At least 20 people were killed today in a regime barrel bomb attack on a mini-bus stand in a rebel-held part of Syria's Aleppo city, a monitor said.
	"Helicopters committed a massacre, dropping a barrel bomb on a mini-bus station in the Fardous district of Aleppo, killing 20 civilians, among them children, and injuring 30 more," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights group said.
	The Britain-based monitor said the toll was expected to rise because of the number of serious injuries among the wounded.
	The group said most of bodies of those killed "were charred".
	Video footage distributed by activists and posted on YouTube showed rubble and twisted scraps of metal strewn across the cratered pavement where the station was, underneath a bridge.
	Firefighters and civilians worked with hoses to tackle fierce blazes in several vehicles that produced thick clouds of smoke.
	At least one car had been flipped on its side.
	 A second video showed several men hoisting a male victim missing a ...

Regime barrel bomb attack kills 20 in Syria's Aleppo: monitor

PTI Automatic

Five people were killed in a new attack blamed on Ugandan rebels near Beni in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, officials said today.
	More than 300 people, most whom have been hacked to death, have been killed during seven months of massacres in the troubled North Kivu province by Muslim rebels of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).
	Hundreds of Beni residents marched through the streets of the trading town of some half a million people today, accusing the authorities of doing nothing to protect the local population.
	The Civil Society of Beni, an association of civic bodies, yesterday called for strikes and protests until further notice, but acting mayor Angele Nyirabitaro urged people to return to work.
	The latest murders occurred yesterday at Mavivi, close to Beni, which lies 250 kilometres north of Goma, the capital of the mineral-rich province.
	"We found the bodies of five people killed with machetes and axes, and seven injured," regional official Amisi Kalonda ...

Five killed in new DR Congo rebel attack near Beni

Allies of murdered Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov today unveiled a report based on research he compiled that they claimed proved large-scale Russian military involvement in Ukraine.
	"We gathered what we think is comprehensive proof of the presence of Russian troops," said Ilya Yashin, one of the authors of the report entitled "Putin. War" as he presented it in Moscow.
	The report -- based on media reports and information from families of Russian soldiers allegedly killed in Ukraine -- repeats widespread allegations of Russian military involvement in Ukraine that Moscow has consistently denied.
	Nemtsov -- a former deputy prime minister who became a fierce Kremlin critic -- had started work on the report before he was gunned down just yards from the Kremlin in late February.
	The 64-page report said the Russian army made two major incursions into Ukrainian territory in the summer of 2014 and in the winter of 2015. Both turned the tables in the fighting and came ahead of ...

Nemtsov claims hundreds of Russian soldiers killed in Ukraine

Australia has slashed its foreign aid budget by almost AUD 1.0 billion (USD 800 million) with Asian and African countries bearing the brunt, according to budget papers released today.
	The aid budget will fall by AUD 980.2 million to AUD 4.1 billion in 2015-16. Asia is among the hardest hit, with humanitarian support for the region -- not including East Timor, Cambodia and Nepal -- cut by AUD 522.5 million.
	Indonesia, the largest single beneficiary, will see its allocation plunge by AUD 542.5 million to AUD 323.0 million for 2015-16, although officials denied it was related to Jakarta's execution of two Australians last month.
	Sub-Saharan Africa aid was reduced by about 70 percent to AUD 31.8 million.
	In contrast, aid for Pacific nations such as Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu would fall by AUD 43.3 million to AUD 911.3 million.
	Five new overseas missions in Qatar, PNG, Indonesia, Mongolia and Thailand will be opened at a cost of AUD 98.3 million, the government .

Asia hit hard as Australia slashes foreign aid budget

Daredevils have posted a heart- stopping video of them scaling one of the world's tallest buildings, currently under construction in the Chinese boom town of Shenzhen.
	The duo, who identify themselves on their website as 25-year-old Vadim Makhorov and Vitaliy Raskalov, 22, climbed the Pingan International Finance Centre, which is said by designers Thornton Tomasetti to be 600 metres (1,968 feet) high.
	The stomach-churning video sees them sneaking past apparently-deserted construction sites on the lower floors, before climbing a red crane at the top of the building, with tall structures below dwarfed in the background as they take a selfie poised at the very top of the structure.
	The daring feat was carried out after they scaled the Shanghai Tower in China's commercial hub last year, a building which reaches over 632 metres.
	Makhorov, who is from Russia, and Raskalov, from Ukraine, posted the Shenzhen video on their website http://ontheroofs.Com/ and on video-sharing platform ...

