French-Spanish singer Nilda Fernandez, who won fame with hits in the late 80s and 90s and later became popular in Russia, died Sunday aged 61, his family told AFP.
He died of heart failure in the south of France.
Born in Barcelona, Fernandez grew up in the French city of Lyon and started playing in bars and clubs with just a guitar in the style of a French chansonnier.
By 1981, he recorded his first album but he waited over half a decade more for success with the 1987 song and album "Madrid Madrid" and then his biggest hit "Nos fiancailles" (Our Engagement) in 1991.
Known for his agile but vulnerable sounding voice, Fernandez in 2001 left for Russia where he stayed for half a decade, collaborating with Russian pop singer Boris Moiseev. He also worked in Cuba.

French-Spanish singer Nilda Fernandez dies aged 61

PTI Automatic

At least 19 people were killed when gunmen attacked a fish market in northeast Democratic Republic of Congo near Lake Albert, local officials said on Sunday.
No group has claimed responsibility, but the region around Ituri province has been hit in the past by intercommunal violence between militias from the Hema and Lendu communities.
"Nineteen corpses were found in the village of Tara on the edge of Lake Albert, and eight others were wounded," said Pilo Mulindo, a local community leader in Djugu territory.
"The attack happened on Wednesday when armed bandits attacked a group gathered on the beach to set up a market," the official said.
The UN mission to the DRCongo, known by its initials MONUSCO, reported the attack on Friday without giving a precise death toll. It planned to send a team to the area.
The victims were fishermen and their customers, Mulindo said. The area is known as a region where Lendu militia are active.
Violence shook Ituri province, particularly Djugu, last year ..

Gunmen kill 19 at fish market in northeast Congo

Spain's defending world champion Marc Marquez of Honda won the French Moto GP at Le Mans on Sunday ahead of Italian pair Andrea Dovizioso and Danilo Petrucci of Ducati.
It was Marquez's 47th top level GP win and his third of the season, but for Honda this was a 300th top level Moto GP victory.
Jim Redman won their first one back in 1966, and no other manufacturer has achieved top step of the podium on so many occasions.
Starting from pole Marquez won by almost 2sec from Dovizioso and the victory set up a double celebration for the family as his younger brother Alex Marquez won the Moto2 GP earlier in the day.
Marquez now leads the championship with 95pts, eight more than Dovizioso in second and 20 ahead Alex Rins of Suzuki, who could only manage 10th Sunday, while Italian veteran Valentino Rossi of Yamaha is fourth on 72 points.
"It's always difficult at Le Mans," Marquez said of the winding Bugatti circuit.
One rider who might agree with him is Spain's Maverick Vinales, who ended up .

Marquez wins French Moto GP for Honda landmark

Czech fourth seed Karolina Pliskova swept past Britain's Johanna Konta 6-3, 6-4 to win the WTA Italian Open on Sunday.
Pliskova, the 2017 French Open semi-finalist, clinched her 13th career title, in the final major warm-up tournament on clay before Roland Garros starts on May 26.
A break in each set was enough for former world number one Pliskova to get past Konta, sealing victory on her third match point after 85 minutes on court.
"It was a great week for me and my team," said the 27-year-old, now coached by former Rome champion Conchita Martinez.
"There were a couple of tough matches so I was happy to fight through them. I was a little bit nervous today, but it was the final in Rome, so that's to be expected."
Top seeds Naomi Osaka and Petra Kvitova pulled out injured during the event, while Roland Garros champion Simona Halep crashed out in her opening match in Italy.
Four-time Rome winner Serena Williams also withdrew before the second round as her return after a two-month layoff 

Pliskova sweeps past Konta to win Italian Open

Justin Gatlin pipped Japan's Yoshihide Kiryu to win the men's 100 metres as fellow American Michael Norman fired a world championship warning with a superb 200m at the Golden Grand Prix Osaka on Sunday.
The 37-year-old Gatlin produced a strong finish to clock 10 seconds flat, the reigning world champion dipping at the line to edge out Kiryu by a hundredth of a second at the IAAF world challenge meet in Osaka.
Indonesia's world under-20 champion Lalu Muhammad Zohri broke his own national record as he took third in 10.03 -- the fastest time ever recorded by an athlete from Southeast Asia.
While Gatlin targets one last hurrah at the world championships in Doha later this year, Norman laid down a marker by winning the men's 200m in a meet record 19.84 seconds, shaving 0.03 off the mark Namibia's Frankie Fredericks set 20 years ago.
The runaway victor, who last month clocked a personal best of 43.45 in the 400m, left Yang Chun-Han trailing in his wake, the Taiwanese runner-up in ...

