US Secretary of State John Kerry today said he and his global counterparts were going to work deep into the night seeking to resolve the remaining "tricky issues" as a deadline loomed within hours.
	"There still remain some difficult issues," Kerry told a CNN reporter as he walked in his luxury lakeside hotel in the Swiss town of Lausanne.
	"We are working very hard to work those through. We are working late into the night and obviously into tomorrow."
	A deadline for the framework of a deal expires at midnight on Tuesday and officials appealed to all parties to make a huge final effort.
	"We've been negotiating since September of 2013," said acting State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf, referring to the first meeting between Kerry and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif "and it's sort of time to see whether they can make these decisions."
	With all eyes focused on Tuesday's deadline, Harf said she could not predict what would happen if the outlines of a deal were not ...

Kerry says working into the night on 'tricky' Iran issues

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China is "cautiously optimistic" that global powers can reach a deal with Iran to pare back its nuclear programme amid intense negotiations, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said today.
	"The key issues are quite clear and the preferred approach of a solution is emerging," Wang told reporters as he left the luxury lakeside hotel in Lausanne, Switzerland, where the talks are being held.
	"The differences between the positions of the parties are narrowing and I'm cautiously optimistic on the prospects," he added.
	Asked whether a deal could be reached by tomorrow's midnight deadline, Wang said he hoped there would be "this outcome" but said that "for this to happen everybody should contribute."
	Foreign ministers from major powers were racing against the clock today on the eve of a deadline to nail down the final pieces of a framework deal aimed at putting any Iranian nuclear bomb out of reach.
	"We hope a comprehensive agreement can be reached as soon as possible so as to help ...

China 'cautiously optimistic' on Iran deal

A Spanish hospital said today it has successfully carried out world's most complex face transplant, reconstructing the lower face, neck, mouth, tongue, back of the throat of a man terribly disfigured by disease.
	A team of 45 physicians, nurses, anaesthesiologists and other health professionals carried out the 27-hour operation in early February at Barcelona's Vall d'Hebron University Hospital, the hospital said in a statement.
	"This is the first time that a transplant of this complexity is performed in the world," the statement said.
	"The patient evolution after the surgery was successful, similar to any transplant patient at the hospital. Now he is already at home and only comes to the hospital to do routine checkups."
	The patient, a 45-year-old man who does not wish to be identified, had suffered a condition called arteriovenous malformation for the past 20 years, causing a massive deformation of his tissues.
	"The patient, due to the evolution of his illness, had important ...

Spanish hospital conducts complex face transplant

Police in Gibraltar are investigating the death of a family of four, including a six-week-old baby girl and her four-year-old sister, who were found dead today in a flat in the tiny British territory.
	Police would not comment on the cause of death, saying only that the probe was being treated as a murder investigation but they were not looking for anyone else.
	"At this present moment in time, a full investigation is being conducted by officers of the Serious Crime Unit to establish the cause surrounding the untimely deaths of this young family," Royal Gibraltar Police chief Eddie Yome told a news conference.
	"Presently we are not looking for anyone involved in this unfortunate event but the investigation will be thorough and detailed."
	The dead include a 31-year-old British male and a 37-year-old Spanish woman.
	The authorities said they believe the four belonged to the same family which had recently moved to the tiny British territory.
	Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabiano Picardo ...

Newborn baby, child among four found dead in Gibraltar flat

Global oil prices sank today as traders mulled a potential deal over key oil producer Iran's controversial nuclear energy programme that could worsen the global supply glut, analysts said.
	Foreign ministers of Iran and major world powers meeting in the Swiss city of Lausanne raced to beat a midnight deadline to nail down a framework deal they hope will put an atomic bomb out of Tehran's reach.
	In late afternoon London deals today, Brent North Sea crude for delivery in May slid 89 cents to USD 55.42 per barrel.
	US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for May shed 60 cents to USD 48.27 a barrel.
	"Oil prices are likely to remain under pressure until at least mid-week, by which time agreement is set to be reached in the ongoing nuclear talks with Iran," said Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch.
	"If sanctions are eased, which would probably then be the case, additional oil from Iran would flood the market, increasing the existing oversupply or preventing it from being ...