Daredevils scale one of world's tallest structures in China

The number of drug users in Afghanistan soared to a record high of three million last year, almost doubling over a two-year period in the world's leading producer of opium, officials said today.
	Opium poppy cultivation touched a record high in 2014 and this year is expected to yield another bumper harvest, highlighting the failure of the multi-billion-dollar US-led campaign to crack down on the lucrative crop.
	Addiction levels have also risen sharply -- from almost nothing under the 1996-2001 Taliban regime -- giving rise to a new generation of addicts since the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan.
	"In 2005, the number of drug users was 900,000, it went up to... 1.6 million in 2012. In 2014, the number increased to three million, which is very worrying," Afghan Health Minister Ferozuddin Feroz told reporters, citing a survey conducted jointly with the US State Department.
	"This survey shows an alarming increase of drug users in Afghanistan both in the cities and in rural areas," ..

Afghan drug users nearly double: officials

Verizon said today it is buying AOL for about USD 4.4 billion in a deal that will give the US telecoms giant increased digital content and advertising platform space.
	Verizon said it is paying USD 50 per share of AOL, whose stock price jumped by almost 18 per cent in pre-market trading to USD 50.22.
	"AOL has once again become a digital trailblazer, and we are excited at the prospect of charting a new course together in the digitally connected world," Lowell McAdam, Verizon chairman and CEO, said.
	AOL's assets include a portfolio of well-known content providers such as The Huffington Post, TechCrunch and Engadget. It also has a subscription business and produces original video content.
	Verizon said the deal, which it would fund from cash on hand and commercial paper, is subject to regulatory approvals and closing conditions and is expected to close this summer.
	Tim Armstrong, AOL chairman and CEO, will continue to lead AOL operations after closing.
	"The visions of Verizon and AOL 

US telecoms giant Verizon buying AOL for USD 4.4 bn

Saudi Arabia today carried out its 80th beheading of the year, edging closer to the 87 executions it carried out during all of 2014.
	The interior ministry said a Saudi citizen, Rabie al-Sai'ari, had been convicted of trying to smuggle hashish into the kingdom.
	He was executed in Najran, a district on the border with Yemen, a ministry statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency said.
	The ministry has cited deterrence as a reason for its use of the death penalty despite criticism from human rights watchdogs.
	Amnesty International ranked Saudi Arabia among the world's top three executioners of 2014.
	On a visit to Riyadh this month, French President Francois Hollande said that capital punishment "should be banned", and his country is campaigning around the world for its abolition.
	Drug trafficking, rape, murder, apostasy and armed robbery are all punishable by death under Saudi Arabia's strict version of Islamic sharia law.

Saudi beheads 80th person this year

Ariana Miyamoto entered the Miss Universe Japan beauty contest after a mixed-race friend committed suicide. And she endured abuse after winning the crown because of her skin colour.
	Far from being put off by the backlash, Miyamoto resolved to use her new-found fame to help fight racial prejudice -- in much the same way British supermodel Naomi Campbell broke down cultural barriers in the fashion industry a generation ago.
	"I'm stubborn," said Miyamoto, the daughter of a Japanese mother and black American father, who turned 21 today.
	"I was prepared for the criticism. I'd be lying to say it didn't hurt at all. I'm Japanese -- I stand up and bow when I answer the phone. But that criticism did give me extra motivation," she told AFP in an interview.
	"I didn't feel any added pressure because the reason I took part in the pageant was my friend's death. My goal was to raise awareness of racial discrimination," added Miyamoto, who was bullied as a schoolgirl growing up in the port town ..

Black Miss Japan fights for race revolution

The Russian-born widow of an early Chinese Communist leader and recipient of France's Legion d'Honneur died in Beijing today, her family said. She was 101.
	Lisa Kishkin passed away in a Beijing hospital surrounded by members of her family, relatives told AFP.
	She was born in 1914 into an aristocratic Russian family. She studied French and later married Li Lisan, Mao Zedong's predecessor as leader of the Chinese Communist Party, who later fell out of favour and was officially said to have committed suicide.
	The two met in Moscow in the 1930s, where Li had been summoned by Joseph Stalin for "self-criticism" for not obeying orders in the Soviet-backed Communist movement.
	One night in 1938 Li was arrested by the NKVD, the precursor to the KGB, as part of Stalin's purges.
	He was freed in 1940, reportedly at the intervention of Zhou Enlai, who later became China's premier.
	Li returned to China, where Kishkin joined him in 1946. Three years later the Communists took power after winning 

