Seven Bangladeshi sailors, held hostage by Somali pirates for almost four years, finally returned home today, saying it was "unbelievable" to be alive and describing their ordeal as "like hell."
	The sailors, who had been held in dire conditions and suffered beatings, flew into the Bangladeshi capital after the foreign ministry said they were freed last week after lengthy negotiations.
	"It's unbelievable that I am still alive and free. I want to see my family," Abul Kashem, 46, one of sailors, told reporters at Dhaka airport.
	"Every day in captivity was like hell. We were not given proper food. They used to torture us on almost every day for ransom," Kashem said.
	Although Bangladesh said they were freed, other officials have said they were among 11 sailors mostly from Asia who escaped last week and were taken to safety in Kenya.
	The group "sneaked out a window" in their pirate prison to escape their captors, before being rescued by local security forces, a British mediator who ...

Bangladeshi sailors held by Somali pirates home after 4 years

PTI Automatic

Malaysia Airlines' insurer has begun paying the families of passengers onboard Flight MH370 USD 50,000 each in initial compensation three months after the jet disappeared, a government official said Thursday.
	So far six Malaysian and one Chinese family have received the advance payment, to which all the families of the 239 passengers and crew onboard are entitled, said Malaysian deputy foreign minister Hamzah Zainudin.
	Talks with 40 more Chinese families are underway to ascertain they are the rightful claimants, said Hamzah, who heads a committee to support the missing passengers' next-of-kin.
	The Boeing 777 inexplicably disappeared on March 8 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, with no sign of wreckage found despite an extensive search off western Australia.
	Full payment to the families -- who can claim up to more than three times the amount of the initial payout -- would be made later, Hamzah said.
	The government was not yet prepared to declare the plane lost, he ...

Flight MH370 families get USD 50,000 in first payouts

Australia today said it was confident the Great Barrier Reef will avoid a World Heritage downgrade after a new report card showed pollutants entering the water had been significantly reduced.
	UNESCO has warned that without action on water quality and rampant coastal development the reef - covering an area roughly the size of Japan - would be declared "World Heritage in Danger".
	Queensland state Environment Minister Andrew Powell said progress had been made as he released a government report card on action taken to improve water quality since 2009.
	"I do not expect that will happen," he said of a potential UN downgrade.
	"We are likely to be successful ... Because the facts speak to that. The reef is now on the pathway to long-term improvement."
	The report, which Powell will take to a UNESCO meeting in Doha later this month, shows reductions in key pollutants, including sediments and pesticide run-offs on the back of improved land management practices.
	"Pesticide loads, we have ...

Australia says Barrier Reef water quality on the mend

Cristina has quickly strengthened into a category three hurricane off the southwest coast of Mexico, the US National Hurricane Center said today.
	Cristina is now packing maximum sustained winds of 195 kph as it moves west-northwest at a speed of 13 kph (nine mph), the Miami-based centre said.
	It is classified as category three on a scale of one to five -- five being the highest -- based on wind speed.
	 Category 3 and above are considered major hurricanes due to their potential for significant loss of life and damage, the centre says.
	In its 0900 GMT bulletin, the center said Cristina is located 390 kilometers south of the town of Manzanillo.
	Swells caused by Cristina have hit parts of the southwestern coast of Mexico and could cause life-threatening surf and rip tides, the agency said.

Hurricane Cristina strengthens off coast of Mexico: US

Predominantly Shiite Muslim Iran will combat terrorism by Sunni extremists in neighbouring Iraq, President Hassan Rouhani warned today.
	Rouhani did not say exactly what Iran intended to do to help stop an offensive by fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) that is pushing toward Baghdad after seizing several cities and towns to the north.
	"This is an extremist, terrorist group that is acting savagely," Rouhani said live on state television, adding that Tehran will not "tolerate this violence and terror."
	"For our part, as the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran... We will combat violence, extremism and terrorism in the region and the world," said an agitated Rouhani.
	Rouhani said he would head to a meeting of Iran's Supreme National Security Council following his speech.
	That body decides on the Islamic state's major foreign policy and security policies, and it would have to approve any military support Tehran might want to provide to Baghdad.
	The ..

