The device runs on stored solar energy and can power entire houses, even set up a micro-grid

Elon Musk's Tesla unveils battery to 'transform energy infrastructure'

Press Trust of India

Openers Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes hit unbeaten centuries to lead a brilliant fightback by Bangladesh on the fourth day of the first Test against Pakistan here today.
     The left-handed pair put on their nation's highest partnership for any wicket as Bangladesh, trailing by 296 runs on the first innings, closed the day strongly at 273 for no loss in their second knock.
     Tamim was unbeaten on 138 to become the first Bangladesh batsman to score seven Test centuries. He beat former captain Mohammad Ashraful's tally of six hundreds.
     It was Tamim's third century in as many Tests, having made identical scores of 109 in the last two matches against Zimbabwe in November.
     Imrul scored 132 not out, his third hundred, as the bowlers toiled on the placid wicket at the Sheikh Abu Naser stadium that has already produced 1,233 runs and just 20 wickets over the four days.
     The pair batted through just over two sessions to surpass the previous Bangladesh record of 267 by Ashraful .

Tamim, Imrul thwart Pakistan with record stand

PTI Automatic

Desperate survivors living at ground zero of Nepal's earthquake today complained they felt abandoned to their fate after losing their loved ones and livelihoods in a disaster that has claimed more than 6,300 lives.
	While the joyous rescue of two survivors reinvigorated the search for further signs of life in the ruins of Kathmandu, the Red Cross warned of "total devastation" in far-flung areas of the poor Himalayan nation.
	Six days on from the 7.8-magnitude quake, authorities put the number of dead in Nepal at 6,204 while around 100 more were killed in neighbouring India and China.
	But the full extent of the destruction wrought by Nepal's deadliest earthquake in more than 80 years was still emerging as relief workers struggled to reach mountainous districts.
	The destruction appeared particularly dire in the Sindhupalchowk region, northeast of Kathmandu, where the sense of desperation was mounting.
	"One of our teams that returned from Chautara in Sindhupalchowk district reported ..

Survivors feel abandoned at dark heart of Nepal quake

Malaysia Airlines today said it was "exploring fleet options" as the flag carrier sidestepped commenting on reports it is planning to sell off some of its planes to restructure after recent disasters and losses.
	Aviation website Leeham News and Comment reported yesterday that the airline was looking at selling or leasing out all of its six Airbus A380 planes.
	Flight Global website, citing industry sources, said the beleaguered company was looking at customers for some of its Boeing 777-200ERs and Airbus A330-200 freighters.
	Malaysia Airlines said it was still working on its business plan but did not give any details regarding the restructuring reports.
	"Malaysia Airlines seeks to clarify the speculation on its fleet. We are currently still working to finalise the business plan... Exploring fleet options to enhance viability of long haul sectors is one area being looked into," it tweeted.
	The airline, whose already loss-making operations took a further beating after the two ...

Malaysia Airlines 'exploring fleet options'

South Korean workers clashed with riot police at a May Day rally in Seoul today, vowing to wage an "all-out general strike" if the government pushes through with planned labour reforms.
	Thousands of riot police erected barricades to block about 10,000 workers from marching toward the office of President Park Geun-Hye.
	The police fired water cannons laced with a chemical irritant in scattered clashes with some marchers who tried to force their way through barricades in a tense three-hour standoff on the roads leading to Park's office.
	Park's conservative administration is seeking to push through a reform plan that it argues would introduce flexibility to a rigid labour market, by making it easier to hire and fire.
	"We will crush any government attempts to suppress labour rights with an all-out general strike," Federation of Korean Trade Unions head Kim Dong-Man told the crowd at a rally near parliament.
	South Korean union leaders said more than 100,000 workers took part in two ...

May Day rallies in Asia as South Koreans clash with police

An Austrian court has rejected a US request to extradite Ukrainian oligarch Dmytro Firtash on charges of bribing officials in India.
	Firtash, 49, one of Ukraine's richest men and previously a supporter of ousted president Viktor Yanukovych, was arrested in Austria in March 2014.
	He was freed on bail 10 days later for 125 million euros (USD 139 million), a record for Austria, but has had to stay in the country.
	US authorities want him extradited to face charges that he and five others paid USD 18.5 million in bribes to Indian officials to secure titanium mining licences in 2006.
	Firtash has rejected the charges and maintained they are politically motivated.
	Presiding judge Christoph Bauer said yesterday there was "no political influence" over the decision which "was taken on a legal and factual basis".
	Firtash owns Group DF, a business empire involved in energy, chemicals, media, banking and property in Ukraine and other countries including Germany, Italy and Austria.
	He made ...

