Jerusalem police arrested 26 Jewish extremists protesting today at a holy site on Mount Zion outside the Old City that will be visited by Pope Francis, a spokesman said.
	The arrests took place just hours before Francis' arrival in Jerusalem.
	"Demonstrators at King David's Tomb threw stones and bottles at the security forces, lightly injuring two police," spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said, referring to a site revered as holy by Christians, Jews and Muslims where the pope will celebrate mass tomorrow.
	"Among those arrested was a soldier who threatened a police officer with his weapon when one of his friends was arrested," he added, saying some of them had broken into the room where the ancient sarcophagus is located before being evacuated.
	Israeli public radio said 150 extremists had gathered to denounce the pope's upcoming visit and were chanting slogans against the atrocities committed by the church against Jews during the Crusades and the Inquisition.
	The upper floor of the ...

Israel police arrest 26 Jewish extremists at pope visit site

PTI Automatic

Members of Taiwan's major opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) were today electing a new leader in the run-up to the 2016 presidential polls.
	Members started voting islandwide from 8 am (midnight GMT), with polling stations due to close at 4 pm. The China-sceptic DPP has more than 140,000 eligible members.
	Tsai Ing-wen, who resigned as DPP leader in 2012 after losing the presidential election to the Kuomintang's Ma Ying-jeou, is expected to overwhelm her rival Kuo Tai-ling.
	The new leader's first test will be the November mayoral elections in Taipei and five other cities which make up 60 per cent of the island's eligible voters.
	Tsai, who became Taiwan's first female presidential candidate in the 2012 vote, is seen one of the few potential DPP heavyweights in the 2016 presidential contest.
	Voters who re-elected Ma in January 2012 endorsed the Beijing-friendly policies he has pursued since he took office in 2008.
	Since then, leading DPP members have debated whether their 

Taiwan's major opposition votes to elect new leader

In all, 21 EU member states, including France, Germany and Italy head to the polls today to end four days of voting which began in Britain and the Netherlands on Thursday

All eyes on sceptics as massive EU vote enters final day

Press Trust of India

Two of the three people shot dead in an attack on the Jewish museum in Brussels were Israeli tourists, a spokesman for the Israeli foreign ministry said today.
	"An Israeli couple in their 50s from Tel Aviv, who were visiting Brussels as tourists, were among the victims," Yigal Palmor told AFP, in reference to the deadly attack in the Belgian capital yesterday.
	"We have confidence in the Belgian authorities, in the justice system and the police to look into this horrible crime," he said.
	Three people were killed and one was critically wounded when a gunman attacked the Jewish Museum in central Brussels yesterday in an apparently anti-Semitic act that shocked the country.
	The attack drew condemnation from top European officials as well as from Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said it was "the result of constant incitement against Jews and their state".
	Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman also blamed "anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic incitement expressed in calls ..

Two Israelis killed in Belgium museum attack: ministry

Lithuanians began voting today in a presidential runoff with incumbent "Iron Lady" Dalia Grybauskaite the frontrunner in this EU and NATO state dominated by security concerns over a resurgent Russia.
	Nicknamed for her Thatcheresque-resolve, Grybauskaite is tipped by most analysts to win a second five-year term as many here who remember Soviet times see her as a their best hope amid Europe's worst standoff with Moscow since the Cold War.
	A former EU budget chief, the tough talking 58-year-old won round one two weeks ago, scoring 46 per cent of the vote, while rival Zigmantas Balcytis, an MEP with the governing Social Democrats, took just over 13 per cent.
	While Grybauskaite has focussed largely on national security, Baclytis has campaigned on bread and butter issues as Lithuania gears up to join the eurozone in January.
	No opinion polls were issued ahead of round two, which coincides with elections to the European parliament. Turnout is expected to tally at fifty percent.
	Analysts 

Lithuania's 'Iron Lady' duels leftist in presidential run-off

Ukraine votes today in a presidential election aimed at calming a deadly crisis that has threatened the ex-Soviet country's very survival and plunged East-West relations to a post-Cold War low.
	Pro-Russian rebels waging an insurgency for weeks have warned that they will disrupt the vote in the areas under their control in country's eastern rustbelt, "by force if necessary".
	Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk issued an appeal for the country's 36 million voters to turn out in force today to "defend Ukraine" in the most important election since independence in 1991.
	"This will be the expression of the will of Ukrainians from the west, east, north and south," he said yesterday.
	The West regards the vote as a crucial step in preventing Ukraine from disintegrating further after Russia seized Crimea in March, and has warned Moscow of further sanctions if it disrupts polling.
	President Vladimir Putin -- still authorised by parliament to invade Ukraine if necessary to "protect" ethnic ...