Oil prices drop on prospect of Iran nuclear deal

Britain's Prince William took up his new job as an air ambulance pilot today, though he will only start flying rescue missions later this year, his office said.
	"The Duke of Cambridge has today started work as an employee of Bond Air Services," Kensington Palace, his London residence, said in a statement.
	"He will undertake job-specific training before he begins piloting missions for East Anglian Air Ambulance during the summer," it added.
	The duke's programme will include using a flight simulator and in-flight training, the palace said.
	Kensington Palace had announced William's new job in August last year and said he would be based at Cambridge airport in eastern England, responding to emergencies ranging from road traffic accidents to heart attacks.
	The prince, who is second in line to the throne after his father Prince Charles, completed in September 2013 a three-year stint as a Royal Air Force search-and-rescue helicopter pilot in northwest Wales.
	The 32-year-old's wife Kate 

Prince William starts new job as air ambulance pilot

A mortar attack on a historic souk in central Damascus today killed one person and wounded dozens of others, Syria's official news agency said.
	"Terrorists launched two mortar rounds on Tarek Ben Ziyad Street, in the Al-Hariqa market of Damascus, which killed one person, wounded 30 others," SANA reported, citing a police source.
	Situated within the walls of the Old City, the souk is one of the oldest and most famous marketplaces in the capital popular among tourists and locals alike.
	Syria's civil war began to encroach on the capital in the summer of 2012, the year after it broke out.
	Since then, Damascenes have been living under almost daily mortar shelling that has seen dozens of people killed, many more wounded and left a trail of destruction.
	In a report published last week, Human Rights Watch criticized armed opposition groups in Syria for conducting indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas, which are considered war crimes.
	The New York-based group documented dozens of ...

Mortar attack on Damascus souk kills one, wounds 30: media

US online giant Amazon said today it was launching a services marketplace offering to connect consumers with businesses offering anything from home improvement to piano lessons.
	Amazon Home Services, which is being launched in major cities across the United States, includes businesses in diverse areas such as gardening, computer repair, and math or yoga instruction.
	The new listings will connect consumers to "handpicked pros offering upfront pricing on pre-packaged services with helpful reviews from customers that have made verified purchases."
	Amazon said it will offer a "happiness guarantee" for all the services.
	The move further expands Amazon's footprint from its origins as an online bookseller, and which now sells a vast array of goods and digital services as well as online storage and hosting of websites.

Amazon unveils move in local services

First results trickled in from Nigeria's closely fought general election today, with protests over the conduct of the vote and a warning of manipulation of the count adding to fears of violence.
	The presidential election pitting President Goodluck Jonathan against former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari is the closest in Nigeria's history, and the first with a credible opposition challenge.
	International election observers gave broadly positive reactions to the conduct of the vote, despite late delivery of election materials and technical glitches with new voter authentication devices.
	Nigeria's Transition Monitoring Group, which had observers across the country, said: "These issues did not systematically disadvantage any candidate or party."
	The first nine results were announced in Abuja. Buhari and his All Progressives Congress (APC) won five states while Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) took three plus the Federal Capital Territory, which includes Abuja.
	But the ..

Nigeria on edge as first vote results unveiled

Egypt is interested in joining the Beijing-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the foreign ministry spokesman said today.
	Australia, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Russia have all said they intend to join the bank, despite scepticism about the AIIB in Washington and Tokyo.
	China and 20 other countries signed a memorandum of understanding last October to establish the Beijing-headquartered USD 50 billion AIIB.
	"Egypt has applied to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank," foreign ministry spokesman Badr Abdel Atti told AFP.
	The new multinational lender is seen as a threat to the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, two institutions under strong US influence.
	The United States has voiced concern about whether it would meet international governance, environmental and social standards, with President Barack Obama's administration waging an intense but low-profile lobbying campaign against it.
	China is expected to foot the bulk of the initial money needed ..

Egypt seeks to join China-based AIIB

Singapore police said today they have arrested a teenage boy who posted an expletive-laden video on YouTube attacking Christianity and the country's late founding leader Lee Kuan Yew, but the exact charges were unclear.
	   "In response to media queries, the police confirm that a 17-year-old male Singaporean was arrested in relation to the case. Police investigations are ongoing," a Singapore Police Force statement said late Monday, without providing further details.
	   Singapore's Straits Times and other local media said the young man, described as Amos Yee, a 17-year-old student, was arrested on Sunday.
	   In an eight-minute long video titled "Lee Kuan Yew is finally dead" Yee launched a scathing attack on the 91-year-old political patriarch who was cremated after a state funeral Sunday.
	   Under Singapore law, a person who incites religious and racial hatred can be charged with sedition, punishable by up to three years in jail and a fine.
	   "Lee Kuan Yew was a horrible ...

