Nineteen people were killed when a truck veered off of the road in northern Nigeria's Katsina state, a road safety official said on Saturday.
"The accident happened around 7:00 am (local time) on Friday when the driver lost control due to fatigue and overloading," Ibrahim Abdullahi of the Federal Roads Safety Commission told AFP.
"We evacuated 19 dead bodies and 38 injured passengers," he said.
The accident happened at Daudawa village, 130 kilometres south of the state capital.  The truck was travelling from nearby Zamfara state where kidnapping and cattle rustling is rampant.
Accidents are common on Nigerian poorly-maintained roads due to speeding, reckless driving and disregard for traffic rules.
Last week, 13 people were killed on a road in northern Bauchi state.

19 die in road crash in northern Nigeria: official

PTI Automatic

Thousands of Sudanese demonstrators marched in Khartoum Saturday, many reaching the army headquarters for the first time since deadly protests against President Omar al-Bashir erupted in December, witnesses said.
Chanting "One Army, One People," protesters rallied in the capital's streets, following a call by organisers to march on the army headquarters.

Sudan protesters reach army HQ for first time: witnesses

Britain has begun issuing passports with the words "European Union" removed from the front cover - despite Brexit being delayed and uncertainty over when the country will leave the bloc.
The interior ministry confirmed that some passports introduced from March 30, the day after Britain was originally due to depart, no longer include references to the EU following a 2017 decision.
However, it said some newly-issued travel documents would still bear the bloc's name - which has sat atop British passport covers - in a bid to save public money.  "In order to use leftover stock and achieve best value for the taxpayer, passports that include the words 'European Union' will continue to be issued for a short period," a spokeswoman said.
"There will be no difference for British citizens whether they are using a passport that includes the words European Union, or a passport that does not," she added, noting both designs would be "equally valid for travel".
Britain was set to leave the EU on ...

UK starts issuing passports without 'European Union' on cover

Iranian authorities ordered the evacuation of six cities along the Karkheh river in southwestern Khuzestan province on Saturday after more rain sparked fears of new flooding, state news agency IRNA said.
Six cities alongside Karkheh river in southwestern Iran "must be evacuated as soon as possible," Khuzestan governor Gholamreza Shariati told IRNA.
The oil-rich province of Khuzestan has an extensive range of dams, which have swelled upstream due to fresh downpours.
The floodwater's intensity has forced authorities to open emergency discharges at Karkheh dam, one of the largest in the area, thus sparking fears of fresh flooding.
The situation appears to be "critical", he said.
"We advise all women and children to be evacuated to shelters and youngsters to remain and help," he added.
Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli warned that up to 400,000 people in Khuzestan could be exposed to the floods, IRNA reported.
Iran, a usually arid country, has been hit by unprecedented flooding ...

Iran orders new evacuations amid fresh flood fears

British finance minister Philip Hammond said on Saturday the government had "no red lines" in talks with the main opposition party to break the deadlock in parliament over Brexit.
"Our approach to these discussions with Labour is that we have no red lines," he told reporters at a meeting of European finance ministers in Bucharest.
"We are expecting to exchange more texts with the Labour Party today, so this is an ongoing process and I expect we will reach some form of agreement," Hammond added.
Senior ministers are negotiating with Labour leaders in a bid to find a compromise to end months of political crisis and allow Britain to leave the European Union smoothly after 46 years of membership.
But after three days of discussions, Labour said Friday it was "disappointed" by the failure to offer "real change or compromise" to Prime Minister Theresa May's unpopular Brexit divorce deal.
MPs have rejected her agreement finalised with European leaders last November three times, delaying ...

UK finance minister says govt open to Brexit compromise with opposition

Tears stream down Lilis Hastirini's mascara-smudged face after she waited hours to snap a selfie with Indonesia's president, only to be thwarted by a crush of other female fans with the same idea.
It is a take-no-prisoners battle on the election trail in this selfie-mad nation, where few shots count more than a close up with "everyman" leader Joko Widodo, a former furniture salesman who rose from a riverside slum to high office.
Hastirini was among some 10,000 other desperate housewives, mostly aged between 20 and 50, who braved searing heat as they screamed and jostled, pushing past security guards to reach Widodo at an event in Sragen on Java island this week.
"I'm sad, I couldn't get a picture with him," the 37-year-old told AFP as she sobbed and wailed.
"He seems like such a nice person, kind of fatherly."
The lanky, heavy-metal music-loving 57-year-old, best known as Jokowi, seems happy to oblige housewives and other key voters -- including millenials who account for about ...

