President Vladimir Putin today called on French leader Francois Hollande to restore ties after a year of tensions over Ukraine as the two leaders met on the sidelines of genocide commemorations in Armenia.
	   "Unfortunately, our ties are not in the best shape, trade turnover is falling including with France which only causes regret," Putin told Hollande in the Armenian capital Yerevan.
	   "I believe that we have to look for ways to restore our ties and I believe that it's in everyone's interest," he said, signalling Kremlin's desire to break out of international isolation.
	   Hollande for his part called on Putin to "move forward" with implementing the Ukraine peace accords struck in February.
	   "The best way to overcome what has hindered us would be to move forward with the application of the Minsk agreement."
	   In February, Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel travelled to Moscow to help broker a peace deal for war-torn Ukraine in a last-ditch effort to stop months of 

Putin calls on Hollande to mend fences amid Ukraine conflict

PTI Automatic

Beijing today dismissed an accusation by Manila that the Chinese coastguard robbed Filipino fishermen at gunpoint during a confrontation in the disputed South China Sea, calling the claim "inconsistent with the fact".
	The rebuttal came one day after the Philippine fisheries bureau said that fishermen aboard three vessels with clear Chinese coastguard markings boarded two fishing boats in Scarborough Shoal earlier this month and took the crew's catch.
	"What we have learned shows that accusations made by the Philippine side are inconsistent with the fact," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in a statement posted on the ministry's website.
	Using the Chinese name for the disputed area, Hong maintained that Chinese vessels "perform guard duties and keep order in waters off the Huangyan Island in accordance with the law".
	He urged Manila to "discipline and educate its fishermen and put an end to its illegal activities".
	The Scarborough Shoal lies 220 kilometres (about 140 

China rejects Philippines armed robbery claim

Ministers from Arctic nations gathered in northern Canada today to shine a spotlight on one of the planet's most remote regions, which thanks to climate change is becoming a new hotspot in tensions with Russia.
	The Arctic is warming twice as fast as everywhere else on the globe, and US officials last month said the Arctic sea ice had reached its lowest winter point since satellite observations began in the late 1970s.
	While the polar melt is of major concern because of rising sea levels, it is also opening up new ocean trade routes, and offering the tantalizing promise of untapped offshore oil and gas fields in an energy-hungry world.
	With new opportunities, however, come new challenges and rivalries, something the United States will have to shepherd for the next two years as it takes over the chairmanship of the Arctic Council.
	US Secretary of State John Kerry today arrived in the town of Iqaluit, on Baffin Island, to meet other ministers from Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, ..

Chill in the air as Arctic nations meet

Camped outside St Mary's Hospital in London, eccentrics decked out from head to toe in Union Jack colours are counting down to the latest addition to Britain's royal family.
	"Diana superfan" John Loughrey cannot hide his excitement, dancing a jig and singing on the pavement.
	"Get down here, you're missing something, the atmosphere is electrifying," he said, as hospital patients and staff hurried past, grinning.
	"Once the baby is born we will be celebrating! We will be dancing for two hours!" he told AFP.
	"This is what you call Shakespeare, this is theatre!"
	The same loyal fans all came to the same clinic in 2013 for the birth of Prince George, the first child of Prince William and his wife Kate.
	Two years later they are back to witness the birth of George's little brother or sister.
	Around a dozen of them could be seen on Friday, preparing to spend a fifth night sleeping in two small two-person tents and on nearby benches.
	Among them is Terry Hutt, the famous "Union Jack Man" .

Eccentrics camp out in London to await royal birth

Thai wildlife officials began a headcount today of nearly 150 tigers kept by monks at a temple which has become the centre of a dispute over the welfare of the animals.
	Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua in Thailand's western Kanchanaburi province -- commonly known as "The Tiger Temple" -- has long proved a hit among tourists who flock there to visit the monks and be photographed next to their huge feline pets.
	But the authorities say the temple has been keeping the animals without the proper paperwork and have vowed to seize them, sparking standoffs in recent weeks between officials and angry monks blocking their way.
	Thailand's Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) said earlier this week it planned to take the animals away today.
	But when officials arrived at the temple this morning they contented themselves with counting the tigers, most of whom are microchipped, to ascertain how many there are in the sanctuary.
	"We have come to check and scan the tigers to see 

Dispute flares over controversial Thai temple tigers

Three British plane-spotting hobbyists who were arrested two months ago in the United Arab Emirates on national security grounds have been released, Britain's Foreign Office said.
	Relatives of the men had said they were detained after being observed plane spotting at Fujairah airport, a pastime in which people photograph aircraft and log their registration numbers.
	"We can confirm the release of three British nationals detained in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates on 21st of February," a spokesman for Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office said.
	"We are providing consular assistance."
	Conrad Clitheroe, 53, and his friend Gary Cooper, 45, both from Manchester in northwest England, were on a four-day trip to the UAE when they were arrested with their former work colleague Neil Munro, a UAE resident.
	Radha Stirling, the founder of the charity Detained in Dubai, said that charges of espionage against the tree had been dropped.
	"They have had a long time to wait to be told your case .

