A forest fire broke out today near the Chernobyl plant in Ukraine, scene of the world's worst civil nuclear disaster in 1986, but posed no danger to the site, officials said.
	"The fire is at a distance of 15 to 20 kilometres from Chernobyl," Maya Rudenko, a spokeswoman for the plant, told AFP by telephone, adding there was "no problem" there.
	"The situation is under control," the head of the emergency services, Zoryan Shkiryak, said on Facebook.
	Interior Minister Arsen Avakov warned however that "the high flames and sudden gusts of wind mean there is a serious risk that the fire could spread."
	The area around Chernobyl was evacuated after the 1986 blast and the last reactor there shut down in 2000 but some personnel still operate in the exclusion zone, where work is underway to lay a new seal over the reactor site.
	Avakov said the fire had spread over some 400 hectares near the site, which lies around 100 kilometres (62 miles) from the Ukrainian capital Kiev.
	Around 200 ...

Forest fire rages near Ukraine Chernobyl nuclear site

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A Marshall Islands-flagged cargo ship forced into an Iranian port was ordered to shore because of a commercial dispute, the official Fars news agency said.
	US defence officials said at least five Iranian ships demanded that the Maersk Tigris head to Iran's Larak Island while it was in the Straight of Hormuz.
	The vessel "had a dispute with the Iranian port administration, which obtained a court order to impound (the vessel)", Fars reported, without providing details.
	The cargo ship's captain "declined" the demand to alter course and one of the Iranian vessels "fired shots" across the bow of the Maersk Tigris, Pentagon spokesman Colonel Steven Warren said.
	The cargo ship then "complied with the Iranian demand and proceeded into Iranian waters in the vicinity of Larak Island," he said.
	The US military's Central Command ordered a naval destroyer to the area and military aircraft were monitoring the situation, Warren said.
	The destroyer was directed "to proceed at best speed to the ..

Cargo ship forced to port over 'commercial dispute':Iran media

Fighting between Shiite rebels and loyalists killed dozens of people across Yemen as Iran accused Saudi Arabia of using Cold War-era tactics by air dropping leaflets warning of "Persian expansion".
	A Saudi-led coalition carried out air strikes for a seventh straight day since announcing a halt to its aerial campaign, hitting Sanaa airport among other targets, an AFP correspondent and witnesses said.
	The conflict has exposed deteriorating relations between the Middle East's foremost powers, Saudi Arabia and Iran, which are increasingly seen as vying for supremacy in the region beset by bloody turmoil.
	On Tuesday, at least 70 people were killed in fighting between the Iran-backed rebels and pro-government forces in several parts of the country, sources said.
	Stepping up a war of words, a security chief in Shiite Iran hit out at the Saudi-led coalition of Sunni Arab states for dropping the leaflets.
	"Dropping these leaflets, as untrue as they are, has the goal of frightening the ...

Dozens dead in Yemen as Iran, Saudi step up war of words

Three Hezbollah suspects -- two of whom are accused in a deadly 2012 bombing targeting Israeli tourists in Bulgaria -- have been placed on a special US terror watch list, Washington announced today.
	The State Department named Meliad Farah, Hassan el-Hajj Hassan and Hussein Atris as "specially designated global terrorists."
	The terror designation makes it illegal for US citizens to engage in any transactions with the three men, and freezes any property they might possess within the United States.
	All three men are Lebanese by birth, but Farah was identified as an Australian national, while Hassan el-Hajj Hassan is Canadian.
	Meliad Farah and Hassan el-Hajj Hassan were placed on the list for their alleged role in the July 2012 suicide attack on a bus as the airport in Burgas, Bulgaria that killed six people, including five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian citizen.
	Hussein Atris, who the State Department said has Swedish nationality, was identified as a member of Hezbollah's overseas 

Hezbollah suspects placed on special US terror list

The head of a major French public body that manages the country's TV and radio archives was forced to resign today after reportedly spending more than 40,000 euros in cab rides in 10 months.
	Agnes Saal found herself at the centre of controversy this week when Le Figaro daily revealed her exorbitant spending on cabs.
	The scandal was compounded by the fact her son was allegedly responsible for 6,700 euros (USD 7,350) of the 40,000 euros in taxi rides.
	Culture Minister Fleur Pellerin asked Saal, 57, to resign with immediate effect, the ministry said today.
	Saal had been head since April last year of France's National Audiovisual Institute, a public body that preserves and promotes the country's radio and TV heritage.
	She replaced Mathieu Gallet, who is now head of French public radio and also landed himself in hot water this month by reportedly renovating his office to the tune of 100,000 euros and hiring a PR consultant on a 90,000-euro salary, just as he was preparing a ...