Tense Ukraine votes in face of rebel threats

Storm Amanda has gained strength and is now a Category Three hurricane, the Miami-based National Hurricane Centre has reported.
	At 0300 GMT (0830 IST) the eye of Amanda was far from land, some 1,070 kilometres southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico and heading further out to sea in a west-northwest direction, the NHC said.
	Amanda was packing sustained winds of 185 kilometres per hour, making it a Category Three storm on the five level Saffir-Simpson scale.
	"Some additional strengthening is expected during the next day or so, with gradual weakening forecast to begin on Monday," the NHC said.
	The storm is moving at near five kilometres an  hour and is forecast to turn towards the north-northwest today.
	According to the NHC, hurricane force winds extend up to 55 kilometres from the centre of the storm.

Amanda becomes a major hurricane in the Pacific

Real Madrid won the Champions League for the 10th time thanks to extra time goals from Gareth Bale, Marcelo and Cristiano Ronaldo as they came from behind in dramatic circumstances to beat Atletico Madrid 4-1 in Lisbon.
     Atletico seemed set for their first ever European crown as they led deep into stoppage time thanks to Diego Godin's first-half header, but Sergio Ramos took the game into extra time with a towering header in the 93rd minute yesterday.
     And for the second time this season having already scored the winner to hand Real the Copa del Rey against Barcelona last month, Bale scored the crucial goal when he headed into an empty net after Thibaut Courtois had parried Angel di Maria's effort.
     With Atletico committed to finding an equaliser, Real were able to counter-attack at will and Marcelo killed the game off when his low shot had too much power for Courtois before Ronaldo sealed his return to Lisbon with a fourth from the penalty spot.
     "It is the most ...

Bale, Ronaldo goals lead Real to 10th Champions League

At least three people were killed in the central Nigerian city of Jos in an explosion targeting football fans watching the European Champions League final, the authorities said.
	Yesterday's blast came just days after a twin car bomb attack ripped through a crowded market in the city, killing 118 and raising fears of a spread of Boko Haram Islamist violence from the restive northeast.
	"So far, we have three dead, three injured," Chris Olakpe, the commissioner of police for Plateau state, of which Jos is the capital, told AFP.
	"The target was the (football) viewing centre."
	Olakpe said it was too early to say who may have been responsible for the blast, which came with people on edge and nerves frayed about a fresh strike.
	The police chief also declined to comment on reports that the explosion was a suicide bombing but revealed that the bomber's improvised explosive device went off prematurely.
	"He died in the wake of the heinous crime. He was consumed by his IED. It exploded ...

Three dead as Champions League fans targeted in Nigeria blast

The gunman who killed six people when he opened fire from his car in a bustling California college town was the mentally disturbed son of a Hollywood director, police and reports have said.
	At least seven people were injured and the suspect also died during the drive-by shooting on Friday in Isla Vista, near the campus of the University of California Santa Barbara. It was unclear whether the fatal shot was self-inflicted or delivered by police.
	Peter Rodger, an assistant director of the 2012 Hollywood blockbuster "The Hunger Games," believes the attacker was his 22-year-old son Elliot, lawyer Alan Shifman told reporters, although that was not immediately confirmed by police.
	On the eve of the Memorial Day holiday weekend, the gunman sprayed bullets from his black BMW on pedestrians at multiple locations in the small oceanfront town, starting around 9:30 pm (2200 IST yesterday).
	"The problem with an incident like this is it's obviously the work of a madman," Santa Barbara County ...

US gunman who killed six 'was director's son'

Israel's premier has said that the attack at the Brussels Jewish Museum, which left three dead and one badly wounded, was the result of anti-Jewish and Israeli sentiment in Europe.
	"This act of murder is the result of constant incitement against Jews and their state," Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement late yesterday.
	"Slander and lies against the State of Israel continue to be heard on European soil even as the crimes against humanity and acts of murder being perpetrated in our region are systematically ignored," he said.
	Belgium Interior Minister Joelle Milquet had said it was too early to determine whether it was an anti-Semitic attack, but given the target "there are strong grounds for presuming so".
	Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman joined Netanyahu's sentiment, blaming "anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic incitement expressed in calls to boycott Israeli produce".
	"The so-called 'pro-Palestinian' activities which... Call to boycott 'Jewish goods' and aggressively act .