Austria rejects US extradition of Ukrainian oligarch

Oil prices edged down today after another rally that came on the back of the first drop in US stockpiles for six months as well as a weaker dollar.
	US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for June delivery fell three cents to USD 59.60 a barrel, while Brent for June eased 18 cents to USD 66.60. However, trading was quiet with most Asian markets closed for public holidays.
	Yesterday WTI jumped USD 1.05 and Brent gained 94 cents.
	Both contracts rose by about a fifth through April owing to several factors, including concerns about unrest in Yemen, the weakening dollar and fewer US rigs in operation to produce the black gold.
	However, prices remain well down after plunging almost 60 per cent between June and January on the back of a global supply glut and ramped up production.
	The latest jump came after Wednesday's US Department of Energy inventory report, which showed a 500,000 barrel drop in petroleum stocks to 61.7 million barrels at the key Cushing, Oklahoma trading hub.
	While the .

Oil prices lower after rally

Thousands of Iranian workers today held a May Day demonstration in Tehran to demand improved conditions and protest against foreigners taking jobs in the Islamic republic, Ilna news agency reported.
	The demonstrators gathered in the centre of the capital near the offices of the House of Labour, the official workers' union.
	"Employing foreign workers amounts to putting Iranians out of work," was the main slogan on a large banner erected by the protesters, seen in a photograph carried by the semi-official news agency.
	Other banners read: "Employers, shame on you, let foreigners go."
	Iran, where unemployment is running at more than 10 per cent of the workforce, has more than one million Afghans employed mainly in construction and agriculture.

Iran workers hold May Day protest against foreign labour

The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor has said she is weighing opening war crimes investigations into Palestinians as well as Israelis after Palestine joined the tribunal's jurisdiction last month.
	Fatou Bensouda rejected Israeli fears of bias by the court, promising to consider the evidence "independently and impartially without fear or favour," in an interview published by Israel's liberal Haaretz newspaper today.
	"We will of course look into the alleged crimes committed by all sides to the conflict. I have made this clear to both Israeli and Palestinian officials," she said.
	Bensouda said that so far her deliberations were still at a preliminary stage and no investigation had been opened into anyone from either side.
	"At this stage we are not investigating, as a decision on whether to open an investigation in the situation of Palestine has not been made," she said.
	Bensouda began a preliminary examination in January of whether there was sufficient evidence to ...

ICC says Palestinians too could face war crimes probes

A host of Myanmar ethnic rebels began talks in the isolated Wa region bordering China today as they mull whether to agree a full ceasefire with the government, an armed group official said.
	The United Wa State Army (UWSA) holds sway over a secretive patch of borderland with a thousands-strong rebel fighting force, long accused of drug smuggling.
	It called the meeting of around a dozen ethnic armed groups in April, despite not being part of the country's peace talks.
	"We are hoping this meeting will be strongly supportive of local peace and a nationwide ceasefire," Major Tar Pan La, spokesman of the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA), told AFP.
	He added that the talks began today and were expected to last until May 6.
	President Thein Sein has secured a draft deal with 16 rebel groups to end decades of fighting, described by the United Nations as a "historic and significant achievement".
	The government wants a full nationwide ceasefire before elections in November seen as a ...

Myanmar rebels convene in remote Wa region

Bangladesh began a long haul to save the first Test after Pakistan ran up a 296-run lead on the fourth day of the first Test in Khulna today.
     The tourists took their overnight score of 537 for five to 628 before they were all out shortly before lunch at the Sheikh Abu Naser stadium.
     Bangladesh were six for no loss in their second innings at the break with Tamim Iqbal on four and Imrul Kayes on two.
     The hosts will need to bat a major part of the remaining five sessions to prevent Pakistan taking the lead in the two-Test series.
     The overnight pair of Asad Shafiq (83) and Sarfraz Ahmed (82) carried their sixth-wicket partnership to 126 to build a sizeable lead for Pakistan.
     Left-arm spinner Taijul Islam picked up three of the five wickets in the morning session to finish with creditable figures of six for 163.
     Debutant fast bowler Mohammad Shahid claimed his first Test wicket when he ended the sixth-wicket stand by having Sarfraz caught at mid-on by ...