French cultural body chief resigns over '40,000-euro' cab bill

"We heard this most horrifying sound, it was like a train but came from so deep... And then finally there was this stillness, this complete stillness, and I knew I was alive," says photographer Roberto Schmidt of the moment he survived an avalanche on Everest.
	Schmidt, AFP's South Asia photo chief, and Kathmandu bureau chief Ammu Kannampilly had just reached Everest base camp on assignment Saturday when an avalanche - triggered by the 7.8-magnitude quake that has killed more than 4,310 in Nepal - thundered down the mountain.
	After reaching the relative safety of Lukla town, the traditional gateway to Everest, they spoke of their recollections and recounted the scenes of carnage on the mountain where hundreds of climbers had gathered.
	"We had just arrived after a nine-day trek. It's a tough hike and difficult to comprehend the impact on your body but it's an amazing place - truly breathtaking in both senses of the word," said Schmidt.
	"As I got in I was just taking all sorts of ...

'I'm going to be buried alive...' journalists on Mt Everest

The head of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali said today an attack by loyalist fighters on rebel positions in the north threatened "months of intense negotiations" for peace.
	The UN's MINUSMA force head Mongi Hamdi condemned the pro-government Imghad and Allies Tuareg Self-Defence Group (GATIA) which seized key positions in the desert town of Menaka from rebels yesterday.
	"I urge the parties to immediately cease hostilities and return to their positions," Hamdi said in a statement, accusing GATIA of "serious violations" of a ceasefire agreement.
	"This resurgence of tensions threatens the efforts of all to restore lasting peace in Mali."
	The skirmish came after the main Tuareg rebel alliance, known as the Coordination for the Movements of Azawad (CMA), a group that GATIA opposes, announced it was committed to a deal to bring stability to the conflict-hit nation.
	The Malian government and a coalition of armed groups from the north known as the Platform had already ...

Assault by pro-govt militia a threat to peace in Mali: UN

Something hideously violent happened in Elishku. Whether it was a separatist attack or a civilian massacre is shrouded in the mists of conflict, control, claim and counter-claim that plague China's mainly Muslim region of Xinjiang.
	According to authorities, 96 civilians and "terrorists" died when militants attacked a police station in the townshaip last July 28. Residents, speaking to foreign media for the first time, say that hundreds of people mounted a protest against government restrictions on religion which was brutally put down.
	"Everyone who joined the crowd is either dead or in jail," said Mahmouti, who hid in his nearby home with his then-pregnant wife. "No one has been heard from since, no one knows where they are now."
	It is by far the bloodiest incident in Beijing's "strike hard" campaign against violence in Xinjiang, launched after an attack on a train station in the regional capital Urumqi a year ago on Thursday.
	Allegations have swirled ever since the killings in ...

China forces shot protesters: Xinjiang residents

A roadside bomb targeting security forces killed at least one person in Pakistan today, officials said, the first deadly attack in the restive northwestern city of Peshawar in two months.
	A passer-by was wounded in the blast in Peshawar's upmarket Hayatabad neighbourhood, which lies close to Khyber tribal district, where the army is battling Taliban-linked militants.
	The bomb targeted a convoy of security personnel that passed by shortly before the blast and escaped unharmed.
	"One person passing in his car was killed while another passer-by was wounded, both of them are civilians," Rana Umer Hayat, a senior police official told AFP.
	Peshawar has been the scene of countless bomb and gun attacks in the Pakistani Taliban's nearly eight-year fight against the state.
	The city suffered the worst terror attack in Pakistani history in December when Taliban gunmen massacred more than 150 people at an army-run school, most of them children.
	But since then there has been something of a ...

Bomb kills one in Pakistan's Peshawar: police

Germany's population is set to decline by about 10 million people by 2060 as immigrants arriving in Europe's top economy fail to offset a falling birth rate, new projections showed today.
	Federal statistics office Destatis said Germany was expected to have between 68 and 73 million inhabitants by 2060, compared to its current 81 million.
	It would therefore lose its place as the most populous country in the European Union and probably be overtaken by Britain and France, according to different projections.
	However the expected drop in Germany's population is less marked than was forecast in a similar study six years ago due to a recent boom in immigration.
	Last year, more than half a million more people migrated to Germany than left, largely due to the opening up of the labour market to eastern European countries.
	But Roderich Egeler, president of Destatis, told reporters that long-term developments suggested a projected "migratory lull for the future".
	Germany suffers from one of 