Iran to combat terrorism in Iraq: Rouhani

Fighting flared again on the border of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo early today, the second day of skirmishes between two neighbours locked in a decades-long dispute.
	Rwandan and Congolese troops traded heavy weapons fire around 1130 IST, said one witness.
	"There were heavy arms fire explosions, rockets," the resident told AFP on condition of anonymity.
	A senior Congolese military officer said that Rwandan troops "attacked our positions."
	A Rwandan military source, also speaking anonymously, told AFP that there had "not been serious clashes, they were sporadic firings" of heavy weapons.
	The fighting came a day after the two sides exchanged gunfire yesterday, with each blaming the other for the outbreak of violence.
	The Congolese army said the fighting started after the abduction of one of its soldiers by Rwandan troops who had crossed the border into the restive North Kivu region, while Rwanda said Congolese troops crossed into its territory and opened fire on ...

Fresh fighting erupts on DR Congo-Rwanda border

Nine miners were missing today after a gas explosion ripped through an underground coal mine in eastern Ukraine, authorities said.
	The blast happened before dawn at a depth of 300 metres in the mine, located in the eastern city of Kirovsk, the State Emergency Service said in a statement.
	Work in the mine was immediately halted, but more than three hours later there were still no signs of the missing miners, the statement said.
	Accidents are a regular feature at Ukrainian mines, most of which are located in the country's industrial eastern region, where pro-Russian rebels now control over a dozen towns and cities.
	Many of them are underfunded and poorly equipped, and safety violations are rife.
	In the worst accident of its kind in the country's post-Soviet history, more than 100 miners were killed in an explosion in 2007 at the Zasyadko mine, one of the three biggest in Ukraine.

Nine missing after blast in Ukraine mine

Predominantly Shiite Muslim Iran will combat the "violence and terrorism" of Sunni extremists who have launched an anti-government offensive in neighbouring Iraq, President Hassan Rouhani warned today.
	"This is an extremist, terrorist group that is acting savagely," Rouhani said live on state television.
	The president did not elaborate on what steps Iran would take to help thwart a bid by fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) to push toward Baghdad after seizing several cities and towns to the north.
	But he said he would head to a meeting of Iran's Supreme National Security Council immediately after his speech.
	That body decides on the Islamic state's major foreign policy and security policies, and it would have to approve any military support Tehran might want to provide to Baghdad.
	"For our part, as the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran ... We will combat violence, extremism and terrorism in the region and the world," said an agitated ...

Iran's Rouhani vows to combat terrorism in Iraq

Malaysia is hunting for a group of machete-wielding pirates who hijacked a tanker off its eastern coast, stealing a million litres of oil, in the latest in a spate of attacks in its waters, an official said today.
	Pirates hijacked the Malaysia-registered tanker MT Budi Mesra Dua last Saturday off Bintulu in the oil-rich Sarawak state as the ship sailed from neighbouring Singapore.
	"Ten machete-wielding pirates boarded the ship, which was carrying about a million litres of diesel. They took control of the tanker for about 10 hours," Mohamad Sufi Mohamad Ramli, a local commander with the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency told AFP.
	The armed pirates siphoned off the diesel fuel to another ship, robbed the crew of their valuables and destroyed communication equipment before escaping, he said.
	"We have activated 24-hour sea patrols around Bintulu waters (in the South China Sea) to prevent similar attacks," Mohamad Sufi said.
	"We are hunting down the pirates," he added.
	Pirates ...

Hunt for pirates after Malaysia tanker hijacking: official

Japan today summoned the Chinese ambassador, as the two sides traded accusations of blame for a near miss involving fighter jets over the East China Sea, the second similar incident in less than a month.
	In the latest confrontation in a long-running territorial dispute, Tokyo says two Chinese SU-27 jets flew just 30 metres away from its aircraft in a spot where the two countries' air defence zones overlap.
	"It was an action that was extremely regrettable, and which cannot be tolerated," said top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga.
	It was the second time in less than three weeks that Tokyo has accused Beijing of playing chicken in the skies near the hotly contested Japanese-controlled Senkaku islands, which China also claims and calls the Diaoyus.
	"It comes after a similar event which occurred last month," Suga said. "The government will continue urging China to prevent an accident and restrain itself."
	Japan's vice minister for foreign affairs, Akitaka Saiki, called the Chinese .

