Aricca Wallace knew she was nearly out of time.
	For more than three years, she had suffered cramping and irregular bleeding, which her doctor thought was a side effect of her birth control implant, known as an intrauterine device, or IUD.
	Her annual Pap smears were always normal, so no one suspected cancer.
	Except it was cancer, and by the time the 34-year-old mother of two had the IUD removed and was finally diagnosed, her tumors had reached stage three and the disease was spreading through the lymph nodes in her abdomen and chest.
	"I was told by a specialist that there wasn't any chemo that could kill it," Wallace told AFP. "And that I'd be gone in a year."
	That was in February 2012. A few months later, Wallace's doctor told her about an immunotherapy trial at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Centre, a research hospital just outside the US capital.
	Wallace enrolled. Doctors removed one of her tumours and collected some of the immune cells that were surrounding it. ...

New therapy wipes out cervical cancer in two women

PTI Automatic

Russian rescuers retrieved 12 bodies while three remained missing today after a helicopter carrying senior regional officials crashed into a remote northern lake.
	The Mi-8 helicopter carrying 17 passengers and crew including top regional officials and businessmen, crashed into the Munozero lake in the far northern Murmansk region on Saturday. Two survived the crash.
	"There were 17 people on board. The bodies of 12 dead have been raised to the surface, the fate of three people remains unknown," the head of the emergency ministry's national crisis management centre, Viktor Yatsutsenko, was quoted as saying by the ITAR-TASS news agency.
	The two survivors were in a "satisfactory condition" in hospital after being found floating in the lake still strapped to their chairs, Yatsutsenko said.
	Ten out of the 12 dead have been identified, including the deputy governor of the Murmansk region, Sergei Skomorokhov, the RIA Novosti news agency reported, citing a law enforcement source.
	The ...

Twelve confirmed dead, 3 missing in Russian helicopter crash

US carrier Delta Air Lines has ordered 15 Airbus medium-haul A321 aircraft with a total list price of USD 1.65 billion for delivery in 2018, the European plane maker said today.
	The order by Delta is for the current engine option of the aircraft, which Airbus also offers with new, more fuel-efficient engines.
	Delta's new acquisition brings its total Airbus on order to 55 aircraft: 45 A321s and 10 A330s. The airline already has a large fleet, including 126 A320s and 32 A330s.
	Its first A321 will begin service in early 2016, Delta said in a statement.
	"These new airplanes will improve the flying experience for our customers and benefit our shareholders," said Chief Executive Richard Anderson.
	The catalogue value of the contract is worth the equivalent of 1.2 billion euros, but airlines usually negotiate substantial reductions from list prices.
	Delta is aiming to reinvest around half of its operating cash flow back into the business each year through to 2018, equivalent to around ..

Delta orders 15 Airbus airliners

Malawi, traditionally dependent on Western aid donors, will look for "new friends" in countries such as China and Russia, newly-elected President Peter Mutharika said at his inauguration today.
	The ceremony at a stadium in the commercial capital Blantyre was boycotted by outgoing president Joyce Banda, who was soundly beaten by Mutharika in disputed elections held on May 20.
	Mutharika, who takes power in one of the world's poorest countries where 40 per cent of the budget comes from aid, said the donor nations were "welcome to stay here".
	Foreign policy would be based on what is best for Malawi, he said.
	"We will continue with traditional relationships, but we are now looking for new friends in emerging economies such as Brazil, China, India, South Africa and Russia."
	Mutharika said he regretted Banda's absence, saying she had "declined to come here and hand over power to me.
	"I was looking forward to shaking her hand and burying the past. I have an olive branch in my hands."
	A 

Malawi's president seeks 'new friends' in China, Russia

A bomb-laden truck killed at least 10 people when it exploded in a village of the central Syrian province of Homs today, state television said.
	"The terrorist explosion in Haraqi village in Homs province was caused by a tanker truck bomb. The initial toll says 10 people were killed, and major damage was caused to houses," the television station reported.
	The attack comes a day before a presidential election is held in regime-held parts of the war-ravaged country, with the incumbent Bashar al-Assad expected to stay in power.
	Haraqi is a regime-held village.
	The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported the attack, but gave a toll of eight dead and 12 wounded.
	The Britain-based group also said Haraqi is home to a majority of Alawites, the religious community from which President Assad's clan hails.
	Most rebel fighters in Syria's three-year uprising are Sunni Muslims, who also make up most of the country's overall population.