German population set to shrink by 10 million by 2060: data

Russian President Vladimir Putin said today the country's economy was not in crisis and that the worst was over, as the central bank is set to meet this week to decide whether to lower the interest rate following the ruble's rebound.
	"We have passed through the main peak of stress," Putin said at a media forum in the northwestern city of Saint Petersburg.
	"That doesn't mean everything in the country will now start to grow upwards. Maybe we even have yet to feel what happened at the end of the last year and at the start of this one," Putin said.
	"Over the course of the year we will feel this and it will be reflected in various indicators," he said.
	"But as a whole, it's already clear that there isn't any collapse," Putin insisted, stressing that the "foundations of the Russian economy have grown stronger and stability cannot be completely destroyed."
	"I wouldn't even call it a crisis," Putin added. "There are certain phenomena, certain difficulties."
	As a result of the ruble's ...

Putin says Russian economy not in crisis

Burundi's President Pierre Nkurunziza won't back down on his bid for a third term in power, a spokesman said today, dismissing calls by protesters who have clashed with police for three days.
	At least five people have died since clashes broke out Sunday after the ruling CNDD-FDD party, which has been accused of intimidating opponents, designated Nkurunziza its candidate for the presidential election to be held in the central African nation on June 26.
	"We won't back down, that is out of the question," presidential communications chief Willy Nyamitwe told AFP, blaming demonstrators for the violence and accusing some of them of carrying guns.
	With "this path of violence they have chosen, we recall the darkest years of our history," he said.
	Amid international concern, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday dispatched his envoy Said Djinnit to Burundi, urging "all sides to reject violence and avoid using inflammatory language or hate speech."
	Opposition figures and rights ...

Burundi president sticks to third term bid despite protests

Australia, the European Union and France asked Indonesia today not to go ahead with the execution of eight foreign drug convicts, just hours before they are expected to face the firing squad.
	"The governments of Australia, France and the European Union call on President Widodo to halt the planned executions. It is not too late to change your mind," said the joint statement released by the Australian embassy in Jakarta.
	President Joko Widodo has been determined to push ahead with the execution of the nine convicts, who include foreigners from Australia, Brazil, Nigeria and the Philippines as well as one Indonesian.
	"In filing this petition, we ask Indonesia to reflect upon the impact on Indonesia's position in the world and its international reputation. We support Indonesia's efforts in obtaining clemency for its citizens abroad. Stopping this execution will help those efforts," the statement said.
	"We fully respect the sovereignty of Indonesia. But we are against the death penalty 

Australia, EU, France ask Indonesia to cancel executions

South African police said today they had arrested three people for the rape and murder of a 86-year-old nun of Austrian origin nearly two weeks ago.
	Sister Gertrud Tiefenbacher, from the Sacred Heart Home Convent in the village of Ixopo, southwest of Durban, was found murdered in her room after being suffocated with a towel, and her hands tied with an electric typewriter cord.
	Police said the three male suspects, aged between 25 and 35, would appear in a local magistrate's court tomorrow on murder, robbery and rape charges.
	"They were found in possession of some of the stolen property which were positively identified as property belonging to the victim," police said in a statement.
	"It is alleged that foreign currency had been taken from Tiefebacher's room. It is also suspected that the victim was raped before she was killed."
	Austrian-born Tiefenbacher was buried yesterday in Ixopo after a church service at Sacred Heart, where she worked as a school secretary and administration .

S African police arrest three for rape, murder of nun, 86

First went the fancy banquets, then the lavish gift-giving. Now, China's ruling Communist Party has set its sights on a new target in its anti-corruption drive: art and literary prizes.
	China's proliferation of cultural awards has raised alarm among the party's much-feared anti-corruption investigators, who worry that government officials are using them as a means of improving their clout, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
	At a meeting Monday in Changsha -- the capital of Hunan, Communist China's founding father Mao Zedong's home province -- culture ministry officials vowed to "strictly prohibit the obtaining of illegitimate benefits in the name of art", Xinhua reported.
	"The ministry of culture will carry out a comprehensive rectification of literary and art awards," Xinhua said. "A number of awards will be cancelled or streamlined, with an overall reduction of more than 60 percent."
	"Literature and art awards programmes during festivals will be cancelled, and ...

Eyes on the prize: China cracks down on art, literary awards

Saudi Arabia has arrested nearly 100 jihadists, mostly linked to the Islamic State group, and foiled several plots to carry out attacks including on the American embassy, authorities said today.
	The arrests have taken place since December and most of those detained were Saudis, the interior ministry said in a statement published by the official news agency SPA.
	It said two Syrians and a Saudi who had threatened to launch a suicide car attack against the American embassy in Riyadh last month were among those held.
	The statement did not clarify if this group was linked to IS.
	US consular services in Saudi Arabia were suspended for a week in March over what was reported at the time as "heightened security concerns".
	Saudi security services had proof that led to the "early uncovering of terrorist activities in several parts of the kingdom by members of the deviant group", a term the authorities use to refer to jihadists, the ministry statement said.
	The Sunni-dominated kingdom is ...

