Austrian Vice-Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache, a key figure of the European far-right, resigned Saturday after explosive revelations from a hidden camera sting, just days before key EU elections.
"I tendered my resignation as vice-chancellor of Austria to Chancellor Kurz, and he accepted this decision," an emotional Strache said in a televised statement.
Media reports emerged on Friday alleging that Strache promised public contracts in return for campaign help from a fake Russian backer he met in a luxury villa on the island of Ibiza a few months before 2017's parliamentary elections in Austria.
On Saturday Strache insisted he was the "victim of a targeted political attack" which had used illegal means, but that he was leaving in order to avoid further damage to the government.
Germany's Der Spiegel and Sueddeutsche Zeitung published hidden-camera recordings of the sophisticated sting operation.
In the recordings Strache and his party's group leader in parliament Johann Gudenus are 

Austrian far-right leader resigns over 'Ibiza affair'

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Just days before key EU elections, Austria's coalition government was plunged into crisis on Saturday as far-right party leader and Vice-Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache came under huge pressure to resign after explosive revelations from a hidden camera sting.
Media reports emerged on Friday alleging that Strache promised public contracts in return for campaign help from a fake Russian backer.
Germany's Der Spiegel and Sueddeutsche Zeitung published hidden-camera recordings of a sting operation they say took place in a luxury villa on the island of Ibiza a few months before 2017's parliamentary elections in Austria.
In the recordings Strache and his party's group leader in parliament Johann Gudenus are seen discussing with a woman purporting to be the niece of a Russian oligarch how she can invest in Austria.
She says she specifically wants to gain control of the country's largest-circulation tabloid, the Krone Zeitung.  Strache is seen suggesting that new owners could make staff ...

Austrian government plunged into crisis over 'Ibiza affair'

Bangladesh authorities prevented 84 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar from attempting a perilous boat journey to Malaysia, officials said Saturday.
Police in Pekua said 67 Rohingya Muslims from Kutupalong -- the largest refugee settlement in the world -- were stopped as they waited to board a fishing trawler.  They included 31 women and 15 children.
On Saint Martin's, a small Bangladesh island in the Bay of Bengal, the country's coast guard stopped 17 other Rohingya and five Bangladeshi traffickers before they could board a rickety fishing boat.
Fayezul Islam Mondol, the regional coast guard commander, said they were acting on a tip off.
About 740,000 Muslim minority Rohingya have fled Myanmar for Bangladesh since a brutal military crackdown began in August 2017.
They joined another 300,000 Rohingya already living in overcrowded camps in the Cox's Bazar area following previous bouts of violence.
Thousands of refugees attempt to flee the camps each year in pursuit of better opportunities .

Bangladesh stops 84 Rohingyas from perilous sea journey

An attentive dog in northeastern Thailand is being hailed as a hero after finding and saving an infant allegedly buried in a field by his teenage mother, police said Saturday.
The newborn was lying under a layer of dirt near a farm in the Chumpuang district of Nakhon Ratchasima province but was found the same day -- May 15 -- by a curious canine named Ping Pong.
The dog dug around the area and began barking, alerting his owner a cattle herder, who went to the site.
"I don't think it was long after his mother buried him before the dog found him," case officer Panuvat Udkam told AFP.
He added that the boy was healthy, was recovering in hospital, and was so young he had not been named yet.
The teenage mother was charged with attempted murder and abandonment of children.
Officer Panuvat said the suspect was 15 years old and had tried to dispose of the child because she was afraid her parents would get angry.
"So after she delivered the baby by herself she buried it," he said.  Local media 