World champ Gatlin edges Kiryu to win 100m in Osaka

Arsenal's German midfielder Mesut Ozil dined with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a Ramadan iftar meal in Istanbul late Saturday, a move likely to cause a backlash after previous meetings caused controversy.
Images in Turkish media showed a smiling Ozil and model fiancee Amine Gulse, sitting at a table on either side of Erdogan at the Ottoman-era Dolmabahce Palace.
The iftar, the meal for breaking the fast during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, was also attended by young Turks ahead of Youth and Sports Day on Sunday, a national holiday in Turkey.
In another photo, Ozil and Gulse were sitting in a room with Erdogan, joined by Fahrettin Altun, communications director at the Turkish presidency.
Ozil, who has Turkish roots, was criticised in March after inviting Erdogan to his wedding to the former Miss Turkey scheduled for this summer.
He had already sparked controversy last year when he was photographed with Erdogan, which led to Ozil becoming a target of xenophobic ...

Ozil dines with Turkey's Erdogan during Ramadan iftar

Real Madrid delivered a suitably dreadful end to their miserable season, and Gareth Bale was not even given the chance to say a likely goodbye, as Zinedine Zidane's side were beaten 2-0 at home to Real Betis on Sunday.
Zidane had indicated this could be Bale's final game ahead of an expected summer departure but the Welshman was left on the bench, made to watch on as three substitutes came on ahead of him at the Santiago Bernabeu.
None were able to revive another dreary and disjointed Madrid performance, which concluded both the season and first phase of Zidane's much-hailed return as coach.
As the players saluted the fans at the end, they were greeted by a chorus of whistles.
By then, Bale was already off down the tunnel, perhaps aware that any attempt at a farewell could be given an even colder reception.  When the referee's final whistle blew, Bale received a hug from Betis coach Quique Setien and strode off.
Zidane will rightly not be held culpable for most of Madrid's failings ...

Bale bows out on bench as Madrid blow season finale

Saudi Arabia has called for emergency regional talks to discuss mounting Gulf tensions, saying Sunday that it does not want war with Iran but is ready to defend itself.
It comes days after mysterious sabotage attacks on several tankers in highly sensitive Gulf waters and drone strikes on a Saudi crude pipeline by Yemen rebels who Riyadh claimed were acting on Iranian orders.
The United States has also deployed an aircraft carrier and bombers to the Gulf over alleged threats from Iran.
King Salman invited Gulf leaders and Arab League member states to two emergency summits in Mecca on May 30 to discuss recent "aggressions and their consequences", the kingdom's official SPA news agency reported late Saturday.
Saudi Arabia's minister of state for foreign affairs, Adel al-Jubeir, said Sunday his country does not want to go to war with Iran but would defend itself.
Saudi Arabia "does not want a war, is not looking for it and will do everything to prevent it," he said.
"But at the same time, 

Saudi calls for urgent Arab talks over Iran tensions

Nine miners were killed and another 20 injured when an unregulated coltan mine collapsed following torrential rains in northern Burundi, an official and witnesses said Sunday.
The disaster occurred on Friday near the town of Kabarore, the sources said.
Four of the injured are in serious condition, a local official told AFP, requesting anonymity.
They were transported to local hospitals, the official said.
Residents, civil security officials and the Red Cross were involved in rescue operations until Saturday.
"Torrential rains had hit the region for several days," a witness told AFP.
Kabarore, in Kayanza province, is some 90 kilometres (55 miles) north of Bujumbura, the capital of the central African country.
Several mines operate in the region, extracting coltan -- a key component in cell phones and other electronic equipment -- as well as tin oxide and tungsten.
Such incidents occur regularly in Burundi but local authorities are discouraged from reporting them.