Truck bomb attack kills 10 in Syria's Homs province: TV

Asia's football chief Shaikh Salman Ebrahim Al Khalifa said today he is convinced Qatar would try to clear the air over fresh claims it paid millions in bribes to secure the 2022 World Cup.
     The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said in a statement its president is still "looking forward to seeing a successful FIFA World Cup in Qatar".
     "The AFC President is convinced that the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy will do their utmost to clear the doubts," it said.
     "Hosting the FIFA World Cup in Asia, especially in the Middle East, means a lot to the continent," it quoted the Bahraini as saying.
     Qatar's World Cup organisers denied any wrongdoing after Britain's Sunday Times alleged a top official paid more than $5 million to secure support in the bidding process.
     The newspaper said it had obtained millions of emails, documents and bank transfers relating to alleged payments made by Mohamed bin Hammam, a former top football official from Qatar. ...

Asian football chief backs Qatar to clear doubts

Russia coach Fabio Capello today named his final 23-man squad to play in the World Cup finals led by experienced defender Sergei Ignashevich, midfielder Roman Shirokov and forward Alexander Kerzhakov.
     The 31-year-old Kerzhakov is the only player in the squad who has previous World Cup experience having been in the squad that competed in 2022, the last time Russia reached the final stages.
     Capello trimmed his original squad of 30 down to 25 in mid-May and the two players to miss out on being in the final selection were Denis Cheryshev from Spanish hi-flyers Sevilla and Pavel Mogilevets of Rubin Kazan.
     The former England manager, who recently extended his contract with the Russian Football Union until the end of the 2018 World Cup, retained talented youngsters like like Andrei Semenov and Maxim Kanunnikov.
     He named his final squad two days after a 1-1 draw with Norway in a friendly match. Last month Russia defeated Slovakia 1-0 in their first World Cup warm-up ...

Capello names his World Cup squad

Star batsmen AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla are the leading candidates to succeed Graeme Smith as South Africa's Test captain.
     Cricket South Africa's board meets in Johannesburg Tuesday to make what is seen as a crucial decision after a decade of Smith at the helm.
     Smith captained South Africa in a world-record 109 Tests before announcing his retirement during the third and final Test against Australia last March.
     The national selectors will table their recommendation for the captaincy, but the final decision will be made by the board.
     The first assignment of the new captain will be to lead South Africa in two Tests in Sri Lanka during July.
     De Villiers, 30, was vice-captain under Smith and is the one-day international (ODI) skipper. He has led the side in 40 ODI games. He had no prior captaincy experience.
     He struggled initially, but appeared to grow into the job last season. He has expressed his willingness to lead the Test side.
     Amla, 31, ...

De Villiers, Amla vie for Test captaincy

China has detained two Hong Kong journalists for operating an "illegal publication", the authorities said, as the mainland tightens its grip on the more freewheeling press inside the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.
	Police in the southern city of Shenzhen posted a statement late Friday on Weibo, China's version of Twitter, saying that "several" people, including two Hong Kong residents, had been arrested.
	"On May 30, in accordance with a tip-off from the public, the Shenzhen Public Security Bureau apprehended a group of suspects operating an illegal publication," the post said.
	The two men were identified only by the surnames of Wang and Guo in the statement, and are believed to be journalists working for magazines that deal in mainland Chinese political gossip sold in Hong Kong.
	Hong Kong's South China Morning Post newspaper said many believed the pair were journalists "with a Hong Kong-based publisher of two magazines on mainland political gossip."
	The magazines are widely ...

China detains Hong Kong journalists over 'illegal publication'

Taliban insurgents threatened today to attack Afghanistan's run-off presidential election, warning voters to stay away from polling stations for fear of injury or death.
	Afghans are due to go to the polls on June 14 to choose whether Ashraf Ghani or Abdullah Abdullah should succeed President Hamid Karzai.
	The militants, ousted from power in Kabul by a 2001 US-led invasion, threatened to attack the first round of voting on April 5 but the day passed off with no major security incidents.
	In a statement in English on their  website, the Taliban said their fighters "are once again fully prepared to operate against the workers and polling stations in the second phase of these counterfeit elections".
	"Therefore, you (the masses) should remain far away from the polling stations on 14th June, 2014, lest you should be hurt or killed."
	On Friday Ghani, a former World Bank economist, said if elected he would put his name to a long-delayed security pact with the United States that Karzai has 

Taliban threaten Afghan election, warn voters to stay away

Clashes between Islamists and Libyan troops loyal to a rogue general pressing an offensive against jihadists killed 10 people today in the restive eastern city of Benghazi, medics said.
	The Islamists, including Ansar al-Sharia militants, attacked a base of elite special forces who support renegade general Khalifa Haftar, triggering the fighting, said the commander of a Benghazi air base who has also sided with him.
	Officials at two hospitals in the area said at least eight soldiers and two civilians were killed, and 15 people wounded.
	Fearing the violence might spread, hospitals called on citizens to donate blood, while the education ministry closed schools, forcing the postponement of scheduled final exams.
	Colonel Saad al-Werfelli said Ansar al-Sharia militants backed by fighters from two other Islamist groups "bombarded base 21 early today, killing and wounding soldiers who were trapped inside".
	The Libyan air force retaliated by launching strikes on the assailants, added the .