Saudis arrest 93 jihadists, say attacks foiled

US tech giant Google unveiled a USD 163 million project today with eight European publishers to support online journalism after being accused of anti-competitive behaviour by EU regulators.
	The online firm's Digital News Initiative is intended to "promote high quality journalism through technology and innovation," a top Google executive announced in London.
	The company will try to develop products aimed at increasing news traffic, invest in digital training and research in the industry, and fund innovation in digital journalism.
	"Google has always wanted to be a friend and partner to the news industry," said Carlo D'Asaro Biondo, the firm's head of strategic partnerships in Europe.
	"Over the years, our relationship with news and the news industry has often been misunderstood," he told media executives at the Financial Times Digital Media conference.
	"We do want to play our part in the common fight to find more sustainable models for news."
	News publishers have long complained ...

Google pairs with European media to boost online journalism

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station were left with a long wait today to get their latest food and fuel deliveries after an unmanned Russian supply ship lost communications following takeoff.
	The ISS crew won't actually be in danger of going hungry -- the station has plenty of supplies -- but the Progress supply craft's normal six-hour voyage has been extended to two days.
	And even then, the wait may not be over: with the Progress circling Earth in radio silence today, it could be just days before it runs out of fuel and starts an uncontrolled descent back into to the atmosphere.
	Russian mission control told AFP that the Progress's problems began soon after launch.
	"The ship reached orbit but the full volume of telemetry (data transmissions) is not being received," a spokesman said.
	As a result, the controllers had opted to change the flight plan and extend the vessel's usually brief journey six hours to two full days.
	The mission control website stated later today .

Russia loses comms with ISS cargo spacecraft

A train guard was killed and 240 people injured today when two crowded commuter trains collided in Johannesburg, South African officials said, adding that emergency teams had cut a woman free from the wreckage.
	Both trains were travelling from the capital Pretoria to nearby Johannesburg when one stopped at a station in the suburb of Denver and the other smashed into it shortly after 7:00 am at the height of rush hour.
	"Of the injured, two commuters are reported to be critical, 25 suffered serious injuries, and 213 commuters suffered minor injuries," state railway operator Metrorail said in a statement.
	The News24 agency had reported that the driver had been killed, but Metrorail said the driver was injured and that a train guard had died.
	"Paramedics, along with various services, arrived on the scene and found the wrecked trains blocking the tracks completely," said Russel Meiring, spokesman for the ER24 paramedic group.
	"Bent metal and parts of the train had been spread across ..

One dead, 240 injured in S Africa commuter train crash

England will send out an inexperienced one-day side to take on Ireland next month with five uncapped players named today in a squad led by new captain James Taylor.
     The bold move is down to the fact that the Test team arrive back from duty in the West Indies just one day before the May 8 fixture.
     Taylor will lead the team in Dublin in just his 18th one-day international, while Zafar Ansari, Sam Billings, James Vince, Lewis Gregory and David Willey are all in with a chance of making their senior debuts.
     "To be given the opportunity to lead your country is a huge honour," said Nottinghamshire batsman Taylor.
     "There are still some very experienced and talented cricketers in that team who I'd have been delighted to have as my captain, so it is a privilege and one I'm going to relish.
     "It's going to be brilliant, leading an England team in a one-day international. We know it will be a tough game against Ireland and this match provides a great chance for us all to ..

Taylor to skipper new-look England

A top Iranian security official today accused Saudi Arabia of using "cold war era" scare tactics in Yemen, after an air drop of leaflets that criticise "Persian expansion".
	The reference, to Iran's language and ancient name, was contained on white paper fliers released from Saudi aircraft in recent weeks.
	As the Middle East's foremost Sunni and Shiite powers, Saudi Arabia and Iran are increasingly seen as vying for supremacy in the region, which remains beset by conflict and political turmoil.
	The conflict in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition of Sunni Arab states launched air strikes on March 26 against Huthi Shiite rebels whom Riyadh accuses Tehran of arming, has exposed their deteriorating relations.
	"Dropping these leaflets, as untrue as they are, has the goal of frightening the Yemeni people," Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, was quoted as saying.
	An AFP correspondent in Sanaa said the leaflets were dropped for two weeks during Operation .

AFP

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