Coltan mine collapse kills nine in Burundi: official

It is improbable that an exploding smartphone or tablet caused the crash of an Airbus jet operated by EgyptAir three years ago, according to an expert report commissioned by French authorities and seen by AFP on Sunday.
The plane, flying from Paris Charles de Gaulle airport to Cairo, crashed over the Mediterranean between Crete and the northern coast of Egypt on May 19, 2016 killing all 66 people on board.
But the aftermath of the crash has been marked by tension, with the Egyptian authorities pointing to a terror attack as the likely cause but their French counterparts insisting on technical issues.
Paris investigating magistrates ordered separate expert reports on two subjects, the first looking at the maintenance of the plane and the second specifically at the phone issue.
There had been speculation that a thermal runaway -- a drastic change in temperature -- in batteries in an iPhone or iPad in the cockpit could have been the cause of a fire that brought down the plane.
But in the 

Theory phone caused Egyptair crash 'improbable': Expert report

A Russian senator on Sunday said the hidden-camera recordings that toppled the Austrian government did not prove any link to Russia and Moscow did not want to spoil its relations with Vienna.
Far-right Vice-Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache resigned in disgrace on Saturday following explosive revelations in a hidden camera sting.
Media reports emerged Friday alleging that Strache promised public contracts in return for campaign help from a fake Russian backer he met on the Spanish island of Ibiza a few months before 2017's parliamentary elections in Austria.
"You cannot draw a Russian link to this clearly ugly incident based on the existing recording," Oleg Morozov, a member of the foreign affairs committee of Russia's upper house and a ruling party lawmaker, told RIA Novosti state news agency.
"This could be a staged provocation. Or some incident to do with corruption that no state may be behind at all," he suggested.
"Good relations with Austria are too dear to Russia to squander ..

'You can't draw Russia link' to Austria sting: Russian senator

Austria's President Alexander Van der Bellen on Sunday called for fresh elections in September after a corruption scandal embroiling the far-right brought down the coalition government in spectacular fashion.
Just days before key EU elections, Vice-Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache was forced to resign in disgrace Saturday following explosive revelations from a hidden camera sting.
Conservative Chancellor Sebastian Kurz -- whose 18-month coalition with the far-right Freedom Party (FPOe) had been held up as a European model -- reacted by pulling the plug on their union.
"My preference is for early elections in September, if possible the beginning of September," Van der Bellen told journalists on Sunday after holding talks with Kurz.
The president will hold further talks with other party leaders over the coming weeks in order to fix a date.
The dramatic developments followed the publication by two German newspapers on Friday of footage from a sophisticated hidden-camera sting months ...

Austrian president calls for September poll in wake of scandal

Chinese telecom giant Huawei is ready to deal with Washington's crackdown and will reduce its reliance on US components, its founder told Japanese media.
President Donald Trump effectively barred Huawei from the US market on Wednesday and added it to a list which would restrict US sales to the firm amid an escalating trade war with Beijing.
"We have already been preparing for this," Huawei founder and CEO Ren Zhengfei told a group of Japanese journalists Saturday in his first interview since Trump's move.
Ren said Huawei would continue to develop its own components to reduce its dependence on outside suppliers.
Huawei is a rapidly expanding leader in 5G technology but remains dependent on foreign suppliers.
It buys about USD 67 billion worth of components each year, including about USD 11 billion from US suppliers, according to The Nikkei business daily.
The usually elusive Ren, 74, has come out of the shadows in recent months in the face of increasing pressure on his company.
Ren's ..

Huawei will not bow to US pressure: Founder

Global clothing brands including H&M, Primark and Tesco won a Bangladesh Supreme Court case Sunday, allowing international factory safety monitors to operate in the country which has had a string of industrial disasters.
The top court in the South Asian nation -- which became notorious after the 2013 Rana Plaza disaster in which 1,138 people died -- ruled that the Bangladesh Accord on Fire and Building Safety could continue its oversight of clothing factories for one more year.
Bangladesh is the world's second biggest garment maker after China and the country's factory owners had been lobbying for the Accord monitors to leave, arguing that the programme's five-year mandate had expired.
After a lower court backed the factory owners, ordering the monitors to wind up its operations, labour groups warned of the risk to workers' lives if the Accord, which is backed by about 200 mainly European clothing labels, was forced out.
The Accord has played a big role in pushing through safety ...

Bangladesh factory safety monitors get court extension

Club captain Vincent Kompany announced Sunday that he is to leave Manchester City after 11 trophy-laden years.
The 33-year-old Belgian defender joined the club in the summer of 2008 and has made 360 appearances, winning four Premier League titles, two FA Cups, four League Cups and two Community Shields.
He signed off with victory in the FA Cup final on Saturday, where City thrashed Watford 6-0 to complete a domestic treble.
"As overwhelming as it is, the time has come for me to go. And what a season to bow out," said Kompany, who joined City from Hamburg.
"I feel nothing but gratefulness. I am grateful to all those who supported me on a special journey, at a very special club."
Kompany added: "I will never forget how all Man City supporters remained loyal to me in good times and especially bad times. Against the odds you have always backed me and inspired me to never give up.
"(Club owner) Sheikh Mansour changed my life and that of all the City fans around the world, for that I am ...

