An unmanned supply ship burned up on re-entry over the Pacific Ocean today, a week after the spacecraft suffered a communications failure, the Russian space agency said.
	"The Progress M-27M spacecraft ceased to exist at 05:04 Moscow time (0204 GMT) on 8 May 2015. It entered the atmosphere... Over the central part of the Pacific Ocean," Roscosmos said in a statement.
	Almost all similarly-sized spacecraft disintegrate in the atmosphere or land in the oceans, which cover most of the Earth's surface.
	The spacecraft, a Soviet design generally known for its reliability, blasted off for the International Space Station on April 28 carrying oxygen, water, spare parts and other supplies for the orbiting space laboratory, which has a crew of six international astronauts.
	A few hours after the launch, mission control lost contact with it.
	A special commission is looking into the incident, the deputy head of Roscosmos has said.
	Sources in the space industry told Russian news agencies that ...

Unmanned supply ship burns up on re-entry:Russian space agency

PTI Automatic

An 86-year-old Japanese woman who allegedly carried on cashing her parents' pension for half a century after they died has been arrested, police said today.
	Mitsue Suzuki is believed to have collected more than 50 million yen (USD 420,000) over the last five decades for her parents, who would now be among the world's oldest people if they hadn't died in the 1960s.
	The case is the latest in a series in Japan where welfare payments have continued long after someone's death.
	In some instances, claimants have lived with the corpse of their late relative in order to keep cashing the cheques.
	Suzuki's alleged crime came to light when a pensions agency official contacted the local authority in Gifu, central Japan, to ask after the health of a woman who was 110 and her 112-year-old husband.
	The world's oldest man is 112-year-old Sakari Momoi.
	But Gifu officials said both had long since died -- and they had been given death certificates in the 1960s.
	An officer at Gifu Prefectural ...

Woman held for cashing dead parents' pension for 50 years

Pakistan overcame a brilliant counter-attack by Shakib Al Hasan to build on their supremacy over Bangladesh on the third day of the second and final Test in Dhaka on Friday.
     Shakib returned unbeaten on 89 off 91 balls after the hosts, who resumed at the overnight score of 107-5, were bowled out for 203 in their first innings shortly before lunch.
     Pakistan captain Misbah-ul Haq did not enforce the follow-on despite a lead of 354 runs, and the tourists went to lunch at 7-1 in their second knock at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium.
     Sami Aslam was unbeaten on three and Azhar Ali was on four after Mohammad Hafeez was caught behind off Mohammad Shahid in the first over of the innings.
     Bangladesh added six runs to their overnight total when Soumya Sarkar was snapped up at short cover off Wahab Riaz, who then dismissed Shuvagata Hom for zero in his next over.
     Shakib, who was on 27 when Taijul Islam was bowled by Mohammad Hafeez to make it 140-8, lashed out at the Pakistani ..

Pakistan build huge lead over Bangladesh

The US Senate has overwhelmingly passed legislation giving Congress the right to review and perhaps even reject any nuclear deal with Iran, the culmination of weeks of wrangling over how to hold Tehran to account.
	The bill passed 98-1 after overcoming initial objections from President Barack Obama. It comes amid intense negotiations between world powers and Iran on a deal intended to prevent Tehran's development of a nuclear weapon in exchange for lifting of economic sanctions.
	"We worked hard to create a great bipartisan balance," said the measure's chief author, Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman Bob Corker.
	Republican Tom Cotton was the lone member voting in opposition to legislation that would give lawmakers at least 30 days to review any final Iran accord.
	The bill now heads to the House of Representatives, where it has the support of the chamber's Republican leaders.
	According to White House spokesman Eric Schultz, Obama "said he would sign the legislation in its ..

US Senate asserts right to review final Iran nuclear deal

The US Justice Department will conduct a federal probe into Baltimore's police department following riots triggered by the death of a black man under police arrest, the Washington Post has reported.
	Attorney General Loretta Lynch could make the announcement as early as today, the Post said, citing two law enforcement officials.
	A spokesperson for the Justice Department had said Wednesday that Lynch was "actively considering" a civil rights probe into the city's police department following a request from Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.
	The mayor asked for an investigation that would look into whether the city's police department "has engaged in a pattern or practice of stops, searches or arrests" that violated residents' legal rights.
	On April 12, Freddie Gray suffered a serious spinal injury while in the back of a police van. The 25-year-old died from the injury a week later, setting off riots in Baltimore.
	The incident occurred at a time of exacerbated racial tensions in the ...

