for cutting carbon emissions.
	Developing nations want rich economies, which have polluted for longer, to shoulder a bigger burden. Wealthy countries, in turn, point to the rise of emerging giants like China and India as massive emitters of carbon from burning fossil fuel to drive their growth.
	Developing nations want ...

Crunch issues for climate negotiators

Three couples were publicly caned in Indonesia's Aceh today after the unmarried university students were caught spending time alone together in violation of the province's strict Islamic laws.
	A rowdy crowd of about 1,000 spectators shouted as the three men and three women, aged between 18 and 23, were lashed several times each with a rattan cane in a square in Banda Aceh, the capital of Aceh.
	A fourth woman, aged in her 40s, was also publicly caned for committing adultery. One of the women fainted after being caned four times and had to be carried off by officials.
	"Hopefully those who are being caned will realise their mistakes and feel remorseful and repent to God so that they can become noble humans again," Ridwan, an official from the local Islamic sharia law office who goes by one name, said before the caning.
	Public caning is a common punishment in Aceh, which is the only province in the world's most populous Muslim-majority country that is allowed to implement Islamic ...

Indonesia's Islamic Aceh province canes unwed couples

The World Health Organisation said today it would soon call an emergency meeting on the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) as the death toll from the virus rises in South Korea.
	WHO's "emergency committee will meet soon" to discuss the crisis, spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told reporters in Geneva, without specifying a date.
	He stressed that "the number of new cases is decreasing," but warned: "we have to monitor the situation."
	The committee will determine whether the current outbreak "constitutes a global health emergency crisis," he said.
	MERS symptoms range from flu-like aches and pains to pneumonia and kidney failure.
	The virus is considered a deadlier cousin of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which appeared in 2003 and killed more than 800 around the world.
	Globally, some 1,200 people have been infected with MERS and some 450 have died since the virus first emerged in 2012.
	South Korea has suffered the largest outbreak of the virus outside Saudi Arabia.
	A ...

WHO to hold soon MERS emergency meeting

South Korea's oldest nuclear reactor is expected to be shut down permanently in 2017 after growing safety concerns over the ageing facility.
	A state energy committee has decided to urge the state-financed Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co. (KHNP) to close the Gori Reactor No.1 in the southern port of Busan.
	The 580 megawatt reactor would be the first reactor to be closed in South Korea.
	"We have decided that it would be desirable for the reactor to be shut down permanently for the sake of middle-and-long term development of the nuclear industry", Energy Minister Yoon Sang-Jick told journalists.
	"We will advise KHNP to do so", Yoon, chair of the committee, said after presiding over the committee's policy-making session.
	Built with US Westinghouse technology, the reactor started commercial production in 1978.
	Its initial life cycle ended in 2007 but the government in 2008 granted it a new lease of life, allowing it to continue operating until 2017.
	Environmental activists welcomed 

S. Korea to close its oldest reactor

Germany's chief prosecutor has dropped a probe into the alleged tapping of Chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile phone by US intelligence agencies, his office said today.
	The suspected surveillance and rampant online spying by the US National Security Agency (NSA) revealed by fugitive US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden badly strained US- German relations.
	The German chief prosecutor Harald Range said he had put an end to his year-old probe, citing a lack of hard evidence that would stand up in a court of law.
	"The Chief Federal Prosecutor has closed the investigation over suspected spying on a mobile phone used by the chancellor by US intelligence services... Because the allegation cannot be proven in a legally sound way under criminal law," a statement said.
	Media reports in October 2013 said that the NSA had tapped Merkel's mobile phone - a claim Washington appeared to confirm later when US officials said the cellphone was no longer a target.
	Merkel phoned US President ...

