President Donald Trump's son Donald Jr has agreed to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee investigating Russian election meddling, US media have reported.
The agreement resolved a looming fight between the Congress and the White House after Donald Jr was subpoenaed by the Republican-led committee last week.  According to reports, he had initially agreed to testify behind closed doors and then backed out for unclear reasons.
But President Trump is battling any cooperation with Congress in the Russia meddling investigation, claiming that he has already been "totally exonerated" of collusion and obstruction of justice by Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report completed in late March.
The Senate panel has interviewed Donald Jr once before, and is believed to be seeking clarification on his knowledge of contacts between the 2016 Trump presidential campaign and Russians.
Some Democrats suspect he may have lied about what he and his father knew of a June 2016 meeting in Trump ...

Trump Jr agrees to testify in Senate in Russia probe: US media

PTI Automatic

Five Americans who say they were sexually molested by Catholic priests have filed a lawsuit against the Vatican to compel the church to open its archives and hand over the names and details of abusive clergy.
The plaintiffs "were harmed as a result of the Defendant Holy See's practice and policy of not reporting suspected child abuse to law enforcement officials," stated the lawsuit filed on Tuesday in US federal court in the state of Minnesota.
"Holy See's practices of retaining, hiding, and concealing evidence of crimes of its agents and former agents has endangered numerous children and continues to put children in peril," it added.
Stephen Hoffman, one of three brothers who are plaintiffs for the case, said at a press conference the suit's intention is to "let something like this never happen anymore." "I don't want anyone to go through what I and my brothers went through... I just want the Vatican to do what's right," he said.
Hoffman and his brothers Luke and Benedict say they ..

US Catholic abuse victims sue Vatican to name predatory priests

The United States and Russia have agreed on ways to break a deadlock in finding a political solution in war-ravaged Syria, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said after talks with President Vladimir Putin.
Pompeo said that Syria - where the United States and Russia are on opposite sides - was a major topic of conversation during the talks Tuesday evening at Putin's dacha in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
He said that the two powers both backed establishing a committee tasked with drafting a post-war Syrian constitution -- a key step that has been bogged down by disagreements over its composition.
"We had a very productive conversation on pathways forward in Syria, things we can do together where we have a shared set of interests on how to move the political process forward," Pompeo told reporters at the airport before leaving.
"There is the political process associated with UN Security Council Resolution 2254 that has been hung up and I think we mutually now can begin to work together in .

Pompeo says agreed with Putin on Syria progress

Juan Guaido accused the Venezuelan government of trying to "gag" congress after security forces prevented opposition lawmakers from entering the National Assembly on Tuesday, two weeks after the opposition leader's failed uprising against President Nicolas Maduro.
Deputies said members of the National Guard, who provide security for the building, along with police and SEBIN intelligence agents, blocked access to the opposition-controlled National Assembly.
The move came as Amnesty International said it believes the Venezuelan authorities have committed crimes against humanity in their crackdown on anti-government protests, and urged the International Criminal Court to investigate.
"SEBIN agents, using the excuse that there's an explosive device within the facilities, took over the federal palace. We're surrounded by intelligence agents," lawmaker Manuela Bolivar told AFP.
Guaido said the security forces used "brute force", adding that congress was "occupied militarily".
He tried to ...

Guaido blasts Venezuela regime after security forces block congress

Sudanese army rulers and protest leaders Wednesday agreed on a three-year transition period for transferring power to a full civilian administration, a general announced.
"We agreed on a transitional period of three years," Lieutenant General Yasser al-Atta, a member of the military council that took power after the ouster of longtime leader Omar al-Bashir, told reporters.
Atta said a final agreement on the sharing of power, including the forming of the next ruling body -- the sovereign council -- will be signed with the protest movement, the Alliance for Freedom and Change, within 24 hours.
"We vow to our people that the agreement will be completed fully within 24 hours in a way that it meets the people's aspirations," Atta said.
He said of the three-year transitional period, the first six months will be allocated to signing peace accords with rebels in the country's war zones.
The army generals had initially insisted on a two-year transition period, while the protest leaders wanted .

Sudan army, protesters agree 3 year transition: General

Prime Minister Theresa May's government will publish draft legislation in the first week of June that would allow Brexit to proceed if approved by parliament, a Downing Street spokesman announced on Tuesday.
The statement came after talks between May and opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn on a possible compromise that would end a deadlock on Brexit in parliament.
May met with Corbyn "to make clear our determination to bring the talks to a conclusion and deliver on the referendum result to leave the EU".
"We will therefore be bringing forward the Withdrawal Agreement Bill in the week beginning June 3," the spokesman said, referring to a draft law based on the divorce deal agreed with EU leaders.
May was seeking a "stable majority in parliament that will ensure the safe passage of the Withdrawal Agreement Bill and the UK's swift exit from the EU", the spokesman said.
For the past six weeks, ministers and their Labour counterparts have been discussing how parliament might accept the .