US Justice Department to investigate Baltimore police: media

North Korea warned today that it was prepared to fire on sight without warning at South Korean naval vessels it accused of violating their disputed Yellow Sea border.
	The Korean People's Army (KPA) said 17 South Korean high-speed patrol boats had crossed into the North's territorial waters in the first week of May "under the pretext" of intercepting Chinese fishing boats.
	Issuing what it called an "emergency special warning", the KPA said the North Korean military would henceforth "make a sighting strike without any prior warning" on any South Korean naval ship deemed to have entered its waters.
	In the event of any armed response, the KPA will "successively deal strong second, third and more retaliatory strikes at them," according to a statement carried by the North's official KCNA news agency.
	South Korea's defence ministry had no immediate comment on the fresh warning.
	The two Koreas recognise different boundaries dividing their territorial waters in the Yellow Sea.
	The North .

N Korea threatens strikes against South navy

Rafael Nadal showed no signs of his recent slump in form as he eased past Italy's Simone Bolelli 6-2, 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals of the Madrid Open on Thursday.
     Women's top seed Serena Williams and defending champion Maria Sharapova also stayed on course for a potential meeting in the final as they progressed to the last four with wins over Carla Suarez Navarro and Caroline Wozniacki respectively.
     Nadal has yet to win a European clay court tournament this season after defeats to Novak Djokovic at the Monte Carlo Masters and Fabio Fognini at the Barcelona Open last month.
     However, he remains the heavy favourite in the Spanish capital in the absence of world number one Djokovic and will continue his quest for a fifth Madrid title against Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov on Friday.
     Dimitrov disposed of Stan Wawrinka in the last-16 7-5 (7/5), 3-6, 6-3 just as he did at Monte Carlo.
     "Dimitrov is a very complete player, he is one of the best in the world," said ...

Nadal, Serena, Sharapova move on in Madrid

Rory McIlroy got the better of Jordan Spieth in a battle of the world's top two golfers on Thursday, but still found himself two shots off the Players Championship pace.
     Former world number one Tiger Woods, making his first start since the Masters last month, endured a mixed day that included two double bogeys and two bogeys, but with five birdies signed for a first-round one-over 73.
     Japan's Hideki Matsuyama, Canadian David Hearn and Americans Charley Hoffman and Kevin Na shared the lead on five-under 67 on a tightly bunched leaderboard in the US PGA Tour's $10 million flagship event at TPC Sawgrass in Florida.
     They were one stroke in front of six players on 68: Troy Merritt, Ben Martin, Billy Horschel, Brendon Todd, Charles Howell and Derek Fathauer.
     McIlroy headed a group of 14 players on 69 that also included Australians Jason Day and Marc Leishman, and Spain's Sergio Garcia.
     Northern Ireland's McIlroy played alongside Spieth and Day and held up his end in 

McIlroy two back, Spieth struggles

Lewis Hamilton's greatest enemy is not Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg or Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel.
     It is, he says, himself.
     As he seeks to improve on the supreme form that has lifted him 27 points clear in this year's drivers' title contest after four races, the two-time world champion has admitted he fears nobody.
     But he does worry about his own failings.
     "I know everyone is talking about the psychological stuff, but the only psychological warfare there is, is within myself. Your worst enemy can be yourself, so you're fighting against that invisible worst enemy.
     "I want to be the best I can be. I know I can do this, and I know I can do that, and if I don't that really bothers me. Otherwise, I'm not fazed. Generally, I don't get fazed by any of that stuff.
     "If somebody goes quicker, I figure out how I can be better. I'm not one to think, 'I've got the upper hand, so keep going, keep doing what you're doing'.

Hamilton's greatest enemy? Himself

Russia's UN envoy has said he expected UN-brokered peace talks on Yemen to re-start quickly and warned that sending ground forces to Yemen would be a reckless escalation.
	Ambassador Vitaly Churkin yesterday said he received assurances from Saudi and Qatari envoys that a meeting planned in Riyadh for May 17 will help pave the way to UN talks.
	"They assured me that the meeting planned by President Hadi in Riyadh is not going to be an effort to replace the UN track. It might even help to resume the UN talks," Churkin told reporters.
	"What we hope will happen is, very quickly, a quick cessation of all hostilities in Yemen and a resumption of those conversations," he said.
	Hopes for an easing of fighting were buoyed when Saudi Arabia proposed a five-day humanitarian ceasefire yesterday.
	A Saudi-led coalition launched an air war on Yemen six weeks ago to push back an offensive by Shiite Huthi rebels that forced President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi to go into exile.