Germany drops probe into alleged US tapping of Merkel phone

A court in Bahrain has handed down sentences of up to life imprisonment against 57 Shiites accused of plotting attacks against police and other targets, state media reported.
	The defendants were convicted yesterday of forming an organisation in 2012-2013 that "used terrorism as a way to achieve its aims," the prosecution said in a statement carried by the official BNA news agency.
	The high criminal court found that the group had smuggled weapons and explosives into the Gulf kingdom and plotted attacks against police and vital infrastructure, as well as a foreign embassy, the prosecution said.
	Gulf Daily News said the targets included the Saudi embassy and the causeway linking Bahrain with neighbouring Saudi Arabia.
	The court handed down five life sentences, 22 15-year terms, 29 10-year terms and one three-year term. Four defendants were acquitted.
	Only 33 of the defendants are in custody. The rest were tried in absentia.
	General prosecutor Ahmed al-Hammadi said all those ...

Bahrain jails 57 Shiites on bomb plot charges

Italy's busiest airport is cutting back the number of flights to ease passenger congestion after a fire caused widespread damage at one of its terminals, the civil aviation authority said Friday.
	Capacity at Rome's Fiumicino airport will gradually be reduced to 60 per cent from Saturday as "a precautionary measure" after the May fire forced the closure of the security gates in terminal three, which handles international flights.
	Passengers have been checking in for flights at other terminals but the increase in traffic is putting a strain on the system, the ENAC aurthority said.
	Air France-KLM, one of the airlines which flies in and out of terminal three, told AFP today that it would be cancelling some flights -- but added it hoped to accommodate affected passengers by using larger long-haul aircraft.
	Some 11 million passengers passed through Fiumicino airport between January and April, according to official figures, a rise of 8.3 percent on the same period in 2014.
	Rome's main ..

Rome's Fiumicino airport to cut back flights after blaze

A 6.3-magnitude quake struck off the Pacific nation of Tonga today, the US Geological Survey said, but there was no tsunami warning.
	The tremor hit at 11:07 pm local time (1107 GMT) 89 kilometres (55 miles) east-northeast of Hihifo, Tonga, and 235 kilometres southeast of the Samoan capital Apia, USGS said.
	The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said no tsunami warnings were in effect.
	Geoscience Australia measured the quake at 6.2 with a depth of 30 kilometres.
	Tonga sits on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, a region of frequent seismic activity due to collisions between continental plates.

6.3-magnitude quake hits off Tonga: USGS

US Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter has called on Beijing to stop building artificial islands in the disputed waters of the South China Sea, as he hosted a top Chinese general.
	The visit to the Pentagon of General Fan Changlong, vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission, was relatively low key amid simmering tensions over the maritime dispute and a massive hack of US federal employees.
	China insists it has sovereignty over nearly all of the South China Sea, a major global shipping route believed to be home to oil and gas reserves, but rival claimants accuse it of expansionism.
	"Carter reiterated US concerns on the South China Sea and called on China and all claimants to implement a lasting halt on land reclamation, cease further militarization and pursue a peaceful resolution of territorial disputes in accordance with international law," the Pentagon said in a statement.
	Carter had previously accused China of being out of step with international rules in its conduct ..

Pentagon chief urges China to stop island building

Suspected Chinese hackers who infiltrated the US government's human resources records have sensitive information on all federal employees, an American union has said.
	In a letter to authorities yesterday, the American Federation of Government Employees said it believes hackers - who others have linked to China - obtained confidential identification numbers that each American needs to get a job, a driving license or a bank account.
	"We believe that Social Security numbers were not encrypted, a cybersecurity failure that is absolutely indefensible and outrageous," union president David Cox said in a letter to the government's Office of Personnel Management, subject of the vast breach.
	"The hackers are now in possession of all personnel data for every federal employee, every federal retiree, and up to one million former federal employees."
	The union said that data concerning an individual's address, date of birth, salary and military record were also compromised.
	The US government ..

Union says hackers got sensitive data on all US govt staff

Asia-Pacific ministers today vowed to counter violent extremism promoted by jihadist groups such as Islamic State at a two-day regional summit in Sydney, with Australia's Attorney-General saying their goal was to build societies resilient to terrorism.
	The two-day conference, which included ministers and officials from 24 countries as well as from the European Union and United Nations, focused on governments' moves to strengthen links to communities and civil societies in a bid to stop citizens being radicalised.
	"I consider this summit an historic event, and an occasion we must build on to implement tangible outcomes that will make a material difference in this region's fight against terrorism," Attorney-General George Brandis said at the summit's closing address in Sydney.
	"The leaders of our region have sent a strong message to the world - that we will not sit idle and allow terrorist groups to continue to recruit and radicalise our citizens through their perverse ...