British govt to put forward Brexit bill in June

A Peruvian judge Tuesday sentenced former Lima mayor Susana Villaran to 18 months' preventive detention for accepting illegal campaign funds from Brazilian construction firms Odebrecht and OAS.
The Odebrecht bribery scandal, which has washed through Latin America, runs deep in Peru, where the country's last four presidents are accused of receiving illegal payoffs.
Villaran, Lima's mayor from 2014-2018, is accused of taking millions of dollars from Odebrecht to finance a recall referendum in 2013 -- which she won -- and from OAS for a failed re-election bid in 2014.
Judge Jorge Chavez of Lima's Third Special Investigation Court for Corruption Crimes denied prosecutors' request to impose a 36-month sentence but justified a jail sentence saying there was evidence of "hindering and concealment of evidence" by Villaran.
She was also a flight risk, he said.
Prosecutor Angela Zuloaga told the court that Peru's former Odebrecht chief, Jorge Barata, testified that he contributed USD 3 million .

Former Lima mayor jailed in Peru Odebrecht case

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said on Tuesday that government representatives had proposed Poland's sports minister Witold Banka as its candidate to be the body's next president.
The 34-year-old former sprinter was recommended by members of the Public Authorities, a panel of government members who help choose WADA chiefs in a special meeting in Montreal.
The current head of WADA is the 78-year-old Craig Reedie, who has served two terms in office and who is due to step down in December.
WADA rotates its presidency between representatives from the international sports bodies (the International Olympic Committee and federations) and governments.
As required by the rules, Banka's nomination will now be submitted to WADA by the end of May for the elections which will take place at the meeting of the WADA Foundation Board in Katowice, Poland in November.
Banka was first put forward as Europe's candidate in January, comfortably beating the 41-year-old current WADA vice-president Linda .

Poland's Banka proposed as next World anti-doping chief

Mexico City declared an environmental alert Tuesday, ordering vehicles off the road and postponing the semi-finals of the first-division football league as a blanket of smog enveloped the sprawling capital.
A series of wildfires on the city's outskirts have combined with stagnant weather conditions to cloak the metropolitan area of more than 20 million people in a gray cloud of air pollution, which passed the critical level of 150 points on the authorities' air quality index.
"The extraordinary environmental contingency plan has been activated for the Mexico valley metropolitan area due to particles" in the air, the city's environmental commission said in a statement.
Authorities called on residents to avoid physical activity outdoors, instructed schools to keep children inside at recess and urged the elderly and those with respiratory illnesses to remain inside.
They also ordered cars with certain license plate numbers off the road for Wednesday, and ordered certain polluting ...

Mexico City declares pollution alert, postpones football semi-final

The United States told the UN Security Council on Tuesday that Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro was stepping up a crackdown on the opposition-controlled National Assembly and called on countries to respond with concrete actions.
The council met behind closed doors at the request of European countries to hear a briefing on the political and humanitarian crises in Venezuela and details of an EU-backed diplomatic push to end the stalemate.
US Acting Ambassador Jonathan Cohen raised alarm over the arrest on May 8 of Edgar Zambrano, a senior opposition leader and first vice president of the National Assembly.
"We are concerned that Zambrano's arrest is a major escalation of the ongoing crackdown by the Maduro regime against the National Assembly," said a statement from the US mission to the United States.
"The United States calls on all member states to be prepared to take concrete actions in response to the Maduro regime's repression throughout Venezuela," it added.
The US is among ...

US at UN warns of escalating crackdown in Venezuela

Jonny Bairstow's commanding hundred was the centrepiece of England's dominant six-wicket win over Pakistan in the third one-day international at Bristol on Tuesday as the World Cup hosts showed they could chase, as well as set, a target.
England generally prefer batting first but captain Eoin Morgan decided to give them experience of chasing just weeks away from the World Cup by opting to field first after winning the toss.
Bairstow's 128 in a score of 359 for four -- England's second highest winning total batting second in an ODI -- vindicated Morgan's decision and left his side 2-0 up with two to play in a five-match series.
Test captain Joe Root made 43 as Pakistan became increasingly ragged in the field, England winning with 31 balls -- or more than five overs -- to spare.
Earlier, Imam-ul-Haq's excellent career-best 151 saw Pakistan to 358 for nine.
That left England with a seemingly challenging target, particularly as they had rested Jos Buttler following his match-winning 110 ..