Russia expects UN peace talks on Yemen to re-start quickly

The death toll from a Mexican drug cartel's rocket-propelled grenade attack on an army helicopter rose to eight today after a police woman and a soldier succumbed to their wounds.
	The interior ministry said the federal police officer died six days after the Cougar helicopter was brought down in a rural area of the western state of Jalisco.
	She was one of two officers wounded in the attack by the Jalisco New Generation drug cartel, a first by a Mexican gang against such a military aircraft.
	Ten other soldiers were hurt but one of them has died from his wounds, a federal official said. Six other soldiers were found dead in the fiery crash after the attack.
	Authorities say the downing of the helicopter was part of a violent reaction by the cartel to an operation launched on May 1 to dismantle the gang.
	Gun battles were reported and the cartel burned dozens of vehicles, banks and gasoline stations across Jalisco state. Apart from the helicopter deaths, officials say eight gang ...

Death toll from Mexico chopper attack rises to 8

The US Senate easily passed legislation today giving Congress the right to review and possibly reject any final nuclear deal with Iran, after the bill overcame fierce initial objections from President Barack Obama.
	The measure, amid intense negotiations between world powers and Iran on a deal intended to prevent Tehran's development of a nuclear weapon in exchange for lifting economic sanctions, passed 98-1, belying the weeks of impassioned debate over how to hold Iran to account.
	The move gives lawmakers at least 30 days to review any accord finalized between six world powers and Iran.
	It also prevents Obama from easing economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic during the review period, and compels him to assert to Congress every 90 days that Iran is complying with the accord.
	Lawmakers have the ability to support or oppose the nuclear accord by voting for or against lifting congressionally imposed sanctions on Iran. Or Congress could do nothing.
	The review measure now ...

US Senate passes Iran nuclear review bill

Huthi militias in Yemen have crossed a "red line" and will pay a high price for their deadly bombardments of Saudi Arabia, the Saudi-led coalition said today.
	"The equation is different, the confrontation is different, and they will pay a harsh and expensive price," coalition spokesman Brigadier General Ahmed al-Assiri told reporters.
	"The safety of Saudi Arabia is a top priority for the coalition and the Saudi armed forces. It is a red line they crossed."
	Shells fired from Yemen killed five people in the kingdom's Najran region yesterday in a second day of cross-border bombing blamed on the Iran-backed Shiite Huthi rebels, civil defence authorities said.
	Three others died in a mortar and rocket attack on Najran on Tuesday, the first time the Huthi rebels attacked a Saudi community since the Saudi-led coalition on March 26 began air strikes against the Huthis and their allies in neighbouring Yemen.
	In Jazan district adjacent to Najran, a missile killed a husband and wife on ...

Huthis to pay 'harsh' price for attacking Saudi: coalition

Russia said an unmanned supply ship that missed a rendezvous with the International Space Station will burn up on re-entering the Earth's atmosphere after the spacecraft suffered a communications failure.
	The Progress supply ship is expected to "end its existence on May 8" between 1:31 AM and 4:51 AM Moscow time (22:31 GMT Thursday and 01:51 GMT Friday)," the Russian space agency Roscosmos said in a statement.
	"The space ship will completely burn up in the layers of the atmosphere and only a few small parts of its construction could reach the surface of our planet," the agency added.
	It did not say where the ship was likely to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere. An unnamed space industry source told the state RIA Novosti news agency it could fall into the Indian Ocean.
	Roscosmos said the crash would be similar to a planned descent.
	Russia sends three or four such spacecraft per year to supply the ISS. After making the delivery they plummet back to Earth, burning up in the atmosphere 

Ill-starred Russian space ship to burn up in atmosphere

A British woman passed through Ottawa today on the last leg of her around-the-world horse ride, a six-year journey that has already taken her to the Great Wall of China and along the shores of the Caspian Sea.
	"It's been a long ride," Megan Lewis told AFP during a brief stop to snap a photo outside of Canada's parliament while being informed by a friendly federal policeman that horses are not allowed on the main lawn.
	Lewis, 65, a pony breeder from the village of Pumpsaint in the United Kingdom, started the globe trot at China's Great Wall in April 2009 following the Beijing Olympics.
	Her journey took her along the ancient Silk Road, around the northern shores of the Caspian and Black Seas, and through Europe's vast fields and forests.
	The route, completed in stages, spanned the breadth of the Asian and European continents. Along the way she raised money for charities for children.
	The Welsh equestrian borrowed and traded horses for the trip, including one reportedly rescued from 

British woman begins last leg of world horse ride

An Algerian court today sentenced to jail 14 people and fined seven foreign firms from Europe, Asia and Canada capping a high-profile corruption case.
	Dubbed by Algerian media as the "scandal of the century", the case heard allegations of corruption, money laundering and embezzlement of public funds in connection with the construction of a key highway.
	The Algiers criminal court sentenced to 10 years Chani Mejdoub, a financial consultant who also holds Luxembourg nationality, and Mohamed Khelladi, a former high-ranking official at the ministry of public works.
	The pair -- who have already been behind bars for several years -- were also ordered to pay a fine of 30,000 million euros (USD 33.8 million) each and the court seized their property.
	A businessman and another former official at the public works ministry were sentenced to seven years in jail each.
	Three-year jail sentences were handed to two other defendants, including a former secret service colonel who also worked for the 