Hero dog saves buried baby in northeastern Thailand

Ben Stokes's unbeaten 71 rescued England from a top-order collapse as the World Cup hosts and favourites beat Pakistan by three wickets with three balls to spare at Trent Bridge.
Friday's win in a floodlit match saw England secure the series at 3-0 up with one to play, but it was far from routine.
England were cruising to a target of 341 at 201 for one when Jason Roy's dismissal for 114 sparked a collapse that saw three wickets lost for seven runs in 10 balls.
And when Moeen Ali was out for a duck, England were 216 for five.
But Stokes steadied the ship and with No 8 Tom Curran (31) got England back on track in a stand of 61.
Curran, pushing for a place in England's final 15-man World Cup squad, had already taken four for 75 in Pakistan's 340 for seven.
This was a modest score at Trent Bridge, where England have twice set the record for the highest one-day international total, with last year's 481 for six against Australia following their 444 for three against Pakistan in 2016.
- 'Got 

Stokes sees stuttering England to Pakistan series win

North Korea has demanded the United Nations take "urgent measures" to help return a cargo ship taken by the United States, calling the seizure a "heinous" act.
Washington announced last week it had taken possession of the North Korean-registered bulk carrier M/V Wise Honest -- a year after it was detained in Indonesia -- citing sanctions-violating activities.
The seizure came amid heightened tensions after Pyongyang conducted weapons drills involving short-range missiles in recent weeks, and with nuclear talks deadlocked since the collapse of the Hanoi summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un earlier this year.
In a letter sent Friday to Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Kim Song -- Pyongyang's permanent representative at the UN -- said the incident was "an unlawful and outrageous act", according to North Korea's state news agency KCNA.
"This act of dispossession has clearly indicated that the United States is indeed a gangster country that does ..

N Korea demands UN action over ship seizure by 'gangster' US

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been suspended for two games after grabbing New York City FC goalkeeper Sean Johnson by the neck during Los Angeles Galaxy's defeat last weekend, Major League Soccer said Friday.
The MLS Disciplinary Committee announced in a statement it was sanctioning Ibrahimovic for violent conduct after the incident in the 86th minute of the game on May 11.
Ibrahimovic and Johnson wrestled each other to the floor after coming together in the closing stages of Galaxy's defeat last week.
Both players received a yellow card for the incident for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Johnson later accused Ibrahimovic of losing his cool.
"Zlatan is a talented player, he obviously knows what he is doing, he is a clever boy and you know, it is a part of the game," Johnson said.
"I would be frustrated if I were him too, you know. Can't blame him for his frustration at that point in the game," the goalkeeper added.
It is the second retrospective sanction  Ibrahimovic has received in recent ...

Ibrahimovic hit with ban after neck grab

Jason Roy was at a loss to explain how he had scored a match-winning century against Pakistan following an overnight visit to hospital with his baby daughter.
Roy's superb 114 was the centrepiece of England's chase as they beat Pakistan at Trent Bridge on Friday to go 3-0 up with one to play in a one-day international series.
Yet Roy's eighth century at this level came in trying circumstances, with the Surrey opening batsman saying he'd been more worried about daughter Everly than piling up the runs.
"It was a very emotional hundred. I didn't see it coming," Roy told BBC Radio's Test Match Special.
"I had a bit of a rough morning so this one is a special one for me and my family," added Roy, who returned to hospital after a three-wicket win, although his daughter's condition is not believed to be serious.
"It was my little one. We had to take her to hospital at 1:30 in the morning. I stayed there until 8:30am, came back for a couple of hours sleep and got to the ground just before ...

Roy reveals baby drama after Pakistan hundred

World number one Novak Djokovic saved two match points against former US Open champion Juan Martin Del Potro to advance to the semi-finals of the Italian Open in a three-set Roman thriller on Friday as defending champion Rafael Nadal swept through without dropping a set.
But Swiss star Roger Federer and women's world number one Naomi Osaka both pulled out injured from the last warm-up tournament before the French Open starting in just over a week.
Djokovic saved match points in the second set tie-break before winning through 4-6, 7-6 (8/6), 6-4, sealing victory with an ace on his first match point after a three-hour battle.
"I had luck in the decisive moments in the second set tiebreak," said the 31-year-old.
"Towards the end of the first set he just started hitting the ball really well from both corners.
"Also backhand side, backhand down the line. He was playing really well. Gave me a lot of trouble. But I never lost faith," the four-time Rome winner said. "I'm just really pleased ..