Indonesia's desperate housewives chase selfies on election trail

Brussels' famous landmark, the Manneken-Pis, is an insouciant celebration of going with the flow -- but even carefree little boys can go too far.
City authorities recently discovered that a fault in the 400-year-old statue's plumbing was causing him to pee away 2.5 tonnes of water a day.
In 2019, such waste is an environmental no-no.
A missing part in the guttering under the diminutive statue's fountain sent his public urination directly down the drain.
It may not be the most overwhelming torrent, but it was building up over time -- to the equivalent daily water use of five Belgian households.
No-one is quite sure how long Brussels' celebrity has been suffering the leak.
"We prefer to look to the future," says city engineer Regis Callens.
And the future is recycling. Henceforth, the Manneken's pee will loop through a recuperation tank to be pumped back through his bronze bladder.
"So it's really a closed circuit. There's no more waste," says Callens, giving journalists a tour of the ..

Brussels boy to pee-cycle after landmark leak inquiry

The Maldives on Saturday held its first parliamentary election since former strongman leader Abdulla Yameen was forced to stand down, with his arch-rival expected to make a big comeback in the vote.
Mohamed Nasheed, another former president, is the highest profile candidate up for election for the 87-member People's Majlis, or parliament.
He returned from an enforced exile abroad after Yameen lost an election in September to Nasheed's deputy, Mohamed Ibrahim Solih.
Solih said he expected Saturday's poll to return a strong legislature led by his Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP).
"I want to stress that I would like the next parliament to be made up of members who are familiar with our policies, and fully support it," Solih told a campaign rally on Thursday night.
Nasheed is widely expected to play a key role in the new legislature.
He was jailed for 13 years on a controversial terrorism charge when Yameen was in power. However, the conviction was overturned last year after the ...

Maldives ex-leader makes comeback in landmark vote

Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaido urged his supporters to demonstrate in the streets Saturday to maintain pressure on his rival President Nicolas Maduro, amid rising anger over the collapse of public services.
Thousands of opposition supporters are expected to march through the capital Caracas from 11:00 am on Saturday as Venezuela's power struggle is exacerbated by massive blackouts and the collapse of water supplies.
Guaido, recognized as interim president by more than 50 countries, said in a Twitter message on Friday: "Let's remain firm in the streets, this fight is for the lives of all Venezuelans."
Maduro, who blames US-backed sabotage on recent blackouts that deprived millions of power, has also called a pro-government march in Caracas, urging his supporters onto the streets for a "March in defence of peace."
Guaido said earlier this week he feared abduction by government agents after pro-Maduro lawmakers stripped him of his parliamentary immunity on Tuesday and ...

Venezuela's Guaido calls demo to maintain pressure on Maduro

Pep Guardiola has indicated France defender Benjamin Mendy has a long-term future at Manchester City despite concerns over his off-field behaviour.
The left-back, who has played just 27 minutes of football since November while struggling to recover from a knee injury, was filmed in a Manchester nightclub at 3:30 am last Saturday.
Guardiola has in the past made clear his frustrations with Mendy, who has been beset by injury problems since joining City from Monaco for ?52 million ($68 million) in 2017.
The manager had strong words with the Frenchman in September after he was nearly three hours late for a treatment session, having attended an Anthony Joshua boxing bout in London the previous evening.
In February, Mendy caused his manager more irritation by claiming in an Instagram post that he was in Hong Kong, without his manager's permission, although the defender later clarified the post by saying he was joking.
Guardiola has suggested previously that he is considering signing another 