Algeria jails 14, fines foreign firms in corruption case

Scores of flights were cancelled and thousands of passengers had their travel plans wrecked today after a fierce fire devastated part of a terminal at Rome's Fiumicino airport.
	The city's main airport was closed to passengers for several hours after a blaze triggered by an electrical fault in a bar broke out in terminal three, which is used for international flights.
	When the airport reopened, there were scenes of total chaos with thousands of people trying to find out what was happening and frantic airport staff desperately attempting to deal with the backlog and match disorientated and frustrated passengers to seats on waiting planes.
	The first departures of the day involving planes carrying passengers did not take place until after 2:00 pm (1200 GMT) and some carriers saw their entire day's schedule in and out of the airport wiped out.
	Three airport employees were treated for smoke inhalation but there were no serious injuries.
	The fire erupted shortly after midnight and was ..

Rome airport in chaos after fire devastates terminal

US President Barack Obama today indicated he is ready to work with Benjamin Netanyahu's new hardline Israeli government, hailing a "deep and abiding partnership" between the two nations despite recent tumult.
	"President Obama looks forward to working with Prime Minister Netanyahu," the White House said, in a businesslike statement that follows fierce pre-election exchanges between the two men.
	Netanyahu yesterday reached an 11th hour coalition deal to stay in power, securing the backing of the far-right Jewish Home party, which strongly backs settlement activity.
	The move is likely to complicate Israel's relationship with Washington, already strained by Netanyahu's opposition to a Palestinian state and a nuclear deal with Iran.
	"The United States places great importance on our close military, intelligence, and security cooperation with Israel, which reflects the deep and abiding partnership between both countries," the White House statement said.
	"We also look forward to ...

Obama ready to work with new Israeli government

The mother of an Australian executed in Indonesia has written a heartrending open letter to the country's president, accusing him of "humiliating" the drug trafficker's family and ignoring repeated pleas for mercy.
	Myuran Sukumaran, 34, was executed by firing squad with another Australian, Andrew Chan, and five other foreign drug convicts last week, sparking a storm of international condemnation.
	Australia withdrew its ambassador to Jakarta in protest at what it called the "cruel and unnecessary" executions of the pair, who were ringleaders in a plot to smuggle heroin out of Indonesia.
	Despite the global outrage, President Joko Widodo has stayed firm in his support for the death penalty, insisting that Indonesia is facing an emergency due to rising narcotics use.
	In an open letter addressed to "Dr Mr President, Leader of Indonesia and father of three children", Sukumaran's mother Raji described her son as "reformed" and "full of life, love and passion", adding he had helped many ..

Executed Aus mother writes letter to Indonesian leader

Saudi Arabia today proposed a five-day humanitarian ceasefire in Yemen to allow aid deliveries, and the United States called on Iran-backed Huthi rebels to accept the offer.
	Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir, whose country is leading a coalition conducting air strikes on the Yemen rebels, announced the proposal after talks with visiting US Secretary of State John Kerry.
	Jubeir said he had informed his American counterpart of "the kingdom's idea of a five-day ceasefire in Yemen to coordinate with international organisations to deliver aid to Yemen if the Huthis and their allies commit to this and do not carry out acts of aggression".
	The date for its start "will soon be set," he added.
	Kerry said he agreed that "this ceasefire is conditioned on Huthis".
	"We strongly urge the Huthis and those (who) back them... to use all their influence not to miss this major opportunity to address the needs of the Yemeni people and find a peaceful way forward," Kerry told reporters in Riyadh.
	Iran 

Saudi Arabia proposes 5-day Yemen ceasefire

The number of deaths from the Ebola epidemic now exceeds 11,000, figures from the World Health Organization showed.
	In the three countries worst affected -- Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea -- 26,593 people were infected, and 11,005 had died, the WHO said.
	The worst ever outbreak of Ebola began in southern Guinea in December 2013 before spreading to Liberia and Sierra Leone.
	Liberia has recorded the most deaths with 4,716, while 3,903 have died in Sierra Leone and 2,386 have died in Guinea.
	Although the number of cases has topped 11,000, the WHO is due to declare on May 9 that the epidemic is over in Liberia, unless there are any new cases in the country before then.
	The number of new infections are also dwindling in Guinea and Sierra Leone. Only nine new cases were recorded in each country last week, the lowest figures for almost a year.

AFP

AFP

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