Chinese regulators are investigating units of foreign medical device companies including Germany's Siemens, Dutch firm Philips and General Electric of the US for bribery.
	The State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) and other regulators last year opened initial investigations into the companies' Chinese health-care units on suspicion of bribing hospitals in exchange for sales, Bloomberg News reported today.
	None of the three companies immediately responded to requests by AFP for comment on Monday.
	It is the latest reported example of overseas firms being targeted by Chinese authorities, who have launched wide-ranging probes in sectors ranging from autos to baby milk.
	In 2014 a Chinese court found British drugmaker GSK had used bribery to boost sales and took kickbacks from travel agencies to organise conferences that never took place, according to previous reports by state media.
	GSK was fined 3.0 billion yuan (USD 480 million) last September after a nearly year-long 

Siemens, Philips, GE units in China bribery probe: report

PTI Automatic

The pilot who will attempt a record flight over the Pacific in a solar-powered plane played down the risks today, describing the mission as a journey of self-discovery.
	The Solar Impulse 2 and Swiss pilot Andre Borschberg are waiting in the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing for weather conditions to allow the most challenging leg of a landmark attempt to circumnavigate the globe in a plane powered by the sun.
	"We have a lot of measures to mitigate the risk," Borschberg told reporters. "It's an adventure, but I see this as an inner voyage.
	"It's a great opportunity to discover myself."
	The 8,500 kilometre (5,270 mile) flight from China to the US state of Hawaii is expected to take five to six days non- stop, with only a single pilot. If it succeeds it will be he longest ever flight in a solar-powered plane.
	Organisers originally said the aircraft could take off tomorrow, but a spokeswoman said the earliest possible departure was now Saturday.
	The 62-year-old Borschberg, who trained 

Solar plane pilot readies for record Pacific flight

US military helicopters began reconnaissance trips today to assess remote areas of Nepal devastated by an earthquake that killed more than 7,300 people, an official said.
	Nine days after a 7.8-magnitude quake brought death and destruction to the Himalayan nation, the helicopters surveyed mountain villages.
	Four tilt-rotor Ospreys have also arrived in Nepal.
	"Only the 'Hueys' (helicopters) have gone out so far for reconnaissance flights to try to identify areas in need of relief. No Ospreys have been out," a US embassy official told AFP today.
	The Ospreys and a US Air Force C-17 aircraft touched down in the capital Kathmandu yesterday.
	"They'll have multiple aims. They'll be delivering relief supplies, they might do some rescues, they'll also do assessments," US ambassador Peter W. Bodde told reporters.
	"They're going to make an immediate difference," said US Brigadier General Paul Kennedy.
	A Nepalese official said the US aircraft would also airlift victims out of remote areas ..

US choppers begin Nepal quake reconnaissance flights

Surrounded by ochre rubble, Pannakaji beds down on a mattress wedged between Buddha statues at Kathmandu's "Monkey Temple", hoping to deter looters from the quake-ravaged site where his ancestors have served as priests for 1,600 years.
	The hilltop Swayambunath Temple complex, one of Nepal's oldest and most sacred religious monuments, was partly reduced to debris by the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck on April 25.
	Some of the seventh-century stupas remain intact and a few statues miraculously survived the disaster, but those that did now risk being pillaged by looters or desperate devotees hoping for a bit of good luck after the devastation.
	"We have been priests here for the last 1,600 years, so I stay," said 61-year-old Pannakaji, who goes by one name, as he sat barefoot under a tarpaulin in a makeshift camp with 200 other temple inhabitants.
	The earthquake razed the community's small wooden shacks, leaving behind a scene reminiscent of a war zone, with families salvaging ...

Nepal quake-ravaged temple faces threat from looters

Dubai attracted more than 13 million visitors last year, official figures released today showed, as the cash-flush emirate looks to reap the rewards of its growing tourism sector.
	A total of 13.2 million foreigners headed to Dubai in 2014, an increase of 8.2 per cent compared with the previous year, its tourism department said.
	It said it hoped to attract 20 million tourists a year to Dubai by 2020, when the city will host a World Expo.
	Figures released in March showed that hotels in the emirate posted a 9.8 per cent rise in revenues to USD 6.5 billion last year -- the sector's best annual result since the 2009 financial crisis.
	Turmoil in most of the traditional tourism destinations across the Middle East appears to have helped Dubai capitalise on its reputation as a safe haven for tourists and businesses.
	Dubai's economy contracted 2.4 per cent in 2009 when it rattled global markets over its debt crisis before receiving a $10-billion bailout from Abu Dhabi, its oil-rich partner 