Bairstow century sees England overpower Pakistan

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday said he wanted to "fully restore" strained ties between Washington and Moscow, during a visit by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
"I would very much like your visit to Russia to benefit Russia-US relations and promote their development," Putin said as he received Pompeo at his residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi.
Putin also praised the Mueller report, despite its findings that Russia interfered in the 2016 US presidential election.
"Despite the exotic nature of Mr Mueller's commission, on the whole he conducted quite an objective investigation and confirmed the absence of any collusion between the US administration and Russia," he said.
Moscow has rejected these claims "from the very beginning as complete nonsense".
Pompeo earlier told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that US President Donald Trump was committed to improving relations with Moscow.
Pompeo underlined to Putin that Trump wanted to make "our two peoples more ...

Putin says wants to 'fully restore' Russia-US ties

Three Western countries will be part of an investigation into mysterious "sabotage attacks" on ships in the Gulf, an Emirati official said on Tuesday.
The official, who spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity, said the United States, France and Norway were involved in the investigation along with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
The official said the investigation into Sunday's incident was launched with the support of the Western experts.
The ships -- including two Saudi oil tankers, an Emirati ship and the Norwegian tanker Andrea Victory -- were docked in the sea off the coast of Fujairah, the official added.
Neither Saudi Arabia nor the UAE gave details on the nature of the attacks or accused anyone of responsibility.
Fujairah port is the only Emirati terminal located on the Arabian Sea coast, bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, through which most Gulf oil exports pass.
Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the strait in case of a military confrontation with the United ...

3 Western countries part of probe into attack on ships: UAE

Poland's right-wing government on Tuesday unveiled plans to crack down on paedophiles by raising prison sentences to a maximum 30 years as a ground-breaking documentary on paedophilia among Polish priests went viral in the Catholic country.
The proposed changes by the Law and Justice (PiS) government, which is closely allied with Poland's powerful Roman Catholic church, come just two weeks ahead of a tight race in elections to the European Parliament.
"Paedophilia has been treated too lightly by our judicial system," Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said after presenting the new proposals.
Commanding a majority in parliament, the PiS wants to raise maximum jail sentences for child sex abuse from 12 to 30 years and increase the age of consent from 15 to 16.
PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, regarded as Poland's de facto powerbroker, first suggested longer prison terms for paedophiles on Sunday as the documentary attracted attention.
"Tell No One", by independent Polish journalist Tomasz .

Poland cracks down on child sex abuse as priest film goes viral

Stock markets on both sides of the Atlantic staged a fightback Tuesday, paring heavy losses sparked by a raging US-China trade war over the past week.
World oil prices bobbed higher on concerns about tensions in the crude-rich Middle East, dealers said.
"Equities are attempting to claw back some lost ground," noted analyst Chris Beauchamp at trading firm IG, "but the overall atmosphere of caution still prevails".
On Wall Street the Dow had regained 320 points, or 1.3 percent, by the late morning, having lost a whopping 2.4 percent on Monday.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq, which had plunged 3.4 percent Monday, was also 1.3 percent higher at that time.
"US stocks are recovering from yesterday's drop in early action, which was the largest one-day fall since January, with the escalated trade tensions between the US and China continuing to be eyed," Charles Schwab analysts said.
They added, however, that President Donald Trump's statement that a meeting next month with Chinese President Xi Jinping 

Stock markets attempt rebound as trade war flares

Ecuador confirmed Tuesday it would hand over to the United States documents and computer hardware belonging to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, insisting it was complying fully with the law.
The prosecutor's office in Quito would determine "what goods should or should not be shared," said Foreign Minister Jose Valencia, who confirmed the handover in an interview with Ecuador's ECTV.
He said the delivery of Assange's documents would take place "in full compliance with the law." Assange's lawyers said Monday they had received an e-mail from prosecutors informing them of the planned handover of items left behind by Assange when his seven-year stay at the London embassy ended in his arrest last month.
Prosecutors have authorized police to carry out a search next Monday of the room which the Australian occupied and seize his personal belongings.
Valencia defended the handover, saying: "This is derived from a very clear order from a competent judicial authority." "It will be the ...

Ecuador defends handover of Assange documents to US

The US Federal Aviation Administration did not independently evaluate the safety of a Boeing 737 MAX system implicated in two deadly crashes, a person familiar with the matter said Tuesday.
The US regulator, as part of an internal review, has preliminarily concluded that FAA officials largely deferred to Boeing's assessments of the accident-ridden 737 MAX during the certification process, the person said.
Boeing's top-selling 737 MAX narrow-body planes have been grounded globally since mid-March following two plane crashes that killed 346 people. A common link in both crashes was the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System.
During the FAA certification, Boeing did not flag to regulators that a failure of the MCAS could lead to a catastrophic event, a classification that would have triggered more regulatory scrutiny, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
The FAA approved the 737 MAX in early 2017 and the plane entered into service in May of that year.
In both the Lion Air ..

AFP

AFP

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