Djokovic survives scare, Nadal coasts into Rome semi-finals

As it turns out, magical comeback victories require more practice and rest time than Tiger Woods has had since winning the Masters last month for his 15th major title.
So the 43-year-old US star was disappointed but realistic Friday after missing the cut at the PGA Championship just a month after ending his 11-year major win drought.
"It's just the way it goes," Woods said. "Unfortunately I made too many mistakes and just didn't do the little things I need to do.
"I had a couple three-putts. I didn't hit wedges close. I didn't hit any fairways today. Did a lot of little things wrong."
Woods fired a three-over par 73 to finish 36 holes on five-over 145, one stroke over the cut line, in his first competitive rounds since an emotional green jacket triumph last month at Augusta National.
Asked if he had managed to practice enough for the event, Woods replied, "Definitely not."
"Just don't feel well and just not able to do it. But resting would be better, so I would have energy to play," ..

Repeat win so soon after Masters too much for tired Tiger

Australians flocked to the polls Saturday capping a bitterly fought election that may be the first anywhere decided by climate policy.
Between 16 and 17 million people are expected to vote across the vast island-continent, with the opposition centre-left Labor party tipped for victory.
Casting his ballot in Melbourne, would-be prime minister Bill Shorten was bullish about forming a majority government after a final poll showed his lead increasing.
"Today is the people's day," he said. "Be it buying a 'democracy sausage', the kids having a bit of a sugar cake or what have you, and voting." "In the event that the people of Australia voted to stop the chaos and voted for action on climate change, we will be ready to hit the ground from tomorrow." Weeks ago, Prime Minister Scott Morrison's conservative Liberals had been heading for an electoral drubbing.
But he has closed the gap with a fiercely negative campaign -- backed by powerful right-wing media -- targeting older, wealthier voters .

Voting under way in climate-dominated Aussie election

The United States said Friday it had approved more than USD 600 million in sales of air defense missiles to South Korea and Japan as tensions return with North Korea.
The State Department said it had approved 94 SM-2 missiles used by ships against air threats, along with 12 guidance systems for a total cost of USD 313.9 million.
It separately gave the green light to sell 160 anti-air AMRAAM missiles and related guidance equipment to Japan for USD 317 million.
The sales "will support the foreign policy and national security objectives of the United States" by assisting key allies and "will not alter the basic military balance in the region," a State Department statement said.
North Korea last week tested what the South Korean military said appeared to be two short-range missiles in its second launch in less than a week.
The tests come amid a standstill in negotiations between North Korea and the United States, where President Donald Trump had boasted of ending Pyongyang's missile ...

US approves missile sales to South Korea, Japan

An ex-CIA officer was sentenced to 20 years in prison Friday for spying for China in a case called part of an "alarming trend" in the US intelligence community.
Kevin Mallory, 62, was convicted under the Espionage Act for selling classified US "defense information" to a Chinese intelligence agent for USD 25,000 during trips to Shanghai in March and April 2017.
"Your object is to gain information, and my object is to be paid," he told the Chinese agent in a May 5, 2017 message.
The fluent Mandarin speaker had served in the US army, then as a special agent for the security service of the State Department, before becoming a covert case officer for the Central Intelligence Agency.
Mallory is one of several US officials with high-level security clearances arrested and charged over unsanctioned dealings with Chinese intelligence.
Former Defense Intelligence Agency official Ron Hansen faces 15 years in prison after pleading guilty in March to charges of attempting to sell classified ...

Ex-CIA agent gets 20-year sentence for spying for China

Polls opened Saturday in Australia's nail-biter election, a race that may be the first anywhere decided on climate policy.
Around 17 million people are expected to cast their ballots across the vast island-continent, as final surveys predicted a centre-left Labor victory.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison's conservative Liberals had closed a yawning gap on the opposition upstarts, but differences over climate may prove the difference.
A season of record floods, wildfires and droughts has brought the issue front and centre in the campaign.
Labor has pledged ambitious targets for renewable energy, while the Liberals said they would not risk the coal-fuelled economy's health to make the air cleaner. Final polls show the vote is going down to the wire, with Labor ahead roughly 51-49.
But compulsory voting and a complex system of ranking candidates mean an upset is possible.
There are growing signs the Liberals' stance on climate may be politically unsustainable.
In rural areas, climate-hit ...