More than 13 mln tourists visited Dubai in 2014

Chinese Communist Party chief Xi Jinping today warned against Taiwan being seen as a country as he met the head of the island's ruling party, the first such encounter in seven years.
	Xi, who is also national president, welcomed Kuomintang (KMT) party head Eric Chu, the official Xinhua news agency reported. Photos showed them smiling and shaking hands at the Great Hall of the People.
	The two parties fought a civil war that ended in 1949 with Taiwan splitting from the mainland.
	But both sides stress there is a single China, a key concept for Beijing, which is constantly wary of the potential for Taiwan eventually to go its own way and declare independence.
	Xi urged against any semantic erosions such as "one country on each side" and "one China, one Taiwan", Xinhua said.
	Beijing still regards the island as a province awaiting reunification, and has never ruled out the use of force to achieve it.
	But relations have been improving since Chu's party -- which has a non-confrontational .

China's Xi warns against Taiwan independence

Taliban militants meeting Afghan officials in Qatar reiterated their hardline stance on peace talks today, ruling out negotiations until US forces leave the country and the insurgents are allowed to open a political office.
	A 20-member Afghan delegation over the weekend launched two days of "open discussion" with Taliban representatives in the Gulf emirate in their latest attempt to end Afghanistan's long war.
	The militants emphasised their preconditions for negotiations in a statement read out by their representatives at the meeting and posted on the Taliban's official website.
	"One of the main external obstacle (to talks) is the occupation of our country by Americans... Continuing the occupation will mean continuing the war," the statement said.
	"The mother of all these miseries is their invasion, which should end as a first step toward a peace dialogue between Afghans."
	The statement came as a Taliban suicide bomber struck a government bus in Kabul today, killing one civilian .

Afghan Taliban stress preconditions for any peace talks

Saudi Arabia today beheaded five foreigners for murder and robbery, an unusually high number that adds to what Amnesty International has called a "macabre spike" in the kingdom's executions.
	Two Yemenis, a Chadian, an Eritrean and a Sudanese were put to death in the Red Sea city of Jeddah, the interior ministry said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency.
	It identified them as Yemenis Khaled Fetini and Ibrahim Nasser, Hassan Omar from Chad, Eritrean Salem Idriss and Abdel Wahhab Abdel Maeen from Sudan.
	They were all convicted of killing the Indian guard at a business and stealing money from the safe.
	Their beheadings bring to 78 the number of locals and foreigners executed in Saudi Arabia this year, compared with 87 for all of last year, according to AFP tallies.
	Normally one or two people are executed at a time.
	London-based Amnesty ranked Saudi Arabia among the world's top three executioners of 2014.
	Drug trafficking, rape, murder, apostasy and armed robbery are all 

Five foreigners beheaded in Saudi Arabia

Pledges made by countries to slash carbon emissions are deeply inadequate to take them down to safe levels by 2030 and put the brakes on global warming, a new analysis warned today.
	Based on the stated undertakings of the world's major emitters, global emissions could reach about 57-59 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO2e) by 2030, said the report co-authored by British academic Nicholas Stern, a former World Bank vice-president considered an authority on the economics of climate change.
	The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has calculated that emissions must fall to about 32-44 GtCO2e by 2030 for a 50-66 percent chance of reaching the goal to limit average global warming to two degrees Celsius over pre-Industrial levels.
	In 2010, the latest year for which a comprehensive assessment is available, global emissions were about 50 GtCO2e.
	The new report by Stern and colleagues at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) said the goals of the United ...

Carbon plans deeply inadequate: climate study warns

Spanish police today said they had arrested 80 suspected gang members accused of charging Chinese migrants USD 22,000 each to traffick them to Europe and North America.
	The Chinese-run gang used houses in the Barcelona area as stopover bases, hiding the migrants there while they waited to be trafficked on to Britain, Ireland, Canada and the United States.
	They arranged flights for the migrants via Chinese travel agencies in Spain and provided them with fake passports, police said in a statement.
	"They charged on average 20,000 euros for each person trafficked and made serious threats against their families if they did not pay."
	The police said the suspected leaders of the gang were among those arrested. One of the accused travelled around the world using at least 14 different identities to avoid suspicion.
	Officers caught more than 70 migrants with fake passports as they tried to take flights from Spanish airports bound for the various trafficking destinations.
	Police also ...