Captain Kompany to leave Man City

Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen said Sunday he wanted snap elections to take place in September after the government collapsed over a corruption scandal.
"My preference is for early elections in September, if possible the beginning of September," he told journalists after holding talks with Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.
The legal procedures to fix the date will now have to take place over the coming weeks, with Van der Bellen set to hold further talks with other party leaders.
The announcement came after a dramatic 48 hours in Austrian politics which saw far-right Vice-Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache resign in disgrace following explosive revelations in a hidden camera sting.
On Friday, two German newspapers published footage showing Strache openly discussing the possibility of awarding public contracts in return for campaign help for his far-right Freedom Party (FPOe).
Speaking alongside Van der Bellen, Kurz said that early elections had not been "desirable, but were ...

Austrian president calls for September snap elections

The parents of a Frenchman kept alive in a vegetative state for a decade will on Monday try to have the doctor caring for their son removed before he halts life-sustaining treatment the same day, their lawyers said.
The last-ditch move by the parents of Vincent Lambert -- left quadriplegic with severe brain damage after a 2008 car accident -- aims to have the doctor immediately struck off France's medical register, the lawyers said in a statement Sunday.
The parents would also seek to have the doctor, Vincent Sanchez, criminally prosecuted and lodge new appeals to continue care for Lambert, they added.
The flurry of legal action spoke to the desperation of the parents just ahead of the planned halt Monday of the nutrition and hydration Lambert receives in the Sebastopol Hospital in the northern French city of Reims.
They have already pleaded with President Emmanuel Macron to step in and override the court order.
But the case has torn their family apart, pitting them legally and ...

Parents try to remove doctor in French right-to-die case

The US has detained an Iranian scientist for nearly seven months for allegedly attempting to ship growth hormones, Iranian media said Sunday, quoting his brother as saying he is being held "hostage".
Masoud Soleimani, 49, a professor and senior stem cell researcher at Tehran's Tarbiat Moddares University, left for the US on October 22, 2018, state news agency IRNA said.
He was to undertake a six month study in the US, but was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation at Chicago airport, according to semi-official news agency ISNA.
His visa was cancelled and he was transferred to Dayton prison in Atlanta, IRNA said.
According to Iran's English language state-run channel Press TV, Soleimani was invited by the Mayo Clinic, a university hospital in Minnesota, to conduct a research programme.
"For months we weren't given any clear answers until we managed to find out where he was by hiring a lawyer and following up," IRNA quoted Soleimani's brother, Rasoul, as saying.
During ...

US holds Iran scientist 'hostage' for seven months: Brother

Iran, Iran oil waiver

The meeting is set to make recommendations ahead of a key OPEC summit in late June, to be attended by Iran

OPEC members meet to assess oil market after US sanctions on Iran

Press Trust of India

President Donald Trump has declared himself "strongly Pro-Life", days after two US states passed tough new restrictions on abortions, but said exceptions should be made for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest.
The US president spelled out his position on abortion -- set to feature prominently at next year's election -- in his first comments on the hot-button issue since Alabama's governor signed a near-total ban on the termination of pregnancy.
"As most people know, and for those who would like to know, I am strongly Pro-Life, with the three exceptions -- Rape, Incest and protecting the Life of the mother -- the same position taken by Ronald Reagan," Trump tweeted late Saturday.
Trump, who is seeking to expand on his conservative support ahead of his re-election bid, added: "The Radical Left, with late term abortion (and worse), is imploding on this issue. We must stick together and Win for Life in 2020."
Alabama's governor on Wednesday signed a near-total prohibition on ...

Trump says 'Pro-Life' but favours exceptions for rape, incest

France's coast guard on Sunday stopped a small boat with nine migrants -- including a boy suffering mild hypothermia -- from crossing the English Channel to reach Britain, it said in a statement.
The nine, all of them male and most of them adults, said they were Iranians, the regional marine prefecture said in the statement.
They were intercepted by a patrol vessel around 5.5 kilometres (3.5 miles) offshore, only a short way across the Channel, which is around 30 kilometres wide at its closest points. They were taken to the nearby city of Calais where they were handed over to border authorities.
Migrants seeking to enter Britain have been frustrated in attempts to cross on vehicles through the Channel Tunnel or on ferries. Some have turned to trying to cross the Channel in small boats, risking low temperatures, strong currents and heavy shipping traffic.

AFP

AFP

Page 598 - Afp