Beijing is poised to take "de facto control" of the South China Sea, the Philippines warned today as it called on fellow Southeast Asian countries to "stand up" to their massive neighbour.
	Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei claim parts of the strategic South China Sea, but Beijing claims nearly all of it and its increasingly aggressive moves to assert those territorial ambitions have caused concern in the region and beyond.
	"(China) is poised to consolidate de facto control of the South China Sea," Philippine Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario told fellow ministers at a regional meeting in Kuala Lumpur, according to a transcript of his remarks.
	Foreign ministers met a day ahead of a summit by regional leaders that will convene amid growing concern over a Chinese land-reclamation campaign that is building up disputed reefs into full-fledged islands.
	Satellite photos that emerged earlier this month triggered alarm bells by providing fresh evidence of the activities, ...

Beijing poised to take 'de facto control of SCS': Philippines

PTI Automatic

Protesters smashed police cars and shop windows in downtown Baltimore when the biggest demonstration over the death of a young African-American man in police custody turned violent.
	More than 1,000 people joined an orderly 90-minute rally at Baltimore city hall last night demanding justice for Freddie Gray, who died last Sunday from spinal injuries, a week after his arrest in the city's impoverished west side.
	But the mood shifted dramatically when several scores of protesters moved on to the Camden Yards baseball stadium, an hour before the scheduled start of a Baltimore Orioles-Boston Red Sox game.
	Live images from local television news helicopters showed a youthful crowd hurling soda bottles and trash cans at police officers alongside the Sports Legends museum and Camden Yards ticket booths.
	"Protesters are now breaking windows and throwing items at us," the Baltimore police department confirmed on its Twitter feed. "We are asking everyone to remain peaceful."
	Others were seen 

Violence erupts at Baltimore police death protest

Two Swedish men held hostage in Syria have been released with the help of Palestinian and Jordanian authorities, Sweden's foreign ministry has said.
	The ministry declined to give details of the case but Foreign Minister Margot Wallstroem thanked yesterday the Palestinians and Jordan for helping secure the men's release.
	"A special thanks to Palestine and president (Mahmud) Abbas personally who engaged in a decisive way, as well as to the Jordanian authorities," she said in a statement to news agency TT.
	The Palestinian ambassador to Sweden Hala Husni Fariz said the men, who were freed on Friday, had been kidnapped by al Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, the Al-Nusra Front.
	"We are very happy that we could contribute to freeing the two Swedes," she told TT, adding that Palestinian security services had helped negotiate their release for over two months.
	She said the men had been held in an area close to the Jordanian border.

Two Swedish hostages released in Syria: foreign ministry

Several thousand people including religious leaders marched in Washington against same-sex marriage as the US Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments on the deeply divisive issue in the coming days.
	Crowds rallied from the US Capitol to the Supreme Court yesterday, carrying placards reading, "A Child Needs a Father and a Mother" and "March for Truth."
	The gathering comes with the top court Tuesday set to consider whether same-sex couples have a constitutional right to wed in the US, with a final decision expected in June.
	Currently, individual states are responsible for determining marriage laws, with 37 out of 50 US states and the capital Washington legalising gay unions.
	"We will not be silenced... We are not alone," Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, told the crowd to cheers.
	Several members of the Protestant and Orthodox church were also present at the rally, along with a strong turnout from the Hispanic community.
	Some had ...

Thousands march in US capital against gay marriage

Pope Francis has said he was "deeply saddened" by the massive earthquake yesterday that killed more than a 1,000 people in Nepal and expressed his solidarity with those affected by the tragedy.
	The pontiff's feelings were expressed in a telegram sent by his Secretary of State Pietro Parolin to the Nepalese Catholic authorities.
	"He expresses his solidarity with all affected by this disaster and assures those who grieve for deceased family members of his closeness in prayer," the statement read.
	The pontiff also "offers encouragement to the civil authorities and emergency personnel as they continue their rescue efforts and assistance to those touched by this tragedy."
	Officials said at least 1,170 people are known to have died in Nepal after the devastating 7.8 magnitude quake, making it the quake-prone Himalayan nation's worst disaster in more than 80 years.
	Dozens more people were reported killed in neighbouring India and China and there are fears the final toll could be much ...