Spain busts Chinese people-trafficking gang

Hairstyles of a spiky and unorthodox nature have reportedly been banned in Iran because they imply devil-worship, while tattoos and other male bodily adornments also being outlawed.
	Jagged haircuts have become fashionable among all strata of Iran's youthful population in recent years, but have divided opinion and been deemed by the authorities as western and un-Islamic.
	"Devil worshipping hairstyles are now forbidden," said Mostafa Govahi, the head of Iran's Barbers Union, cited by the ISNA news agency.
	"Any shop that cuts hair in the devil worshipping style will be harshly dealt with and their licence revoked," he said, noting that if a business cut hair in such a style this will "violate the Islamic system's regulations".
	As well as tattoos being banned, solarium treatments and the plucking of eyebrows -- another rising trend among young Iranian males --  will not be tolerated, the report said.
	Govahi blamed unauthorised barbers for offering the spiky hairstyles and other ...

Iran bans 'devil worshipping' haircuts

Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Russia this week to attend World War II anniversary commemorations, Beijing's foreign ministry announced today as it stressed their joint sacrifices during the global conflict.
	Xi will visit Moscow from Friday until Sunday at the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the ministry said.
	On his way Xi will stop in Kazakhstan on Thursday for a one day visit, and he will return via Belarus from Sunday to Tuesday, the ministry added.
	Xi's journey to Moscow comes as China highlights its role in the defeat of Japan as the world marks the 70th anniversary of the end of the most destructive war in history.
	Beijing itself is planning a huge military parade later this year to commemorate victory over Japanese forces as well as the broader defeat of the Axis powers.
	Chinese vice foreign minister Cheng Guoping stressed the importance to both China and Russia of their struggles during the war -- while playing down other Allies' role.
	"China ...

China's Xi to visit Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus

Bodies of six people have been found in eastern Mexico, a police source said.
	The naked bodies of three young men were discovered on a roadside in the state of Veracruz.
	Police investigating the area found three more bodies, severely decayed, in plastic bags, the source said.
	The bodies were discovered near the port of Veracruz on the Gulf of Mexico, a scene of frequent confrontations between drug traffickers and law enforcement.
	Authorities have recently squared off with the Jalisco New Generation Drug Cartel in days of gunfights that recently included a downed helicopter.

Police find six bodies in eastern Mexico

Two soldiers were killed and another five were wounded in the past 24 hours in Ukraine's separatist-held east, Kiev said today, as both sides traded blame over the increasing number of ceasefire violations.
	Two servicemen died and three more were wounded after their armoured vehicle hit a mine in the Lugansk region, said military spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk.
	Two more soldiers were wounded in clashes near the village of Shyrokyne near the strategic port of Mariupol, the last major city in the conflict zone controlled by Kiev, he said.
	Officials in charge of the anti-terrorist operation accused pro-Moscow militants of violating a fragile ceasefire 95 times yesterday.
	"This is nearly the same level as before the conclusion of Minsk agreements," they said in a statement, adding that rebels were provoking Ukranian forces by using heavy artillery.
	Rebels for their part pointed the finger at Ukrainian troops, saying Kiev violated the truce 70 times over the past 24 hours by using ...

Two killed, five wounded in Ukraine clashes: Kiev

Prime Minister Tony Abbott today said Australia and Europe were in talks on how to stop asylum-seeker boats after the success of his government's controversial polices on the issue.
	However, the European Commission, the executive of the 28-nation EU, said that it was not aware of such talks and that Brussels would never adopt Australia's model of turning back these boats.
	Another 5,800 migrants desperate to reach Europe were rescued this weekend as they tried to cross the Mediterranean, more than 2,150 of them yesterday, the Italian coastguard said.
	The number rescued was one of the highest recorded in recent years, raising fears that the tide of people risking their lives to reach Europe from Africa and the Middle East has not been slowed by recent drownings.
	"My understanding is that there has been some contact at official level between Australian people and Europeans," Abbott said, when asked if Europe had sought advice on how to deal with the issue.
	"Obviously, Operation ...

Europe-Australia talks over stopping asylum-seeker boats

Qatar signed a multi-billion-euro deal with French defence group Dassault today to buy 24 Rafale fighter jets, in a ceremony attended by the leaders of both countries in Doha.
	The contract was signed by Dassault CEO Eric Trappier and Qatari General Ahmed al-Malki, who oversaw negotiations for the 6.3-billion-euro (USD 7-billion) deal.
	French President Francois Hollande told Malki during the ceremony that Qatar had made a "good choice" in purchasing the warplanes, an AFP correspondent said.
	Malki also signed an agreement today with multinational missile group MBDA.
	Qatar's Defence Minister Hamad bin Ali al-Attiyah and French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian inked a separate deal which will see France train 36 Qatari pilots and around 100 mechanical engineers, as well as intelligence officers.
	Rafale jets can be used for reconnaissance missions.
	Today's ceremony was a "success for Dassault" and "the result of hard work by the team," Trappier said.
	Having struggled for years to sell 