'Brussels killings due to 'incitement' against Jews, Israel'

At least two people have been killed in a bomb attack on a restaurant popular with Westerners in central Djibouti, official sources said.
	Diplomats said there were reports of two explosions outside La Chaumiere cafe late yesterday, and that two employees had been killed and around 10 others wounded, many of them foreigners.
	The sources said police were investigating reports that a grenade blast was followed by an attack by a suicide bomber.
	The French foreign ministry confirmed that several of its nationals were slightly wounded in the attack, and the Netherlands' De Telegraaf reported that six Dutch soldiers who had been taking part in an anti-piracy mission were also lightly wounded.
	Djibouti's main ADI news agency said there were several explosions around 8:00 pm local time (2230 IST) and that the area was quickly sealed off by police.
	There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
	The Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti, a former French colony, is home to the ..

Two killed in Djibouti restaurant bomb attack

An explosion has rocked the central Nigerian city of Jos, the country's main relief agency said, just days after at least 118 people were killed in a twin car bomb attack.
	"There has been an explosion in Jos," Manzo Ezekiel, spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), told AFP but said it was not clear what caused the blast yesterday nor if there were casualties.
	Pam Ayuba, spokesman for the Plateau state governor Jonah Jang, said the blast happened on Bauchi Road at about 9:30 pm local time (0200 IST Sunday) and appeared to target football fans watching the European Champions League final.
	On Tuesday, two car bombs suspected to have been planted by Boko Haram Islamists exploded within 20 minutes of each other in a crowded market in Jos, killing at least 118 people.
	The bombings -- Nigeria's deadliest -- came despite Nigeria's internationally backed security crackdown after the militant group kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls, triggering global outrage.
	Jos ..

Blast rocks central Nigerian city of Jos: relief agency

Turkey's Nuri Bilge Ceylan has won the Palme d'Or top prize at the Cannes Film Festival for "Winter Sleep" and dedicated the honour to victims of his country's political strife.
	Jury president Jane Campion, the New Zealand filmmaker, handed the trophy to Ceylan, yesterday, who pipped 17 other contenders including David Cronenberg, Jean-Luc Godard and the Oscar-winning director of "The Artist", Michel Hazanavicius.
	"Winter Sleep" drew rave reviews as a slow-burn domestic drama that mesmerised audiences despite its more than three-hour length.
	Ceylan dedicated the award to the Turkish "youth who lost their lives" in violent anti-government protests that have rocked Turkey over the last year.
	Julianne Moore won best actress for her role as a shallow starlet in Cronenberg's biting Hollywood satire "Maps to the Stars".
	And Britain's Timothy Spall claimed the best actor prize for his role in "Mr. Turner", a lush historical biopic of 19th century painter JMW Turner by director Mike ...

Epic Turkish drama 'Winter Sleep' wins Cannes top prize

Police are questioning a "suspect" arrested after today's deadly shooting at the Brussels Jewish Museum, which left three people dead and one badly hurt, prosecutors said.
	"A person left the scene in their vehicle. We have identified and arrested them. But we do not know if they have a link to the events," a prosecution spokeswoman told a news conference, adding that the person was being "heard as a suspect".
	Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo said earlier that Belgians stood "united... Faced with this hateful attack on a Jewish cultural centre.

'Suspect' arrested after Jewish Museum shooting: prosecutor

Throngs of Shiite Muslims converged on a shrine in Baghdad today for an annual ritual under heavy security, but a string of attacks outside the capital killed 25 people.
	The bloodshed was the latest in a protracted surge in nationwide unrest that has fuelled fears Iraq is slipping back into the all-out communal conflict that plagued it in 2006 and 2007, leaving tens of thousands dead.
	Much of Baghdad was on lockdown today for the climax of the rites to mark the death of a revered figure in Shiite Islam, with Baghdad's security forces looking to deter Sunni militant groups which often target Iraq's majority community.
	Several major roads were closed off and a wide variety of vehicles barred from the streets, as security forces also relied on aerial cover and sniffer dogs.
	Three bombings in the capital, including two carried out by suicide attackers, on May 22 killed 21 people, while mortar fire yesterday struck a district adjacent to Kadhimiyah, killing three more.
	Outside of ...