Pope Francis 'deeply saddened' by Nepal quake tragedy

A Google executive and self-described adventurer was among 10 people killed at a Mount Everest base camp in an avalanche triggered by a major Nepal earthquake yesterday, the company and his family said.
	Dan Fredinburg was killed in the avalanche that buried parts of the base camp where hundreds of mountaineers were gathered for the start of the climbing season.
	He was with several colleagues who survived the tragedy, Lawrence You, director of privacy at Google, said in a blog post.
	"Sadly, we lost one of our own in this tragedy. Dan Fredinburg, a long-time member of the Privacy organisation... was in Nepal with three other Googlers, hiking Mount Everest. He has passed away," You wrote.
	"The other three Googlers with him are safe and we are working to get them home quickly."
	You said Google.Org was contributing $1 million to the response efforts.
	Fredinburg's sister Megan said he died of a head trauma.
	"We appreciate all of the love that has been sent our way thus far and know ..

Google executive killed on Everest after Nepal quake

United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon appealed to Indonesia today to spare from execution a group of death-row drug convicts, nine of them foreigners.
	"The Secretary General appeals to the government of Indonesia to refrain from carrying out the execution, as announced, of 10 prisoners on death row for alleged drug-related crimes," a spokesman for Ban said.

UN chief urges Indonesia to spare drug convicts from execution

The United Nations announced today it has nominated Peter Jan Graaff of the Netherlands as the world body's new chief of mission to fight Ebola.
	Graaff is replacing Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed at UNMEER, after the Mauritanian diplomat was appointed to special UN envoy for Yemen.
	Graaff will work closely with Special Envoy on Ebola David Nabarro, along with governments in the region.
	UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon "expresses his sincere gratitude to Mr Ould Cheikh Ahmed for his exceptional work and leadership of UNMEER, and for his commitment to ensuring the affected countries are on the road to recovery from the unprecedented Ebola outbreak," a statement read.
	Graaff, 55, has served since October 2014 as Ebola crisis manager for Liberia, one of the countries most affected by the epidemic, along with Guinea and Sierra Leone.
	The World Health Organization says more than 26,000 people have been infected with Ebola since the outbreak began late 2013, and more than 10,800 have ...

Dutchman tapped to head UN Ebola mission

Protesters returned to Baltimore's streets today to vent their outrage over the death of an African-American man from injuries he apparently sustained when he taken into custody two weekends ago.
	Organisers anticipated the biggest outpouring of public anger since Freddie Gray, 25, was arrested on April 12, only to die in a coma seven days later from severe spinal injuries.
	Some 200 to 300 protesters set off in the early afternoon from the west Baltimore housing project where Gray was apprehended, heading toward the district police station that has been the focal point of nightly demonstrations this week.
	"No justice, no peace!" chanted the crowd, under a forest of banners, including one featuring portraits of 50-odd African-Americans who have died in confrontations with police officers in recent years.
	More protesters were expected later for a major rally outside City Hall, called by Black Lawyers for Justice and other groups.
	Tensions are simmering in the blue-collar ...

Protesters back out in Baltimore after police custody death

Israel was sending a delegation to Nepal to determine what help it can offer after the massive earthquake there that claimed more than 1,000 lives, officials said today.
	The military delegation of "medical, search and rescue, logistics and population assistance professionals" was due to fly out at midnight, an army statement said.
	A statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the advance team "will land near the affected zone and make its preparations until it becomes possible to land in Nepal".
	In addition to offering aid to Nepal, the delegation will also provide Israelis "the means necessary to return to Israel", the statement added.
	Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said there were "thousands" of Israelis in Nepal, adding that no fatalities among them were reported.

Israel sending aid team to Nepal after quake

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini will board a vessel in the Mediterranean Sea to show their "solidarity" after a series of boat migrant tragedies, the EU said.
	The trio will set sail on an Italian navy ship off the coast of Sicily "to assess the situation and help ensure European solidarity for the efforts undertaken to save the lives of migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea", the EU's diplomatic arm said in a statement today.
	No further details about the trip were given.
	The highly symbolic sea journey will come just over a week after more than 750 migrants died in shipwreck off the coast of Libya, in the Mediterranean's worst migrant disaster yet.
	In its statement, the EU stressed "the need for a common effort to address the issue of migration, from tackling root causes to facing the emergencies".
	Under pressure to deal with a spike in the number of migrants undertaking the perilous journey to 