Qatar inks deal for 24 French Rafale fighter jets

Two UN peacekeepers were wounded today when mortar rounds fired from Syria hit their base in the Israeli-held sector of the Golan Heights, an army spokesperson said.
	"Mortar shells hit the Golan in Ein Zivan and in the Zivanit UNDOF base. Two UN peacekeeping soldiers were evacuated to Israel for medical care," Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner wrote on his official Twitter account.
	Israel public radio said the two were lightly wounded.
	The army said the fire was not deliberately aimed at the Israeli side of the plateau, but was stray fire from the ongoing conflict in Syria.
	Since the Syrian conflict erupted in 2011, the plateau has been tense, with a growing number of rockets and mortar rounds hitting the Israeli side, mostly stray, prompting the occasional armed response.
	In January, a Spanish UN peacekeeper was killed on the Israel-Lebanon border during an exchange of fire between Israeli troops and Hezbollah militants.
	Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human 

2 UN men hit by Syria fire on Israeli-held Golan: Army

US Secretary of State John Kerry called for unity in the face of terror attacks today, as he visited a memorial in Kenya to the 1998 bombing of the US embassy.
	The embassy bombing by Al-Qaeda was the worst attack in the east African nation by Islamist militants, killing 213 people.
	"The terrorists who struck on August 7, 1998 failed utterly in their purpose, which was to implant fear in the hearts of the Kenyan people and to divide America from the citizens of this country," Kerry said.
	"They failed for the same reason that terrorists will always fail. Yes they can reduce a building to rubble, and yes they can even deprive innocent people of their lives, but they do not give anyone anything of what really makes life worthwhile."
	Last month Al-Qaeda-affiliated Shebab gunmen massacred close to 150 people, mostly students, in a raid on a university in the northeastern Kenyan town of Garissa.
	The raid followed a string of other massacres in the northeast and Muslim-majority coastal ..

Kerry calls for unity to defeat terrorism

Iran is determined to end the "manufactured crisis" over its nuclear programme and drafting of a final deal with world powers, though hard, is progressing, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said today.
	The remarks, on Zarif's official Twitter account, came two days after US Secretary of State John Kerry denounced what he said was "hysteria" from opponents of an agreement, which is due by June 30.
	Zarif, Kerry and other diplomats from Iran and the P5+1 world powers (Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States plus Germany) say the deal would guarantee Iran's nuclear activities are peaceful.
	"Drafting #IranDeal is moving forward. Hard work, and many brackets, remain. Determined to end this manufactured crisis & open new horizons," Zarif tweeted.
	Iran has long asserted its nuclear programme is for peaceful energy purposes and that international concern about it seeking a nuclear bomb is misplaced.
	An outline agreement between Iran and the P5+1 reached on April 2 in ...

Iran determined to end 'manufactured' nuclear crisis

French President Francois Hollande today arrived in Qatar to oversee the signing of a multi-billion- euro deal to sell 24 Rafale fighter jets to the gas-rich emirate.
	The 6.3-billion-euro (USD 7-billion) agreement includes an order for 24 jets manufactured by French defence group Dassault with an option on a further 12 planes.
	Hollande will meet Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al- Thani before flying to Saudi Arabia to attend a key Gulf Cooperation Council summit there tomorrow - a first for a Western head of state.
	He is set to discuss with Sheikh Tamim the several crises rocking the region, including the weeks-long Saudi-led coalition aerial campaign on anti-government rebels in Yemen.
	Hollande will head to Riyadh later today to hold talks with Saudi King Salman.
	In addition to Qatar and Saudi Arabia, the GCC includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates.
	Having struggled for years to sell any of its Rafale jets abroad, Dassault has recently scored several ..

France's Hollande in Qatar for warplane deal

A Taliban suicide bomber struck a government bus in Kabul today, killing one civilian and wounding 15 others, officials said, as insurgent representatives hold talks with an Afghan delegation aimed at ending the country's 13-year war.
	The bus was carrying employees of the attorney general's office to work in downtown Kabul when the attacker detonated his suicide vest, as the militants press on with their annual spring offensive.
	The Afghan interior ministry "strongly condemned" the attack, confirming that one civilian was killed and 15 others were wounded.
	"These attacks...  Demonstrate [an] extreme level of atrocity by terrorists against innocent and defenseless civilians," the ministry said in a statement.
	The explosion blew out the windows of houses and shops nearby, Ahmad Reshad, a government employee who was near the blast site, told AFP.
	The attack comes after a 20-member Afghan delegation yesterday launched two-days of "open discussion" with Taliban representatives in the .

AFP

AFP

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