Singapore teen behind anti-Lee Kuan Yew video arrested: police

Sri Lanka has yet to resolve a dispute with China over a USD 1.4 billion development in Colombo despite a state visit to Beijing last week, a minister said today.
	New Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena suspended the Chinese-backed construction of a "port city" in the capital following allegations that environmental clearances had not been obtained.
	Some reports had indicated the project would go ahead following Sirisena's three-day visit to Beijing last week.
	But Deputy Foreign Minister Ajith Perera said the president had not discussed the project with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
	"We have given them (Chinese companies) time to produce the environmental approvals, but they have not done that yet," the minister told reporters in Colombo.
	Sirisena made India his first foreign destination after winning elections in January, seeking to rebuild ties with Delhi damaged by tensions over Beijing's influence on the island under his predecessor.
	India is understood to be ...

Sri Lanka says no deal to restart Chinese port project

Children of richer, better- educated parents have bigger brains and more cognitive skills than their less-fortunate peers, but social help and teaching can help to overcome the differences, a study published today said.
	The distinctions were most profound in regions of the brain supporting language and reading, executive functions like memory and decision-making, and spatial skills, experts in the United States reported in the journal Nature Neuroscience.
	The impact was "meaningful in terms of the way the brain is working in these kids", study co-author Elizabeth Sowell of the University of Southern California told AFP.
	"We found that the relationship between brain (structure) and family income impacted kids' cognitive functioning," Sowell said by email.
	The study stressed that solutions lay within reach, including better school lunches, motivated teaching and community programmes to encourage children.
	"It is not too late to think about how to impact resources that enrich the ...

Child poverty impacts brain development: study

Foreign ministers from major powers raced against the clock today on the eve of a deadline to nail down the final pieces of a framework deal aimed at putting any Iranian nuclear bomb out of reach.
	Adding to the drama, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov left the crunch talks with Iran in Switzerland after a series of meetings, Russian media reported.
	He will only return if there is a "realistic" chance of a deal, his spokeswoman said earlier.
	Lavrov and his counterparts from the United States, China, Britain, France and Germany met with the Iranians in a lakeside Lausanne hotel today for their first full session since missing a previous November deadline.
	A Western diplomat said it was "yes or no" time, adding that the talks remained blocked on three major issues -- the length of the accord, the lifting of UN sanctions and a mechanism to ensure both sides stick to the deal.
	Global powers have set a midnight Tuesday deadline to agree the outlines of a deal that they will then ..

'Yes or no' time as Iran nuclear talks near deadline

A Jerusalem court found former Israeli premier Ehud Olmert guilty of corruption today in a retrial of allegations he received envelopes of cash from a US businessman, the verdict read.
	It was the latest legal blow in a humiliating fall from grace for the debonair man who took over as prime minister in 2006 after his mentor and predecessor Ariel Sharon lapsed into a coma from which he never recovered.
	"We find the defendant guilty of fraud and a breach of trust," the Jerusalem district court verdict read, "and of the felony of fraud under aggravated circumstances."
	Sentencing for the 69-year-old, who already faces a six-year prison sentence in a separate bribery case that he has appealed to the supreme court, is scheduled to begin on May 5, the verdict stated.
	Olmert has always insisted on his innocence, describing the allegations against him as "a brutal, ruthless witch-hunt", and his lawyers said he would appeal the latest conviction.
	He had initially been acquitted of fraud and 

Ex-Israel PM Olmert found guilty in corruption retrial

Apple chief Tim Cook slammed what he called a wave of "dangerous" laws in several US states that he said promote discrimination and erode equality.
	Cook -- one of the most prominent chief executives to publicly acknowledge his homosexuality -- wrote in the Washington Post that so-called "religious freedom" laws passed in several states threaten to undo progress toward greater equality.
	"There's something very dangerous happening in states across the country," Cook wrote in the editorial yesterday.
	"These bills rationalise injustice by pretending to defend something many of us hold dear. They go against the very principles our nation was founded on."
	Cook's comments follow the adoption of a controversial law in the state of Indiana last week that critics say would allow businesses to deny service to homosexuals on religious grounds.
	The law, which takes effect July 1, makes no mention of gays or lesbians. But activists say it makes it legal for businesses whose owners reject ...