Fresh clashes in Libya's Benghazi kill 10 people

Nigeria's military today said it had made an arrest in connection with the bombing of a football match that killed at least 40 people.
	"A key suspect in the terror bomb explosion that rocked Kabang community in Mubi, Adamawa state... Has been arrested by troops who cordoned (off) the area in swift response to the explosion," defence spokesman Chris Olukolade told reporters.
	A police officer, a nurse at the hospital where the dead and wounded were taken and residents told AFP that at least 40 were killed in the blast, which happened at about 2300 IST yesterday.
	The military and state government gave a lower number of dead and injured, but conflicting death tolls are not unusual in Nigeria.
	The apparent target was fans trying to leave the field after watching a local club match.
	Muhammad Hassan, a Mubi resident who was at the match, said the blast appeared to come from within the crowd of people who were walking across the pitch and heading home after the final whistle.
	"Women and 

One arrested after Nigeria football pitch bombing: military

Russia will submit a draft resolution today to the United Nations Security Council on creating a corridor to allow Ukrainians to escape areas affected by fighting, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
	"Russia today plans to submit a draft resolution to the UN Security Council," Lavrov said at a televised news conference.
	"In the draft resolution will be demands to immediately create an aid corridor along which peaceful citizens can leave the regions where military activity is happening if they want."
	"We want the Security Council to demand that no obstacles are put up to prevent the peaceful population from leaving the zones of military operations or to prevent the delivery of humanitarian aid to these zones," Lavrov said.
	The resolution calls for "every assistance to the activities of the International Red Cross and other international humanitarian organisations in southeastern Ukraine," Lavrov added.
	Russia's top diplomat said that the draft resolution was deliberately .

Russia to submit UN draft resolution on Ukraine 'aid corridor'

Clashes and shelling in and around the conflict-hit city of Fallujah, which lies just a short drive from Baghdad, killed 22 people, a doctor said.
	The unrest, which also left 36 wounded yesterday, struck in multiple areas of the city and its outskirts, doctor Ahmed Shami at the city's main hospital said today.
	Tribal leader Mahmud al-Zobaie said the violence broke out at mid-day and continued for several hours.
	He said shelling hit a half-dozen neighbourhoods in northern, southern and central Fallujah, while Iraqi security forces engaged in clashes with anti-government fighters on the city's northern and southern outskirts.
	More than 350 people have been killed in the Fallujah area since militants took control of the city at the beginning of the year, according to Shami, adding that most of the casualties were civilians who were caught in the army's shelling of the city.
	Security forces have shelled Fallujah for months and repeatedly tried to storm the city in a bid to re-take ...

Unrest in Iraq's Fallujah killed 22: doctor

At least 13 Vietnamese passengers were killed early today when their van collided with a truck as they travelled to northeastern Thailand, police said.
	Four other people were seriously injured in the pre-dawn accident in Chaiyaphum province, a district police chief told AFP.
	The van was carrying 16 Vietnamese travelling from Bangkok to Nong Bua Lamphu province for a Christian seminar, said the police chief Panas Boonyangyao.
	He said the truck driver told police that the van inexplicably careered into his vehicle.
	Thailand's roads are among the world's deadliest and accidents are common.
	A recent report by the World Health Organisation said Thailand saw 38.1 road deaths per 100,000 people in 2010 - behind only the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean and the South Pacific island of Niue.

At least 13 Vietnamese killed in Thai crash: police

Clashes between Islamists and Libyan troops loyal to a rogue general pressing an offencive against jihadists killed six soldiers and a civilian today in the eastern city of Benghazi, medics said.
	The Islamists, including Ansar al-Sharia militants, attacked a base of elite special forces loyal to renegade general Khalifa Haftar, triggering the clashes, said the commander of a Benghazi air base that has also sided with him.
	Officials at two hospitals in the area said at least seven people were killed and 11 wounded.
	Colonel Saad al-Werfelli said Ansar al-Sharia militants backed by fighters from two other Islamist groups "bombarded base 21 early today, killing and wounding soldiers who were trapped inside".
	The Libyan air force retaliated by launching air strikes on the assailants, added the officer.
	The air base and the elite special forces unit in Benghazi have thrown their support behind Haftar who last month launched an offencive against Islamists accused of repeated violence in 