UN chief, Italy PM and EU's Mogherini in Med sea trip

International aid groups rushed to respond today to a massive earthquake in Nepal that claimed more than 1,000 lives as aftershocks and severed communications hampered rescue efforts.
	"We do not yet know the scope of the damage, but this could be one of the deadliest and most devastating earthquakes since the 1934 tremor which devastated Nepal and Bihar," said Jagan Chapagain, Asia/Pacific director of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).
	The IFCR said it was extremely concerned about the fate of rural villages close to the epicentre of the quake, some 80 kilometres from the capital Kathmandu.
	"Roads have been damaged or blocked by landslides and communication lines are down preventing us from reaching local Red Cross branches to get accurate information," said Chapagain in a statement.
	"We anticipate that there will be considerable destruction and loss of life."
	Other aid organisations responding to the emergency also struggled to ...

International aid groups rush to reach Nepal quake victims

Dozens of bikers from pro-Kremlin gang the Night Wolves today set off on a ride to Berlin ahead of the anniversary of Soviet victory in World War II, despite Poland and Germany barring the riders.
	The bikers gathered this morning in a Moscow suburb to launch the ride to Berlin, planned to retrace the 6,000-kilometre (3,730-mile) march of Soviet troops through Belarus, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria.
	The Night Wolves' long-haired, heavily tattooed leader Alexander Zaldostanov led a column of bikers waving red flags with portraits of Stalin and the wartime slogan "For the Motherland! For Stalin!" out of the gang's clubhouse in northwestern Moscow.
	Organisers said around 30 bikers aimed to travel the entire route to Berlin, but it was unclear whether they would be allowed to pass through after both Warsaw and Berlin moved to ban the riders.
	A German government source told AFP on Saturday that "entry has been refused to certain leaders of the Night Wolves and visas ..

Pro-Kremlin bikers ride for Berlin defying bans

Hundreds are feared dead after a powerful 7.8 magnitude quake rocked Nepal on Saturday. Below is a list of some of the world's deadliest earthquakes in the past 30 years.August 11, 2012:Twin earthquakes with a magnitude of 6.3 and 6.4 on the Richter scale leave 306 dead and more than 3,000 injured near the Iranian city of TabrizMarch 11, 2011:Nearly 18,900 are killed when a tsunami triggered by a massive 9.0-magnitude  undersea quake slams into the northeast coast of Japan, triggering a nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi atomic plantOctober 23, 2011:An earthquake of 7.2 magnitude rocks eastern Turkey, leaving more than 600 dead and at least 4,150 injuredJanuary 12, 2010:A 7.0-magnitude  quake hits Haiti, leaving between 250,000 and 300,000 deadApril 14, 2010:A 6.9-magnitude quake hits Yushu county in northwest China's Qinghai province leaving 3,000 people dead and missingMay 12, 2008:A quake measuring 8.0 on the Richter scale  hits China's Sichuan province, leaving more than 87,00

Deadliest earthquakes in the past 30 years

Agencies

At least 92 people have been killed in Saudi-led coalition air strikes and fighting between supporters of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and his opponents in southern Yemen, sources said today.
	In the key port city of Aden and in the adjacent Lahj province alone, 46 rebels died in ongoing clashes and 12 hours of intense air strikes that lasted until today, a military source close to them said.
	A medic in Aden said that eight pro-Hadi militiamen were killed and 32 were wounded.
	The military source and pro-Hadi militiamen told AFP that coalition warships were also taking part in the shelling.
	Warplanes' targets included the rebel-held presidential palace which was Hadi's last refuge before he fled to neighbouring Saudi Arabia last month, military officials said.
	Air strikes also hit the rebel-held Al-Anad air base in Lahj north of Aden, which housed US troops supporting a long-running drone war against Al-Qaeda before the fighting forced them to withdraw.
	Residents in Lahj said .

South Yemen clashes, raids kill more than 90

French President Francois Hollande on Saturday said France was ready to respond to any request from Nepal "for aid and assistance" following a massive 7.8 magnitude quake in the Himalayan nation that killed more than 800 people.
	Hollande expressed "France's solidarity with the authorities and people of Nepal" following the devastating quake, a statement from his Elysee office said. Scores of people are still feared trapped in collapsed homes around the country.