Pakistan tighten grip on first Test

A 7.1 magnitude earthquake hit off Papua New Guinea today, 110 kilometres south-southwest of the town of Kokopo, the US Geological Survey said, just a day after a 6.7 magnitude tremor in the region.
	The quake hit at 1336 IST, 689 kilometres northeast of the Pacific nation's capital Port Moresby, in the New Britain region at a depth of 53 kilometres.
	There were no tsunami warnings, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said.
	A 6.7 magnitude quake hit the same region yesterday, 131 kilometres southwest of Kokopo, but there were no reports of serious damage.
	"This is the second earthquake that has occurred in that region over the last two days," co-director of the Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre Daniel Jaksa told AFP.
	"The previous one was about 10 kilometres to the southeast of this particular epicentre. It's a very uninhabited region off the island of New Britain.
	"The earthquake was a measure of 7.1, so that's about 30 times smaller than the (recent) earthquake in ...

7.1 magnitude earthquake hits Papua New Guinea: USGS

Baltimore police have enforced a curfew for a third night, as new reports emerged over how the black man at the center of the latest US racial unrest sustained fatal injuries while in police custody.
	Fresh protests had broken out in Baltimore and Philadelphia earlier over the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray - the latest household name in the national debate over whether American police are too quick to use violence against blacks, especially young men.
	As a 10:00 pm curfew began in Baltimore, officers formed a cordon and engaged in a brief but mostly non-violent confrontation with a handful of protesters. Afterwards, calm was restored and the streets were largely vacated.
	The demonstrations echo protests that erupted in a St Louis suburb last year when a white policeman shot dead an unarmed black teenager, and then flared again in major US cities when a grand jury declined to indict the officer.
	Yesterday around 600 people marched in Baltimore, a city of 620,000 an hour's drive .

Baltimore police enforce third night of curfew

Around 30 graves believed to belong to migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh were discovered today in southern Thailand, officials said, in an area criss-crossed with trafficking routes.
	The grave site was found in Sadao district of Songkhla province at an abandoned camp for 'boatpeople' who had apparently been trafficked to Thailand's border area with Malaysia, a zone notorious for housing remote camps for trafficked migrants.
	"There are 32 graves, four bodies have now been exhumed and are on their way... To hospital to for an autopsy," Sathit Thamsuwan a rescue worker, who was at the scene soon after the site was found, told AFP.
	"The bodies were all decayed," he said, adding a single man from Bangladesh survived and is being treated at a hospital in nearby Padang Besar.
	The local hospital confirmed the Bangladeshi man had survived and was in a stable condition.
	The grisly discovery of the grave was also confirmed by a senior official from Sadao.
	"There are more than 20 ...

Mass grave of 'boatpeople' found in southern Thailand

The United Nations warned fuel shortages threaten to halt all relief operations in Yemen "within days" as Saudi Arabia reported the first retaliatory cross-border attack of its five-week air war.
	Riyadh rejected any neutral venue for UN-brokered peace talks as a confidential UN report supported its allegations that regional rival Tehran had been arming Yemen's Huthi Shiite rebels since 2009.
	Yemen was the poorest Arab country even before the rebellion against now exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi escalated last year and UN agencies said yesterday that millions were at risk from any halt to food distributions.
	The bombing campaign launched by a Saudi-led coalition of Sunni Arab states on March 26 has virtually halted the delivery of both humanitarian aid and commercial goods, including fuel.
	UN chief Ban Ki-moon said the lack of fuel was preventing agencies on the ground from distributing even those stocks already inside the country, most of which are in the hands of rebels ..

UN warns on Yemen aid as Saudi reports first border attack

Tens of thousands of South Korean workers held May Day rallies today, vowing to wage an "all-out general strike" if the government pushes through with planned labour reforms.
	Elsewhere in Asia, dozens of protesters in Taiwan threw smoke bombs near the presidential office during a workers' rally, while in Hong Kong domestic helpers were out in force to seek greater rights.
	Hundreds gathered in downtown Manila to press for higher wages and more job opportunities at home, to prevent so many Filipinos heading overseas, often into vulnerable situations or outright danger.
	Activist Renato Reyes said the case of Mary Jane Veloso, a maid who narrowly escaped execution in Indonesia this week for drug crimes, highlighted a "very severe jobs crisis" that forces the poor to go abroad.
	South Korean union leaders said more than 100,000 workers took part in two rallies in Seoul, while police put the total number of participants at 38,000.
	"We will crush any government attempts to suppress ...