Apple CEO Tim Cook slams US 'dangerous discrimination' laws

In pursuing rapprochement with Pakistan and the United States, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is the very antithesis of his fiery predecessor, but his unprecedented diplomatic overtures have prompted rumblings of unease back home.
	Since coming to power in September, Ghani has sought to jumpstart long-stalled negotiations with the Taliban for a peace agreement 13 years after they were toppled in a US-led invasion.
	Ghani has courted Washington to slow the drawdown of US troops and longtime nemesis Pakistan, which has historically backed the Taliban, in what observers say is a calculated gambit to pressure the insurgents to the negotiating table.
	But he walks a tightrope with conservatives, including some within his own fractious national unity government, who are distrustful of Pakistan and wary of Kabul being seen as too obsequious to Washington.
	Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai, well known for his anti-US and anti-Pakistan tirades, and others have warned strongly against ...

Afghanistan's Ghani walks tightrope over US, Pakistan ties

Eight suspected Boko Haram fighters were killed today during fighting in Gombe and Bauchi states, northeast Nigeria, police, residents and local hunters said.
	Gunmen believed to be Islamist militants have been roaming Bauchi and neighbouring Gombe since the weekend, when there was a series of attacks on polling stations open for Nigeria's general election.
	Boko Haram have been increasingly operating in both states, as the military forces it out of captured territory in the three northeastern states of Yobe, Borno and Adamawa.
	Today, Babakarami Sunusi, who lives in Gombe Abba, about 10 kilometres (6.25 miles) from Dukku, in Gombe state said four gunmen were killed.
	According to him, gunmen in several vehicles arrived in the village around 4:30 am (0330 GMT) and were intercepted by soldiers who engaged them in a gunfight.
	"The soldiers killed four of the gunmen and captured one," he said. "The rest of the gunmen fled."
	Idi Male, a local hunter in the area gave a similar account, ..

8 suspected Boko Haram gunmen killed in NE Nigeria: residents

The software collaboration website GitHub said today it was fighting off a cyber attack since late last week, and security analysts said the effort appeared to originate in China.
	A US website described as "the world's largest code host," GitHub said it first noticed the so-called distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack Thursday, with intermittent disruptions over the past few days.
	Today, GitHub said the attack "has evolved" and that it was working to mitigate the flood of requests which appear to be aimed at shutting its down.
	GitHub said it believes "the intent of this attack is to convince us to remove a specific class of content."
	Some security specialists went further, saying it appears to be an attempt to block the use of anti-censorship tools in China.
	The security firm Insight Labs noted that massive amounts of traffic from the large Chinese search engine Baidu were "hijacked" in the attack on GitHub.
	"Even people outside China are being weaponized to target things .

China suspected as software site GitHub hit by attack

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned world powers today that any nuclear deal they strike with Iran would be seen as a reward for Tehran's alleged "aggression" in Yemen.
	"The agreement being formulated in Lausanne sends a message that there is no price for aggression and on the contrary -- that Iran's aggression is to be rewarded," he said, referring to Iranian support for Shiite Huthi rebels in Yemen.
	"The moderate and responsible countries in the region, especially Israel and also many other countries, will be the first to be hurt by this agreement," said Netanyahu, who has waged a campaign against a nuclear deal with Tehran.
	His intervention came as foreign ministers of major powers raced in the Swiss city of Lausanne to beat a midnight Tuesday deadline to nail down a framework deal they hope will put any Iranian atomic bomb out of reach.
	"One cannot understand that when forces supported by Iran continue to conquer more ground in Yemen, in Lausanne they are closing .

Atomic deal would reward Iran for Yemen 'aggression': Israel

At least 45 people were killed when an air raid struck a camp for displaced people in northwest Yemen today, the International Organization for Migration said.
	"IOM is reporting 45 dead among internally displaced persons, 65 injured (and counting)," spokesman Joel Millman told AFP by email, adding that "75 IOM staff are on hand assisting" the victims.
	Earlier Doctors Without Borders (MSF) reported at least 15 dead when an air strike hit Al-Mazrak camp in Hajja province.
	The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) also said the camp had been hit.
	Arab coalition warplanes, led by Saudi Arabia, have been pounding rebel Huthi positions in Yemen for the past five days.
	The Al-Mazrak camp has since 2009 been housing Yemenis displaced by the conflict between northern Huthi rebels and the central government.
	The manager of the MSF programme in the Middle East, Pablo Marco, said 500 new families had arrived at the camp over the past two days.

AFP

AFP

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