Asia-Pacific ministers vow to fight IS

Taxi hailing app Uber plans to invest seven billion yuan (USD 1.1 billion) in China, media reported today.
	The Financial Times reported that it obtained the message sent to Uber investors this week by its CEO Travis Kalanick.
	The FT posted a copy of the email file in a hyperlink within the article.
	"Given our recent success in the region and substantial market share gains, we are planning to invest over 7 billion RMB (over 1 billion USD) in China in 2015 alone," the email said, referring to renminbi, another name for the Chinese currency.
	Uber riders were making almost 1 million trips per day with business doubling in the last month, the email added.
	It also said that Uber is operating in 11 cities in China, and over the next year plans to begin operations in 50 of the more than 80 Chinese cities that have populations of more than five million people.
	Uber launched operations in China in February last year. The company in China refused to comment.
	"We don't comment on this ...

Uber plans USD 1 billion China investment: report

International police body Interpol today announced it was suspending a 10-year partnership deal with FIFA worth 20 million euros ($22 mn) following a corruption probe into football's world governing body.
     Interpol boss Juergen Stock said he was suspending the deal set up in May 2011 to create a 10-year "Integrity in Sport" programme.
     "In light of the current context surrounding FIFA, while Interpol is still committed to developing our Integrity in Sport programme, I have decided to suspend the agreement," said Stock in a statement.
     "All external partners, whether public or private, must share the fundamental values and principles of the organisation, as well as those of the wider law enforcement community," added Stock.
     FIFA has been in the grip of a crisis since the end of May when 14 current or former officials and sports marketing executives were charged following a wave of arrests in Zurich as part of a US investigation into alleged corruption.
     The scandal 

Interpol suspends 20mn-euro deal with FIFA after scandal

European aircraft maker Airbus believes the United States will be the biggest customer for its A400M military transport plane, despite a fatal crash involving one of them during a test flight last month.
	"By the next decade at the latest, the US armed forces will be the biggest customer for the aircraft," Airbus chief executive Tom Enders told the weekly magazine WirtschaftsWoche in an interview.
	Despite its current technical problems, there was no other rival product at the moment, Enders argued.
	Boeing's C-17 was larger and Lockheed Martin's C-130 was smaller.
	"But a lot of countries don't want either extreme. For the next few years, there will only be one alternative, the A400M, which is also a lot more fuel-efficient and more versatile," he said.
	An A400M plane crashed during a test on May 9 near Seville in Spain, killing four of the six people on board and seriously injuring the two others.
	The A400M, a large, propeller-driven transport aircraft, was launched in 2003 and is 

Airbus says US to be biggest customer for A400M military plane

Dogs do not like people who are mean to their owners, Japanese researchers said today, and will refuse food offered by people who have snubbed their master.
	The findings reveal that canines have the capacity to co-operate socially - a characteristic found in a relatively small number of species, including humans and some other primates.
	Researchers led by Kazuo Fujita, a professor of comparative cognition at Kyoto University, tested three groups of 18 dogs using role plays in which their owners needed to open a box.
	In all three groups, the owner was accompanied by two people whom the dog did not know.
	In the first group, the owner sought assistance from one of the other people, who actively refused to help.
	In the second group, the owner asked for, and received, help from one person. In both groups, the third person was neutral and not involved in either helping or refusing to help.
	Neither person interacted with the dog's owner in the control - third - group.
	After watching ..