France ready to aid Nepal quake rescue

Fierce fighting raged today in south Yemen between Iran-backed rebels and loyalists of exiled President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, as pressure mounted for the warring factions to hold political talks.
	The Huthi rebels, who have overrun large parts of the country and forced Hadi to flee overseas, have demanded a complete end to a month of Saudi-led air strikes against them as a condition for UN-sponsored talks.
	Clashes left at least 38 people dead today in towns in the south of the impoverished country, strategically located next to oil-rich Saudi Arabia and key shipping routes.
	Former strongman Ali Abdullah Saleh, who still holds sway over army units allied with the Shiite rebels, late on Friday urged the Huthis to heed UN demands to withdraw from territory they have seized.
	US Secretary of State John Kerry also called on the anti-government forces to enter into political dialogue to end a conflict that the UN says has killed more than 1,000 people since late March.
	"This has to be .

Clashes rage in Yemen as calls for peace talks grow

Egyptian police said today that four Islamists were killed in an accidental explosion while preparing bombs south of the capital.
	Police said the suspected militants were members of the blacklisted Muslim Brotherhood movement of former Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, whom the army toppled in 2013.
	The explosion took place yesterday on a farm in the province of Beni Suef south of Cairo, the interior ministry said in a statement.
	Police found bomb-making materials at the site, the ministry said.
	Morsi's overthrow, prompted by mass street protests against his year-long rule, was followed by a deadly crackdown on his supporters and a surge in militant attacks on police.
	His Muslim Brotherhood has been banned and designated a "terrorist" organisation, although the once-powerful grassroots movement says it eschews violence.
	Morsi was detained after his ouster and this month sentenced to 20 years in prison for abuses against protesters during his presidency.

Four Egypt militants killed making bombs: police

Police from seven European countries detained 26 people in a crackdown on a horsemeat trafficking ring two years after a tainted meat scandal that rocked the continent, the EU's judicial agency Eurojust said today.
	Eurojust said in a statement that the swoop gathering hundreds of police and judicial officials "succeeded in stopping an organised criminal network involved in trade in illegal horsemeat."
	The operation involved officers and the judiciary in France, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Britain, the European Union agency said.
	Eurojust did not say where the 26 suspects were arrested but the Dutch public prosecutor's office said three were arrested in the Netherlands. France had requested the trio's extradition, the prosecutors added.
	Media in Belgium said four of its nationals, including the alleged ringleader, were arrested in France.
	Eurojust said the main suspect in the ring, which is accused of introducing horsemeat unfit for human consumption 

Europe's police crack massive horsemeat trafficking ring

Four years after breaking ground, New York's much-loved Whitney Museum for American art reopens next Friday in a futuristic USD 422 million premises built by Italian architect Renzo Piano.
	The celebrated museum of modern and contemporary American art has turned its back on the bourgeois satisfaction of the Upper East Side to move down town to the achingly cool Meatpacking District.
	Sandwiched between the Hudson river and the High Line walkway, the new nine-storey building of concrete, steel and glass is more than double the size of its previous premises on Madison Avenue.
	Its asymmetric, angled style reflects the industrial vibe of the neighborhood. Its high ceilings, reclaimed pine floors, vast windows and large terraces fill the building with light and offer spectacular views across Manhattan and the Hudson.
	Europe-based Piano, who famously built the Pompidou Centre in Paris in the 1970s, said he was after a similar effect.
	The vast, glass hall, which the Italian calls "the ...

All new Whitney Museum opens in New York

Three suicide bombers attacked a border crossing between western Iraq and Jordan today, killing at least four Iraqi security personnel and wounding eight others, officials said.
	The bombers detonated explosives-rigged vehicles, one of them a lorry, at three successive checkpoints at the Turaibil crossing, said Sabah Karhout, the head of the Anbar province council.
	The deputy head of the crossing, Khaled Alwan, and army Colonel Jabr Khailan, both confirmed the attack took place, with the officer blaming it on the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group.
	Iraqi security forces control pockets of territory in Anbar, a vast desert province that stretches from the borders with Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia to the western approaches to Baghdad.
	But much of the province is held by IS, which spearheaded an offensive last June that overran swathes of territory north and west of the Iraqi capital.
	Some areas have been out of government control for longer than that. Anti-government fighters ...

AFP

AFP

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