Russian-born widow of top China Communist dies at 101

US Secretary of State John Kerry began high stakes talks in the Russian resort of Sochi today aimed at pushing President Vladimir Putin to fully implement a shaky Ukraine ceasefire.
	Kerry met with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov ahead of talks with Putin in the Black Sea city at what a top US official said was "a critical moment" for Ukraine, with Washington looking to ensure the "next steps in concrete implementation" of the truce deal.
	The top US diplomat also wanted to discuss the conflicts in Syria, Yemen and Libya as well as brief Putin on the state of the negotiations seeking to reach a potentially historic deal on curtailing Iran's nuclear programme.
	It is the highest-level trip by a US official to Russia since Kerry visited Moscow in May 2013.
	Kerry and Lavrov laid wreaths at a World War II memorial to mark 70 years since the victory over Nazi Germany ahead of their meeting.
	Ties between Moscow and Washington collapsed when Russia seized the southern Ukrainian ...

Kerry in Russia to push Putin on Ukraine crisis

At least four people were killed and 17 wounded in a double bomb blast in Syria's central city of Homs today, the provincial governor said.
	Governor Talal Barazi said the blasts were caused by motorbikes rigged with explosives in the Wadi Dahab and Al-Zahra neighbourhoods of the city.
	He said four people were killed and 17 wounded in the two districts which are both predominantly Alawite -- the sect to which President Bashar al-Assad belongs.
	"The attacks are intended to disrupt security and stability in Homs," Barazi told AFP, accusing the perpetrators of wanting "to target the city at all costs".
	Barazi said motorbikes rigged with explosives had been used in a bid to "evade checkpoints" set up in the city to defend it from would-be attackers.
	Both Wadi Dahab and Al-Zahra have been targeted in previous bombings, along with several other Alawite-majority districts of Homs.
	The city was around 25 percent Alawite before the conflict began in March 2011, with most of the community .

Double bombing kills 4 in Syria's Homs: governor

The Philippines has become the first country to come up with national rules governing Uber and other ride-sharing services, the transport department said today, following criticism of the industry as unsafe and unregulated.
	The transport department will on Wednesday publicly issue the new country-wide guidelines for the likes of Uber and GrabTaxi, a spokeswoman said, in a bid to promote better transport services.
	Ride-sharing services -- typically Internet and mobile app-based alternatives to traditional taxis -- are gaining popularity in the Philippine capital Manila, notorious for creaking train systems, decrepit buses and traffic jams.
	The new framework makes the Philippines the first country to have nationwide rules on ride-sharing, according to both the Philippine transport department and Uber. Previously, only local and city governments have regulated the services.
	Prospective drivers will have to initially register with the ride-sharing company they want to work for, and ...

Philippines to announce national rules for ride-sharing

Australia will contribute an extra USD 63.4 million over the next two years to the search for missing airline MH370 if it is not found in the current probe, budget documents showed today.
	The hunt for the plane, spanning 60,000 square kilometres, is focusing on a narrow strip of water in the remote southern Indian Ocean and is due to end later this month.
	No sign of wreckage of the Malaysian Airlines jet, which was carrying 239 people when it disappeared on March 8 last year en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, has been found despite an intensive air and sea hunt.
	"The government will provide Aus dollars 79.6 million over two years from 2014-15 to continue the search for Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 should the aircraft not be located in the current search area," the budget papers said.
	"This will increase the search area by an additional 60,000 square kilometres to 120,000 square kilometres."
	The extended hunt was first flagged by the Australian, Malaysian and Chinese ...

Australia to commit extra 63 million dollars to MH370 search

The lives of more than five million Syrians, including two million children, are at risk from explosive weapons used in the conflict, a non-governmental organisation said on today.
	Handicap International warned that explosive weapons were being widely used in heavily populated areas in violation of international law, and that unexploded ordnance posed a long-term threat.
	"In total, 5.1 million people -- including two million children -- are living in areas highly affected by the use of explosive weapons, creating an immediate and long-term threat to their lives," the NGO said.
	It said use of the weapons by all parties to the conflict was having "dreadful consequences for civilians."
	"Because of their blast or fragmentation effects, explosive weapons kill or generate complex injuries," the group's regional coordinator Anne Garella said.
	"The wide use of explosive weapons combined with the lack of appropriate surgical care in Syria has a devastating impact on people's lives."
	The .

5 million Syrians at risk from explosive weapons: NGO

Five people were killed in a new attack blamed on Ugandan rebels near Beni in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, officials said today.
	"We found the bodies of five people killed with axes, and seven injured," regional official Amisi Kalonda told AFP.
	More than 300 people have been killed in seven months of massacres in the troubled North Kivu province by rebels of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), who fled Uganda in the mid-1990s after an unsuccessful insurgency against President Yoweri Museveni.