We need Mendy', says Man City boss Guardiola of his dancing star

Marseille's hopes of European football suffered a setback on Friday when they slumped to a 2-0 defeat at Bordeaux in a battle between French clubs with ambitious American owners.
The loss left Marseille in fifth place, one point off a Europa League spot but eight from the Champions League places with seven games left.
"It's almost impossible now (to reach the Champions League)," admitted Marseille striker Florian Thauvin.
"It's a little hard to take but we have lost too many stupid points." Marseille, chasing a first win at Bordeaux in 42 years, went behind after 27 minutes when Francois Kamano scored from the penalty spot.
Nicolas de Pr?ville hit the second for Bordeaux in the 71st minute.
"I am so proud of the team," said Bordeaux owner Joe Da Grosa who enjoyed the bragging rights over US compatriot Frank McCourt, the Marseille supremo.
"They put on a spectacular match and it's what our supporters have been waiting for.

Marseille's Euro hopes hit in Bordeaux as 42-year drought goes on

Stellar home form has propelled Arsenal into the Premier League top four but their chances of staying there now depend on improving patchy results away from the Emirates Stadium.
The Gunners can climb above Tottenham into third place should they avoid defeat at Everton on Sunday.
However, with five of their remaining seven league fixtures on the road, a trip to Goodison Park will be a stern test of whether Arsenal can maintain a hot streak of 16 points from the last 18 available in the Premier League.
Arsenal have won their last eight league games at the Emirates and have as many home points as title-chasing Liverpool.
A league table on away form only, however, would place them down 10th with just five wins from 14 matches.
As well as Everton, Unai Emery's men must travel to Watford, Wolves, Leicester and Burnley.
The first four are all in the mix for Europa League qualification and it is not inconceivable that the latter could need points on the final day to stay up.
"We are thinking 

Arsenal hoping to cure travel sickness at Everton

A fast-rising teen sensation has been breaking junior athletics records this week, sparking a tug-of-war between Australia and France to secure his services for the 2024 Paris Olympics, and even the Tokyo Games next year.
Sasha Zhoya, 16, burst onto the scene at the Australian Athletics Championships in Sydney, winning the under-20 pole vault with a height of 5.56 metres, just shy of the qualifying standard for the world championships.
No 16-year-old has ever jumped higher.
The Perth-born Zhoya also defied a headwind to clock 13.05 seconds and win the under-18 110m hurdles -- another under-16 world best.
That came a day after he clinched gold in the under-20 200m, finishing in 21.18, narrowly outside the Australian record.
John Steffenson, who won silver with Australia in the 4x400m relay at the 2004 Athens Olympics, said his potential was "out of this world".
"Right now, whatever he wants to achieve he will achieve, it's up to him. There's no ceiling," he told the Sydney Morning ...

French circle young Aussie athletics sensation Zhoya

The world, it seems, is soon to see the first picture of a black hole.
On Wednesday, astronomers across the globe will hold "six major press conferences" simultaneously to announce the first results of the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT), which was designed precisely for that purpose.
It has been a long wait.
Of all the forces or objects in the Universe that we cannot see -- including dark energy and dark matter -- none has frustrated human curiosity so much as the invisible maws that shred and swallow stars like so many specks of dust.
Astronomers began speculating about these omnivorous "dark stars" in the 1700s, and since then indirect evidence has slowly accumulated.
"More than 50 years ago, scientists saw that there was something very bright at the centre of our galaxy," Paul McNamara, an astrophysicist at the European Space Agency and an expert on black holes, told AFP.
"It has a gravitational pull strong enough to make stars orbit around it very quickly -- as fast as 20 years." ..

Scientists set to unveil first picture of a black hole

Since entering prison a year ago, Brazil's former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has been spending his days working out in his cell and fighting to prove his innocence.
The 73-year-old leftist icon, who has been sentenced to 25 years behind bars in two separate corruption cases, remains determined to challenge the "injustices" he has suffered, said Gleisi Hoffmann, head of the Workers Party that Lula founded.
"From the political point of view... he remains strong," Hoffmann said as Lula prepares to mark one year in jail in the southern city of Curitiba on Sunday.
Lula has denied all the charges against him, claiming they were politically motivated with the aim of preventing him competing in elections last year that were won by Brazil's new far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.
During his election campaign, Bolsonaro said he hoped Lula would "rot in prison." Lula has been allowed to leave jail twice in the past 12 months -- once for the funeral of his seven-year-old grandson, whose .