Dogs snub people who are mean to their owners: study

England goalkeeper Joe Hart said that he and his team-mates are unconcerned by criticism of the quality of their football and only worried about winning.
     England played out a dreary 0-0 draw with the Republic of Ireland in a friendly in Dublin last weekend that was described by former England midfielder Paul Scholes as "a waste of an afternoon".
     But with Roy Hodgson's side having used the match to get in shape ahead of this Sunday's 2016 European Championship qualifier against Slovenia in Ljubljana, Hart believes it served a useful purpose.
     "We just want to win games," said the Manchester City goalkeeper. "We all want to play well, have 45 passes and then someone chips the keeper and someone does a bicycle kick, but that is not realistic.
     "We are playing against opposition who have the same responsibilities to their country. Ideal performance would be perfect and for everyone to love it, but we have to do a job.
     "It is not an easy job, but we love it and we ...

Hart unrepentant about dour England display

FIFA president Sepp Blatter on Thursday ruled out a European Parliament demand for him to quit immediately, but one of his top lieutenants did resign from the embattled organisation.
     Blatter, who resigned last week despite being re-elected as head of football's world governing body, which has been consumed by an ever-widening corruption probe, intends to continue in office until a successor is designated, probably by the end of the year.
     "FIFA is perplexed by the European Parliament's resolution," a FIFA spokesman said.
     "As is well known, following his re-election, the FIFA President already decided, owing to the special circumstances in which FIFA finds itself, to lay down his mandate at an extraordinary elective Congress."
     The European Parliament had called on Blatter to step down immediately and allow for an interim leader to launch reforms in global football's governing body.
     In a show of hands, members of parliament overwhelmingly voted for the resolution 

Blatter resists quit calls, top ally resigns

Chile launched their quest for Copa America glory with a 2-0 victory over Ecuador as the South American football showpiece kicked off here Thursday.
     Juventus star Arturo Vidal and Napoli's Eduardo Vargas struck in the second half to give the Chileans a winning start in Group A as they chase a first Copa America crown in 99 years of trying.
     Vidal bounced back from the disappointment of last week's Champions League final defeat to Barcelona to bury a 67th-minute penalty before Vargas sealed victory six minutes from time.
     Roared on by a passionate home crowd in Santiago, Chile began at a furious pace, twice threatening in the opening minutes after slicing Ecuador open.
     Arsenal star Alexis Sanchez was the first to go close, latching onto a through ball from Jorge Valdivia before poking a low shot just wide of the post beyond the advancing Alexander Dominguez in the second minute.
     Dominguez was pressed into action by Sanchez again moments later, but the tall ...

Chile down Ecuador to launch Copa with win

Steve Smith's ninth Test century in 28 matches anchored Australia's 258 for four at stumps on the opening day of the second and final Test against the West Indies at Sabina Park on Thursday.
     Needing victory to square the series after a comprehensive nine-wicket loss inside three days in the first Test in Dominica, the Caribbean side did not help their cause after early strikes by Jerome Taylor with the new ball.
     They wasted at least two clear-cut opportunities to limit the tourists' progress and give their depleted side a better chance of upsetting Test cricket's second-ranked team.
     Smith, who will resume on the second morning on 135 after 357 minutes at the crease during which he struck 16 fours and two sixes off 278 deliveries, was missed by Darren Bravo at first slip off the part-time bowling of Kraigg Brathwaite an hour into the day's final session.
     Australia's vice-captain was also reprieved via the television technology at the same score, 109, as replays ...

Ton-up Smith leads Australia to 258-4

Guatemalan President Otto Perez has said he has no plans to resign despite being investigated for corruption and facing the possible lifting of his presidential immunity.
	Perez, who has faced large protests calling for his resignation in recent weeks, was dealt a new blow Wednesday when the Supreme Court endorsed an opposition party's request to investigate how much he knew about fraud by senior officials in the customs and social security systems.
	The court also asked Congress to consider lifting his immunity.
	But Perez, a 64-year-old conservative and retired military officer, remained defiant.
	"I am going to remain on the job. It is a constitutional responsibility," he told journalists.
	"I am prepared to follow due process, but I am going to continue working right up to the last moment to serve the Guatemalan people," added Perez, who is not eligible for re-election when his four-year term ends in January.
	"I am not at fault and I can feel at ease that I have not committed any 

AFP

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