Japan summons China envoy over mid-air near miss

Ground staff at Rio de Janeiro's airports have called a 24-hour partial strike today, the day Brazil hosts the opening match of the World Cup.
	The workers vowed to respect a court ruling ordering them to maintain 70 to 80 per cent service, but the strike will nevertheless raise fears of delays as thousands of football fans descend on the tourist-magnet city around the opening match in Sao Paulo and first game in Rio on Sunday.
	"We're Brazilian and we continue to root for Brazil, but it's our duty to fight for workers' rights," union president Rui Pessoa told AFP.
	The union is calling for World Cup bonuses, better working conditions and raises of up to 12 per cent, but says employers are offering a maximum of eight per cent.
	The strike comes after "nine months of intense but failed negotiations and intransigence from employers," the union said on its website.
	The walkout, which starts at midnight (0830 IST), will affect the city's two main airports, Galeao International and Santos 

Rio airport staff call partial strike for World Cup opener

Seven workers building an oil platform in Mexico died when an elevator carrying them fell from a height of 30 metres, an official said.
	The accident happened yesterday in Veracruz state on the Gulf of Mexico. Five of the workers died on the spot and two later in a hospital, said Ricardo Maza, a state civil protection official.
	A third worker is in serious condition.
	The accident happened on the grounds of a private company that builds offshore oil platforms for the state-owned company Pemex.

Seven oil workers dead in Mexico accident

An Israeli air strike killed a Palestinian man in Gaza after rocket fire from the territory prompted Israel's premier to warn he holds Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas responsible.
	Two Palestinians were also wounded in the evening raid in the northern Gaza Strip yesterday, the emergency services said.
	The dead man, 30-year-old Mohammed al Awour, and one of the wounded were travelling on a motorbike and were the apparent targets. A seven-year-old boy who was passing by on foot was also wounded.
	The Israeli military said it had targeted "terrorists affiliated to the international jihad," its designation for Al-Qaeda inspired groups in Gaza.
	Local sources also said that the two men on the bike were radical Salafist militants.
	Al Awour was involved in numerous rocket attacks on southern Israel in recent years and particularly over the past month, the Israeli army said in a statement.
	He belonged to an "a violent and extremist Salafist cell which attempted to organise several ...

Palestinian dies in Israeli air raid on Gaza

More than two dozen anti- government protesters went on trial today in Turkey, accused of organising last year's demonstrations in what Amnesty International denounced as a "show trial".
	An Istanbul court began hearing the case against 26 members of the Taksim Solidarity umbrella group, who are accused of leading the protests that erupted in June 2013 and posed the biggest challenge yet to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's 11-year rule.
	The activists, who include doctors, architects and engineers, face charges including founding a crime syndicate, violating public order and organising illegal protests through social media and face up to 29 years if convicted.
	Last June's protests started as a small environmentalist movement to stop the re-development of Istanbul's Gezi Park and quickly blew up into wider nationwide demonstrations against Erdogan's authoritarian style that left at least eight people dead and some 8,000 injured after police brutally cracked down on ...

Anti-government protesters go on trial in Turkey

A prominent anti-coup activist in Thailand faces up to 14 years in prison if convicted of incitement, computer crimes and ignoring a summons by the junta, police said today.
	Sombat Boonngamanong, who led a social media campaign to stage peaceful but illegal rallies against the junta, is set to stand trial in a military court.
	He has been charged with inciting unrest, violating the computer crime act and defying an order by the junta to turn himself in, according to Prasopchoke Prommul, deputy commander of the police's crime suppression division.
	"We will bring him to the military court to seek his detention," he added.
	If found guilty, Sombat faces seven years in jail for incitement, five years for spreading false information over the Internet and two years for ignoring the summons, Prasopchoke said.
	Sombat was one of several hundred politicians, activists, academics and journalists called in by the junta following the May 22 coup.
	Those who attended were detained in secret ...

Thai anti-coup leader may face long jail sentence

Jihadists were pushing toward Baghdad today after capturing a town just hours to the north, as the US mulled air strikes in a bid to bolster Iraq's collapsing security forces.
	Fighters from the Sunni Muslim Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) have spearheaded a major offensive that began late Monday, overrunning the northern province of Nineveh and significant parts of Kirkuk to its southeast and Salaheddin to its south.
	This morning they were advancing on Baghdad, after seizing the town of Dhuluiyah just 90 kilometres away, witnesses and officials said, adding that the nearby Muatassam area has also fallen.
	ISIL spokesman Abu Mohammed al-Adnani promised the group would drive on to Baghdad and Karbala, a city southwest of the capital that is one of the holiest sites for Shiite Muslims, in a statement carried by jihadists' websites.
	With militants closing in, Iraq's parliament was to meet in emergency session today to consider a request from Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki ...