Polls open in climate-dominated Aussie election

Major international powers during talks Friday in Washington urged Sudan's military rulers and protesters to resume suspended negotiations on the country's future immediately, the United States said.
Representatives from the UN, African Union and European powers "called for an immediate resumption of talks" between the two sides, said Tibor Nagy, the US assistant secretary of state for Africa.
They called on the protesters and the Transitional Military Council to "reach an agreement ASAP on an interim government that is truly civilian-led and reflects the will of the Sudanese people," Nagy tweeted.
"We also expressed concern about the recent violence directed by security forces against protesters, and agreed to call for the TMC to allow peaceful protests and hold accountable those responsible for recent violence," he wrote.
The talks in Washington included representatives of the United Nations, African Union and European Union.
Countries involved were Britain, France, Germany and ...

Key powers urge immediate resumption of Sudan talks: US

England beat Pakistan by three wickets in the fourth one-day international at Trent Bridge on Friday.
Victory gave World Cup hosts and favourites England an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.
England were cruising to a victory target of 341 at 201 for one when Jason Roy's dismissal for 114 sparked a collapse that saw three wickets lost for seven runs in 10 balls.
But Ben Stokes's 71 not out saw England home with three balls to spare after Babar Azam made 115 in Pakistan's 340 for seven.
The series concludes at Headingley on Sunday.
Brief scores
Pakistan 340-7, 50 overs (Babar Azam 115, Mohammad Hafeez 59, Fakhar Zaman 57; T Curran 4-75) England 341-7, 49.3 overs (J Roy 114, B Stokes 71 no) Result: England won by three wickets
Series: England lead five-match series 3-0 (1st ODI was a no-result due to rain).

England beat Pakistan by three wickets, win ODI series

President Donald Trump on Friday announced a deal to lift US tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada and Mexico that had created friction between the neighbours and blocked a new North American free trade agreement.
"I'm pleased to announce that we've just reached an agreement with Canada and Mexico and will be selling our product into those countries, without the imposition of tariffs," Trump said at an event in the US capital.
His statement came moments after Canada released the text of the agreement between Ottawa and Washington in which they agree to eliminate US tariffs on steel and aluminum, and Canada's retaliatory measures, within no more than two days.
Mexico subsequently confirmed it had reached a similar agreement with the United States.
The steep US tariffs imposed last year -- 25 per cent on steel and 10 per cent on aluminum -- became a major stumbling block to ratifying a new North American trade pact negotiated last year by the three countries.
Canada and ...

Trump lifts steel, aluminum tariffs on Canada, Mexico

The United States on Friday sanctioned a Mexican judge and a former state governor for corruption and maintaining links with drug cartels.
Judge Isidro Avelar and Roberto Sandoval, a former governor of Nayarit, were among eight Mexicans and six businesses sanctioned for ties to drug trafficking organizations Los Cuinis and Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion (CJNG).
Avelar and Sandoval "callously enrich themselves at the expense of their fellow citizens," the Treasury Department said in a statement, adding that assets and property in the US belonging to the sanctioned individuals are "blocked." "Whether they are receiving bribes from narcotics trafficking organisations or engaging in a variety of other illicit activities, these and other corrupt officials will face serious consequences including being cut off from the US financial system."
Three other Mexicans and four other Mexican companies were also sanctioned because of their ties to Sandoval.
According to the Treasury Department, .

US sanctions Mexican judge, ex-governor for corruption

Syrian air defence batteries on Friday intercepted projectiles coming from Israel and downed a number of them, the official news agency SANA reported.
"Our air defence systems intercepted luminous objects coming from the occupied territories (Israel) and downed several of them," SANA said quoting a military source, after earlier reporting a "loud explosion" around the capital Damascus.

AFP

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