Three British plane spotters released in UAE

The UN's rights chief today urged Britain to crack down on tabloid newspapers inciting racial hatred after a columnist for The Sun called migrants "cockroaches".
	In a hard-hitting statement, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Zeid Ra'ad Al Husein said Katie Hopkins had used language similar to that employed by some Rwandan media outlets in the run-up to the 1994 genocide, and by the Nazis in the 1930s.
	He said the April 17 article in Britain's best-selling paper was reflective of a "nasty underbelly of racism that is characterising the migration debate in an increasing number of EU countries".
	This was also "sapping compassion for the thousands of people fleeing conflict, human rights violations and economic deprivation who are drowning in the Mediterranean," he said.
	The article came as migrant boat tragedies in the Mediterranean escalated.
	Already, more than 1,750 people have died this year making the perilous sea crossing to try to reach Europe -- 30 times higher than the same .

UN rights chief urges Britain to combat tabloid hate speech

Michael Schumacher's 16-year-old son starts his Formula Four career this weekend under the pressure of living up to the famous family name of the seven-time Formula One world champion.
     After a successful karting career, Mick Schumacher Jnr has joined the Dutch Van Amersfoort Racing team in Europe's ADAC Formula Four for the season which starts at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben between Hanover and Berlin.
     It will be a busy weekend for the young German after Friday's practice sessions with one race on Saturday and two on Sunday.
     There will be a 38-strong field of teenage drivers all bidding to make their mark and dreaming of an F1 career over the eight-race season, held at tracks in Germany, Austria and Belgium and ending in October.
     As the reigning European karting champion, who came second at the 2014 world championships, the young Schumacher has earned the right to step up to F4, where the cars are 100kgs heavier and produce 130 more horse-power.
     But the ..

Pressure on as Schumacher Jnr begins F4 career

Italian police said today they had dismantled an Islamist network they have linked to Osama bin Laden, one of Pakistan's deadliest attacks and, more loosely, a possible plot to bomb the Vatican.
	A total of 18 people were ordered arrested following a six-year investigation that began with a probe into an illegal immigration racket allegedly run from the island of Sardinia. Only nine of the suspects had been detained by Friday afternoon.
	Prosecutor Mauro Mura told a press conference in Cagliari, Sardinia that members of the network had been in contact with two potential suicide bombers who came to Italy in 2010 and discussed the possibility of attacking the Vatican.
	The men left Italy when they became aware they were under surveillance and the arrested suspects are not being investigated further on that score, Mura said.
	Mario Carta, an officer in the DIGOS anti-terrorism unit that carried out the investigation, acknowledged there was no firm evidence of a conspiracy to kill the ...

Bin Laden allies suspected of Vatican plot arrested in Italy

Comcast and Time Warner Cable today announced they had scrapped their mega-merger plans, amid opposition from US antitrust regulators.
	"Today, we move on," Comcast chairman Brian Roberts said in announcing the end of a USD 45 billion deal to merge the two cable and broadband giants.
	"Of course, we would have liked to bring our great products to new cities, but we structured this deal so that if the government didn't agree, we could walk away."
	TWC said in a separate statement the two firms had "mutually agreed to terminate their merger agreement," which had drawn criticism from consumer activists and some lawmakers for giving too much market power to a single firm.
	The US Justice Department said separately it had told the firms they "would make Comcast an unavoidable gatekeeper for Internet-based services that rely on a broadband connection to reach consumers."
	"The companies' decision to abandon this deal is the best outcome for American consumers," said Attorney General Eric ...