25 killed in Iraq as Shiites throng Baghdad for rituals

Malawi's President Joyce Banda today declared this week's chaotic election "null and void" and called for a fresh vote, but the high court rejected the decision.
	Banda, who has claimed there were "serious irregularities" with the poll, declared fresh elections should be held within 90 days but said she would not stand as a candidate, to "give Malawians a free and fair" election.
	But hours after her announcement, Malawi's high court issued an injunction preventing the president from annulling the poll.
	The injunction was granted after a lawyer for the Malawi Electoral Commission applied to the court to quash Banda's decision, asking whether she had any "mandate, constitutional or statutory to interfere with electoral process."
	The president had previously said that she was annulling the poll using "powers conferred upon me from the constitution."
	Banda's main rival Peter Mutharika said the decision to annul the election was "illegal".
	"Nothing in the constitution gives the ...

President declares Malawi election 'null and void'

Two Western photographers were wounded today along with their Russian translator while covering fighting raging in Ukraine's separatist east.
	William Roguelon of France's Wostok Press agency told AFP by telephone that the three men were hit in an attack moments after getting out of their car on the frontline between separatist and Ukrainian forces just south of the rebel stronghold city of Slavyansk.
	Roguelon, who did not specify who opened fire, said he was wounded in both legs but managed to make his way to a Slavyansk hospital after being allowed to get out of the area by the separatists.
	A separatist commander quoted by Russian agency Ria Novosti also said the group were caught in an attack.
	The incident is the first reported case of Western reporters being wounded in fighting in the east of Ukraine.
	Slavyansk fell under rebel control in early April at the start of a separatist insurgency in the industrial Donetsk and Lugansk regions near Russia.
	The city is encircled by ...

Two Western photographers hurt in east Ukraine

Ukraine prepared today for a presidential election seen as crucial to its very survival after months of turmoil that has driven the ex-Soviet country to the brink of civil war.
	Tomorrow's vote comes with tensions running high after a bloody upsurge in fighting in the east, where pro-Moscow separatists launched an insurgency against Kiev's rule seven weeks ago.
	Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk issued an appeal for people to turn out to "defend Ukraine", which has been in deep crisis since street protests forced out the Kremlin-backed regime in February.
	"This will be the expression of the will of Ukrainians from the west, east, north and south," he said.
	But the rebels warned they would prevent voting in their strongholds in the industrial heartland on the Russian border.
	"If necessary we will revert to the use of force," said Denis Pushilin, a leader of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic.
	State election officials also admitted that they will only be able to open two of .

Ukraine prepares to vote in face of rebel threats

A restaurant popular with Westerners in central Djibouti was hit by a bomb attack late today, causing a number of casualties, diplomatic sources said.
	The officials said there were reports of two explosions outside La Chaumiere cafe, and that two employees had been killed and several foreigners wounded.
	The sources said police were investigating reports that a grenade blast was followed by an attack by a suicide bomber.
	The Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti, a former French colony, is home to a major United States base which is used for anti-terror operations in Yemen, Somalia as well as for other operations across Africa.
	Djibouti is also a key contributor of troops to the African Union force fighting Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab militants in Somalia.
	Djibouti's port also serves as a key base for ships taking part in international anti-piracy operations off the Somali coast.

Djibouti cafe hit by bomb attack, several casualties reported

Pope Francis made what he called a "heartfelt appeal" today for peace in war-torn Syria as he began a three-day pilgrimage to the Middle East.
	Speaking to hundreds of Syrian refugees along the Jordan River, the pope called for an end to the civil war which has cost more than 160,000 lives, urging "all parties to abandon the attempt to resolve issues by the use of arms and return to negotiations".
	Jordan is the first stop on Francis's "pilgrimage of prayer" which continues Sunday in the Palestinian territories and Israel.
	His landmark maiden visit to the Holy Land is chiefly aimed at boosting ties with Muslims and Jews, as well as seeking closer unity with Orthodox Christian leaders.
	As he walked off the plane onto a red carpet at Amman airport, his white robes flapping in the hot desert wind, he was greeted by officials and two children dressed in traditional costume who handed him bouquets of irises, the national flower of Jordan.
	After being greeted by King Abdullah II, Francis 

AFP

AFP

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