US mulls air strikes as Iraq militants advance on Baghdad

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has censured his country's weather service for "incorrect" forecasts in a rare public dressing down of a government body in the reclusive nation, which suffers regular natural disasters.
	Kim criticised the science used in observations and called for the use of modern equipment in the unusual rebuke, which came during an inspection of the Hydro-meteorological Service, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Tuesday.
	"There are many incorrect forecasts as the meteorological observation has not been put on a modern and scientific basis," Kim said, urging the agency to "fundamentally" improve its work and equipment.
	Accurate forecasts are needed to protect the "lives and properties" of people from disasters caused by "abnormal climatic phenomenon", he said.
	Calling the weather service "very important work directly affecting the overall economic affairs", Kim also underscored the need to "modernise meteorological observation equipment at .

N Korea's Kim blasts weather service for 'incorrect' forecasts

Japan today summoned the Chinese ambassador to complain about fighter jets flying "dangerously" close to two of its military planes over the East China Sea, officials said.
	In the latest up-close confrontation between the two sides, Tokyo says two Chinese SU-27 jets flew just 30 metres away from its aircraft in a spot where the two countries' air defence zones overlap.
	"It was an action that was extremely regrettable, and which cannot be tolerated," said top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga, of the yesterday's incident.
	It was the second time in less than three weeks that Tokyo has accused Beijing of playing chicken in the skies near the hotly-contested Japanese-controlled Senkaku islands, which China also claims and calls the Diaoyus.
	"It comes after a similar event which occurred last month," Suga said. "The government will continue urging China to prevent an accident and restrain itself.
	"Japan will seek cooperation from countries concerned."
	Japan's vice minister for ...

Japan summons China envoy over 'dangerous' flights

North Korea today rejected Seoul's call for talks on the fate of a South Korean missionary sentenced to hard labour for life for allegedly spying and operating an underground church.
	South Korea proposed Tuesday that the two sides should meet at the border truce village of Panmunjom for discussion on Kim Jeong-Wook, who was captured in the North last October.
	In a reply two days later, the North insisted that Kim's fate should not be the object of debate because he broke the country's law and was punished in accordance with it, the South's unification ministry said in a statement.
	The North has ignored Seoul's repeated calls to free the missionary, and sentenced him to hard labour for life on charges of espionage, running an underground church and being involved in "anti-state propaganda and agitation".
	Fellow activists and missionaries said Kim had been providing shelter and food to North Korean refugees living in China's northeastern border city of Dandong.
	They said Kim had ...

N Korea rejects talks on S Korea missionary

It is not easy for an Iranian to visit America. With no US embassy in Tehran since 1979, obtaining a visa usually requires two costly trips to Dubai or Turkey.
	A group of Iranian students, however, have a far bigger problem -- they want to send a car to the United States. Only then will they get on a plane.
	The Havin-2 is no ordinary vehicle. Solar powered, its 4.5 metre (15 feet) carbon fibre chassis resembles a giant door. The four wheels that lurk beneath its sprawling white body are the only clue it is a car at all.
	As entrants to the American Solar Challenge, a 2,735 kilometre road trip in July across seven US states from Austin, Texas to Minneapolis, Minnesota, a lot is at stake for the young Iranians.
	But the sad reality is that the Havin-2 may never reach the start line.
	"We are really worried about it," says Mohammad Saadatmand, the mechanical leader of the team from Qazvin Azad Islamic University, west of Tehran.
	"To think that we might not make it is almost too ...

Iran's solar car challenge depends on US plane ticket

Floods in Brazil's southern state of Parana have killed 11 people and forced hundreds to flee their homes in a World Cup host city, authorities said.
	Nearly 500 people were evacuated in Curitiba, the state's capital that also serves as the base camp for defending cup champions Spain, who arrived on Sunday.
	Nigeria and Iran will play in Curitiba's 43,000-capacity Baixada Arena on June 16 followed by Spain-Australia on June 23.
	Authorities had reported nine deaths over the weekend. Most of the victims are in the interior of the state.
	The flooding has affected the homes of half a million people to various degrees, civil defence officials said.
	More than 33,000 people evacuated their homes, taking refuge with relatives or in shelters.

AFP

AFP

Page 3061 - Afp