Brazil's Lula fights for freedom as he marks one year in jail

The arrest of a Chinese woman who allegedly brought malicious software to President Donald Trump's Florida resort shows that Beijing poses a threat, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday.
Zhang Yujing was arrested last week at Mar-a-Lago, where Trump was on one of his frequent visits, after attempting to enter while carrying multiple mobile phones and a thumb drive containing malware, according to court documents.
"I think this tells the American people the threat that China poses, the efforts that they're making here inside the United States not only against government officials, but more broadly," Pompeo said in an interview with CBS News.
"The theft of American intellectual property is a big business to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars, and President Trump is determined to push back against it," he said.
He was referring to ongoing trade talks in which the United States is pressing China to take action to protect intellectual property.
Pompeo said the administration 

Pompeo says Trump resort arrest shows China's threat

The United States will designate Iran's Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist organization, an unprecedented move that would ramp up pressure on the elite force, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
The newspaper, quoting unnamed officials, said President Donald Trump's administration would announce the long-mulled decision as soon as Monday and that concerned defense officials were bracing for the impact.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp was formed after the 1979 Islamic revolution with a mission to defend the clerical regime, in contrast to more traditional military units that protect borders.
The Revolutionary Guards have amassed strong power within Iran, including with significant economic interests.
The Guards' prized unit is the Quds Force, named for the Arabic word for Jerusalem, which supports forces allied with Iran around the region including Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Lebanon's Hezbollah.
The Trump administration has already imposed sweeping sanctions on ...

US to declare Iran's Revolutionary Guards as terrorist group: WSJ

Floods in Iran since March have killed 70 people the head of the emergency services said on Friday according to the official IRNA News Agency.
"The floods also injured 791 persons of which 45 are still hospitalised," Pirhossein Koolivand, the head of the national Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Organisation said.
A report published on the EMS website showed the southern Fars Province had the highest fatalities with 23 dead.
The report also listed four people were missing. All in all 20 out of Iran's 31 provinces reported casualties from the floods.
Iran has been hit by unprecedented flooding across most of the country in the last 19 days.
The country's northeast was swamped on March 19 before the west and southwest of the country were inundated on March 25, killing a total of 45 people.
On April 1 the west and southwest were again swamped by floods when heavy rains returned to the area.
"2,199 rural roads and 84 bridges have been washed away," said Behnam Saeedi, spokesman for the ...

Iran floods death toll reaches 70

Boeing announced Friday it would cut the production schedule of its 737 aircraft line following the two recent crashes that have seen the 737 MAX grounded worldwide.
The aerospace giant plans to trim production to 42 planes per month, down from 52 per month, starting in mid-April.
Boeing shares tumbled after the disclosure, which was released just after the closing bell on Wall Street.
Boeing also announced it was establishing an advisory panel to review its company-wide policies for designing and developing planes.
The Federal Aviation Administration earlier this week said more work was needed before the aerospace giant could even submit a proposed fix that is believed to be a factor in the disasters.
Chief Executive Dennis Muilenburg described the production cut as temporary and said it would not affect current employment levels for the 737 and related programs.
"We are coordinating closely with our customers as we work through plans to mitigate the impact of this adjustment," ...

Boeing cuts 737 production rate by 10 planes per month

The UN Security Council on Friday called on Libyan forces under Khalifa Haftar to halt their advance on Tripoli, warning the military move was putting Libya's stability at risk.
Haftar, the commander of the self-proclaimed Libyan National Army (LNA), launched an offensive on Thursday to take the capital, held by a UN-backed unity government and an array of militias.
The council "called on LNA forces to halt all military movements," German Ambassador Christoph Heusgen, who holds the council presidency, told reporters following a closed-door meeting.
"The members of the Security Council expressed deep concern at the military activity near Tripoli which risks Libyan stability and prospects for UN mediation and a comprehensive political solution to the crisis," he said.
The appeal for Haftar to halt his offensive was unanimously backed by the council, including Russia, which has supported the strongman.
Armed clashes broke out earlier Friday south of Tripoli between a pro-government ...

AFP

AFP

Page 669 - Afp