Five dead in new DR Congo attack near Beni: official

Two Japanese destroyers and one of the Philippines' newest warships began historic naval exercises in the flashpoint South China Sea today, showcasing a deepening alliance aimed at countering a rising China.
	The day-long war games, the first bilateral naval exercises between the former World War II enemies, took place less than 300 kilometres (186 miles) from a Philippine-claimed shoal now under Chinese control.
	Philippine authorities insisted the exercises were merely focused on building military capabilities, but security analysts said they were clearly a signal to China over bitter maritime territorial disputes.
	"First they demonstrate that China's Pacific neighbours are beginning to balance against China," professor Michael Tkacik, a foreign policy expert at the Texas-based Stephen F. Austin State University, told AFP.
	"Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam, and assorted other states are threatened by China's behaviour, even as far away as India. Thus, the Philippines and Japan are .

Philippines and Japan hold historic naval drills

A Thai court today jailed a mentally ill 65-year-old woman for one year for allegedly defaming the monarchy by insulting a portrait of the nation's revered king.
	Thitinan Kaewjantranont, a so-called Red Shirt supporter of the toppled former government, was accused of "inappropriate action against a portrait of the king" at the Constitutional Court in northern Bangkok on July 13, 2012, with no further details given.
	Initially Thitinan was given a suspended sentence for the 2012 offence as she was deemed to suffer from mental health problems, but the Court of Appeals rolled back the one-year suspended sentence Tuesday after prosecutors appealed.
	"The defendant's behaviour was so evil... Her actions should not be imitated by others, so the Court of Appeals lifted her one year jail term suspension," a judge said, reading the ruling.
	Recognising she suffers from mental health issues, the court said she is ordered to see doctors every six months, without giving details of her ...

Thai court jails mentally ill woman for insulting monarchy

French President Francois Hollande called today for an end to the US embargo on Cuba, as he met with Fidel Castro during the first visit by a Western leader since Washington and Havana moved to restore ties.
	Hollande said France will do whatever possible to see that "the measures that have so badly harmed Cuba's development can finally be lifted" ahead of meetings with Fidel and his younger brother Raul Castro, the duo who have ruled Cuba since its 1959 revolution.
	Hollande met first with a smiling Fidel, the iconic 88-year-old father of the revolution, who he said still "had a lot to say". Castro wore a black and white sweat suit over a checked shirt in contrast to the military fatigues that were his trademark before he yielded power to his younger brother in 2006.
	Hollande called Fidel a figure of historic stature.
	He said his trip came "at a particularly important but also uncertain time," as the United States seeks to restore diplomatic relations with Cuba after a ...

France's Hollande meets Fidel Castro and to end Cuba embargo

South Korean President Park Geun-Hye warned today that North Korea's recent submarine-launched ballistic missile test posed a "serious challenge" to regional stability and vowed a strong military response to any provocation from Pyongyang.
	Pyongyang's state media announced Saturday that a new SLBM had been successfully tested under the personal supervision of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, who described it as a "world-level strategic weapon".
	The test rang alarm bells in Seoul because a fully developed SLBM capability would take the North Korean nuclear threat to a new level, allowing deployment far beyond the Korean peninsula and the potential to retaliate in the event of a nuclear attack.
	Pyongyang's development of an SLBM "is a serious challenge to stability on the Korean peninsula and in Northeast Asia," Park told a specially-convened meeting of senior ministers and security advisers.
	South Korean troops will retaliate "sternly" in the event of any provocation by North ...

S Korea's Park says North's sub missile threatens stability

The United States is becoming a little less Christian, and a little more unaffiliated to any faith, a major study on the nation's changing religious landscape suggested today.
	"The United States remains home to more Christians than any other country in the world," with 70.6 per cent of its population, or 173 million adults, identifying as Christian last year, the Pew Research Center said.
	But that figure is down from 2007 when 78.4 per cent called themselves Christian, Pew said in its 200-page study, titled "America's Changing Religious Landscape."
	The decline is seen across many segments of American society, including whites, Latinos, women, men and those with or without a college education.
	But it is particularly marked among younger American, and concerns Roman Catholics as much as mainstream Protestants.
	At the same time, Christians are also a more diverse group, a reflection of the growing Latino population, the study found.
	While Protestants in 2007 accounted for 51.3 per .

AFP

AFP

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