Comcast, Time Warner Cable drop mega-merger plan

The Islamic State shot down a regime aircraft near a key military airport in southern Syria today, with pro-IS Twitter accounts saying the jihadist group had captured the pilot, a monitor said.
	The plane went down east of Khalkhalah airport, the only air base in Sweida province, a stronghold of the Druze minority that has largely avoided the bloodshed of Syria's war, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
	Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said the fate of any crew members remains unknown, but pro-IS accounts claimed the pilot had been captured.
	State television, citing a military official, said a aircraft "crashed due to technical problems while completing a training exercise" near Khalkhalah, and that the search for the pilot was ongoing.
	In its first major attack in Sweida, IS tried to storm the airport on April 11, but loyalist forces maintained control of it.
	Khalkhalah lies along a major highway between Damascus and the regime-held city of Sweida.
	Today's incident ..

IS jihadists down regime aircraft in south Syria: monitor

The EU has cleared 19 controversial genetically modified products including human food, animal feed and cut flowers, the European Commission said today.
	The new lines are produced by companies including US giants Monsanto and DuPont, and German firms Bayer and BASF.
	"All the GMOs (Genetically Modified Organisms) approved today have been proved to be safe before their placing on the EU market," the Commission said in a statement.
	The ten-year authorisations will be added to the European Union's existing list of 58 GM food and feed products.
	The newly authorised foods are varieties of maize, soybean, oilseed rape and cotton.
	Two types of carnations for use as cut flowers have also been authorised.
	The EU on Wednesday announced plans to allow its 28 member states to individually decide whether to allow the import of GM foods and animal feeds.
	Greenpeace, the environmental group, said the new authorisations showed that European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker was "moving ...

EU clears 19 genetically modified products

British opposition leader Ed Miliband accused David Cameron's government of "small-minded isolationism" in an election campaign speech today, but sparked a row after suggesting the prime minister was partly responsible for the Mediterranean migrant crisis.
	In a foreign policy address ahead of the May 7 vote, the Labour party leader said Conservative Cameron had "stepped away from the world" and was risking the national interest by promising a referendum on Britain's European Union membership.
	"David Cameron has presided over the biggest loss of influence for our country in a generation," Miliband told the audience at think tank Chatham House in London.
	"It is time to reject the small-minded isolationism that has characterised this government.
	"This government's approach has weakened Britain at a time when the challenges are perhaps greater and more complex than at any time since the Second World War."
	Foreign policy has been little debated in the campaign aside from references to 

Labour leader Miliband vows to end UK 'isolationism'

French police were today trying to unravel the mystery around a thwarted church attack in which an Algerian jihadist sympathiser was "remote-controlled" by commanders likely in Syria.
	Sid Ahmed Ghlam, 24, was being questioned for a fifth day after his custody was extended under special French anti-terror laws which allow police to interrogate a suspect for up to six days if there is a "risk of an imminent attack".
	The Algerian IT student was detained on Sunday when police made the fluke discovery of his plans to attack one or two churches in the town of Villejuif, just south of Paris.
	He called paramedics saying he had accidentally shot himself in the leg and police later discovered an arsenal of weapons, tactical gear and cellphones in his car and student flat.
	They also found detailed plans to attack the churches and linked his DNA to the murder of a young mother in Villejuif who was found shot dead in the passenger seat of her car on Sunday.
	Security sources said the killing ..

Thwarted French jihadist 'remote-controlled' from afar: police

Pep Guardiola will return to face his former club Barcelona after the draw for the Champions League semi-finals today paired the Catalans with Bayern Munich while holders Real Madrid were drawn against Juventus.
     Barcelona, who are in the last four for the seventh time in eight seasons, will be at home to the Bundesliga side in the first leg on May 6 with the return at the Allianz Arena on May 12.
     Guardiola won the European Cup as a player with Barcelona in 1992 and then won 14 trophies in four seasons as coach, including the Champions League in 2009 and 2011.
     He had made way for Tito Vilanova by the time Barca were destroyed 7-0 on aggregate by Bayern in the semi-finals in 2013, when the German giants went on to win the trophy.
     "When you play in the semi-finals, you always get a big team. I have great respect for them and I am very, very happy to have had this experience in my life, but at the end of the day it's a football match," said Guardiola.
     "Of course ..

Guardiola to return to Barcelona in Champions League semis

At least 115 children have been killed and 172 maimed in the violence raging in Yemen since Saudi-led air strikes began on March 26, the UN children's agency said today.
	"We believe that these are conservative figures," UNICEF spokesman Christophe Boulierac told reporters in Geneva, saying at least 64 of the children killed between March 26 and April 20 were victims of air strikes.
	The UN agency said another 26 children had been killed by unexploded ordnance and mines, 19 by gunshots, three by shelling and three by "unverified causes related to the conflict".
	Seventy-one of the children died in the north of the country, UNICEF said.
	The World Health Organisation said yesterday the overall death toll in Yemen had topped 1,000, and the UN's human rights agency said Friday at least 551 of the people who died were civilians.
	UNICEF meanwhile said that since March 26, at least 140 children had been recruited by armed groups.
	"There are hundreds of thousands of children in Yemen who ..