Clashes in Libya's Benghazi kill 6 soldiers, civilian

Russia's Gazprom has pushed back to June 9 its ultimatum to Ukraine on imposing pre-payment for gas after Kiev paid USD 786 million in arrears, chief executive Alexei Miller said today.
	"Ukraine has paid the first instalment for gas supplies. Today USD 786 million entered Gazprom's  account," Miller was quoted as saying in a company statement.
	"We welcome Ukraine starting to pay back its debt and postpone the pre-payment regime until June 9.
	"The introduction of the pre-payment regime will depend on  the full repayment of the debt for gas supplied up to April 1  in the amount of USD 2.237 billion, part of which was paid today, and on the progress in payments for April and May supplies," Miller was quoted as telling journalists in the statement.
	"The payment for May must be made by June 9," Miller added.
	Ukraine and Russia are due to hold crunch talks later in the day in Brussels on their long-running dispute over the price of gas.

Gazprom pushes back Ukraine gas ultimatum to Jun 9

At least 41 people have been killed in clashes between rival Sudanese clans over the ownership of land being explored for oil in West Kordofan state, a tribal source said.
	Another 13 people were seriously wounded in the fighting that raged through yesterday between the Zurug and Awlad Amran clans of the powerful Misseriya tribe, the source told AFP.
	Those involved in the clashes used Kalashnikov assault rifles and rocket propelled-grenades.
	A witness, who declined to be named, said the fighting broke out as each group claimed ownership of a plot of land where drilling for oil is underway.
	Oil-rich West Kordofan state borders the province of South Kordofan where Sudanese government forces have been battling rebels for nearly three years.
	It also neighbours the western region of Darfur, where the army and allied tribes have since 2003 battled rebels demanding an end to economic marginalization and power sharing with the Khartoum government.
	Militias, rebel splinter groups and ...

41 killed in Sudan clashes over oil-rich land: tribe

A modest 4.2 magnitude earthquake shook the Los Angeles region causing no known damage or injuries, officials said.
	The quake struck with an epicentre seven kilometres (four miles) north of Santa Monica and eight kilometres (five miles) northwest of Beverly Hills yesterday, reported the US Geological Survey, which monitors earthquakes worldwide.
	Both towns are in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. While most residents appeared to ignore yesterday's tremor, on Friday a shallow 5.1-magnitude quake rocked the same region, causing power cuts, gas leaks and bursting water mains, and stopping rides at Disneyland.
	The western US state is on the so-called Ring of Fire, which circles the Pacific and has produced a number of devastating quakes including Japan's March 2011 quake-tsunami, which killed thousands of people.
	Seismologists say a quake capable of causing widespread destruction is 99 per cent certain to hit California in the next 30 years.

Modest quake rattles Los Angeles

Israeli warplanes raided targets in the Gaza Strip today after Palestinian militants fired two rockets in as many days, an army spokesman said, hours before a new government is to take office in Ramallah.
	The "two terror sites [were] in the central and southern Gaza Strip", the spokesman said. "Direct hits were confirmed." He did not give further details.
	The new Palestinian government will have 17 ministers, five of them from Gaza, and will be headed by Rami Hamdallah who will also hold the interior portfolio.
	Islamists Hamas and the Western-backed Palestine Liberation Organisation, which is dominated by president Mahmud Abbas's secular Fatah party, signed a surprise reconciliation agreement in April to end years of rivalry.
	Since the start of the year about 150 rockets have rained on Israeli territory, but the border between Gaza and Israel has been relatively calm for the past weeks.
	Palestinian militants fired the last rocket before the weekend attacks on May 23.

Israel targets Gaza after rocket attacks: army

Japan will today start constructing an underground ice wall at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, freezing the soil under broken reactors to slow the build-up of radioactive water, officials said.
	The wall is intended to block groundwater from nearby hillsides that has been flowing under the plant and mixing with polluted water already there.
	The Nuclear Regulation Authority, the national watchdog, last week gave the go-ahead to beginning the construction of the ice wall at Fukushima Daiichi, owned and operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO).
	The government-funded scheme will see pipes laid deep in the soil through which refrigerant will be piped to create the 1.5-kilometre (0.9-mile) frozen wall that will stem the inflow of groundwater.
	The idea of freezing a section of the ground, which was proposed for Fukushima last year, has previously been used in the construction of tunnels near watercourses.
	However, scientists point out that it has not been done on this scale ...

AFP

AFP

Page 3086 - Afp