Asian workers rally against government labour reforms

Mexican police have waged a gunfight with rural vigilantes in a poor state plagued by drug cartels, leaving eight people dead, officials said.
	The vigilantes, known as "community police", took up arms in several mountain villages and along the coast of southern Guerrero state in 2013, alleging that authorities were doing nothing to protect them against cartels that carried out extortion, kidnappings and killings in the state.
	Guerrero is one of Mexico's poorest states, mired in myriad social conflicts, and the state in which 43 students disappeared last September in a massacre that outraged the country.
	In yesterday's clash in the area of Igualapa, police tried to stop a pickup truck carrying members of one of these rural policing units.
	The vehicle did not stop, and the men in it opened fire on police, triggering a gunfight that lasted 12 minutes, the secretariat of state for public security said.
	Six of the vigilantes and two police officers were killed, a secretariat official .

Eight dead in Mexico as police clash with vigilantes

Thailand's "Red Shirt" supporters reacted with dismay today after a television network run by the opposition movement was taken off air in the latest strike against freedom of expression in the military-ruled kingdom.
	In a statement published on Facebook Red Shirt leader Jatuporn Prompan said Peace TV had been ordered to halt broadcasting from 8:30pm (1330 GMT) yesterday by the country's media regulator.
	This morning Thai television showed the network's usual programming had been replaced with a test screen.
	Peace TV has been locked in a dispute with Thailand's military rulers who seized power last May.
	The country's sharply polarised political channels were one of the first casualties of the censorship imposed following the coup.
	A ban on them was lifted around three months later on the condition they stayed away from controversial issues or criticising the military regime.
	But junta leaders and the National Telecommunication Commission (NTC) regulator said Peace TV had failed .

Thai 'Red Shirt' TV station taken off air

FIFA presidential candidates Michael van Praag and Luis Figo yesterday left open the possibility of a strategic withdrawal to unite the vote against runaway leader Sepp Blatter.
     Speaking at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) congress in Bahrain, neither rejected the option although they insisted it had not been discussed.
    	Van Praag, Figo and Jordan's Prince Ali bin al Hussein are considered to be some way behind the support enjoyed by Blatter, who will be seeking a landslide win on May 29.
	Van Praag and Figo sat next to each other at the five-hour congress but the Dutch FA boss said he didn't discuss any vote strategy with the former Real Madrid galactico.
    	"I'm not going to discuss that through the media... If that is up for discussion okay, if we meet we can discuss it. But I'm not going to discuss it through (media)," he told AFP.
	Figo gave a vague response when asked about the prospect of one or more candidates withdrawing, giving the impression that it could ..

Strategic pull-out possible for Blatter rivals

Belgian footballer Gregory Mertens died yesterday, just three days after suffering a heart attack while playing for Lokeren's reserves, hospital sources told the Belga news agency.
     The 24-year-old defender had been in a critical condition after collapsing on the field 20 minutes into a reserve game against Genk on Monday.
    	He was given emergency treatment on the pitch before being taken to hospital where he was placed in an induced coma.
    	Lokeren described Mertens as "modest" and "indispensable".
	"Suddenly something happens which makes us realize that football is just football. Today is such a time," said a statement by the club.
	"The desperation of everyone at Sporting Lokeren is huge. Gregory was only at the club for one and a half years, but in that short time (he showed) quiet modesty and was indispensable. Now we will have to learn to live with the loss."
	Mertens began his career at the country's most successful club, Anderlecht, but moved to Lokeren in January ...

Belgian player, 24, dies three days after heart attack

Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi announced yesterday he is to be a father again by posting a picture of his pregnant partner on social media.
     The four-time Ballon d'Or, 27, took to Instagram to post a picture of his son, Thiago, kissing Antonella Roccuzzo's stomach with the message: "Can't wait to welcome you into our world!!! We love you! Thiagui, mum and dad."
    	Local press in Argentina had been speculating about Messi's future fatherhood since February with newspaper Clarin saying the couple already knew they were due to have a baby boy who would be named Benjamin.
    	Messi and Roccuzzo's first son was born in November 2012.

AFP

AFP

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