At least 115 children killed in Yemen since March 26: UNICEF

A Southeast Asian summit will urge "self-restraint" in the South China Sea but avoid directly criticising Chinese actions that have fanned tensions in the contested waters, a diplomatic source with knowledge of a draft statement said today.
	Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) gather in Malaysia on Monday for an annual meeting expected to include discussion of efforts underway by China to create islands on fragile coral reefs whose ownership is disputed.
	The draft will stress the need for "exercising self-restraint in the conduct of activities, not to resort to threat or use of force, and for the parties concerned to resolve their disputes/differences through peaceful means," the diplomatic source told AFP.
	It also calls for discussions with Beijing on a binding Code of Conduct (COC) governing behaviour in the South China Sea "to be intensified, to ensure the expedition of the establishment of an effective COC," the source said.
	ASEAN has pushed China for .

Summit to urge 'self-restraint' in South China Sea: draft

Britain's government has sold another tranche of state-rescued Lloyds Banking Group as it seeks to further cut the deficit in the run-up to next month's general election.
	The state cut its stake to just below 21 percent by selling another 1.0 per cent of the bank's shares.
	"Today's announcement shows the further progress made in returning Lloyds Banking Group to full private ownership and enabling the taxpayer to get their money back," said a bank spokesman.
	Britain bailed out Lloyds with USD 30 billion of taxpayers' cash at the height of the 2008 global financial crisis.

Britain sells more of Lloyds bank before election

Italian police said today they had dismantled a network of Islamist radicals that included two former bodyguards of Osama bin Laden and the suspected authors of one of Pakistan's deadliest terror attacks.
	In a move that followed a six-year investigation into an illegal immigration racket run from Sardinia, police on the Mediterranean island ordered the arrest of 18 people in coordinated raids across Italy.
	The arrest warrants accuse the suspects of belonging to "an organisation dedicated to transnational criminal activities inspired by Al Qaeda and other radical organisations pursuing armed struggle against the West and insurrection against the current government of Pakistan."
	At least six of the suspects were detained on Sardinia and raids were continuing at several locations in the regions of Le Marche, Lazio, and Lombardy on the Italian mainland.
	Interior Minister Angelino Alfano described the swoop as "an extraordinary operation" that demonstrated the efficiency of the ...

Italy arrests suspected bin Laden bodyguards, Peshawar bombers

A naked nationalist is stirring up election billboards in Japan, offering a bit of colour - and a lot of flesh - to get out the vote.
	Right winger Teruki Goto is pictured on his campaign poster in his birthday suit, wielding a samurai-style sword in front of two Rising Sun flags and the imperial chrysanthemum crest.
	A strategically-placed stroke of one of the kanji ideographs that make up his name covers his modesty.
	Elections in Japan tend to be very staid affairs: candidates' campaigns generally consist of them wearing a sash bearing their name as they stand outside train stations greeting commuters - most of whom do their best not to make eye contact.
	Each candidate is allowed to print a limited number of flyers while their posters - usually formulaic headshots with a vacuous slogan along the lines of "Making things better" - must be corralled on huge election noticeboards, alongside everyone else.
	Add in Japan's tendency to avoid controversy, even in matters of running the ...

Naked nationalist stirs up Japan elections

US President Barack Obama has described the World War I massacre of Armenians as "terrible carnage", but avoided the term genocide, as tempers flared ahead of the 100th anniversary of the bloodshed.
	Today marks a century since the start of the massacres waged by Ottoman forces, which Armenia says killed 1.5 million people between 1915 and 1917.
	Modern Turkey, the successor state to the Ottomans, rejects the term "genocide," arguing that 300,000 to 500,000 Armenians and as many Turks died.
	The deaths remain a bone of contention today between the two countries and a sensitive topic for Armenians around the world - including in the US, where local groups were outraged at Obama's choice of words.
	"The Armenian people of the Ottoman Empire were deported, massacred, and marched to their deaths. Their culture and heritage in their ancient homeland were erased," Obama said in a carefully worded statement.
	"Amid horrific violence that saw suffering on all sides, one and a half million ...

AFP

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