Sri Lanka's state energy provider sought divine intervention Thursday to break a crippling power shortage, dispatching envoys to the country's north to offer holy water to a tree sacred to Buddhists.
The island nation has endured widespread energy shortages all week as a severe drought bites into hydro-electricity production, resulting in unpredictable blackouts and emergency measures to slash usage.
Some businesses were hoarding fuel for generators, fearing the situation would not improve, as hours-long rolling outages forced Sri Lankans to sleep outdoors to escape the heat.
In the hope of provoking much-needed rain, the Ceylon Electricity Board said it would offer alms to the Sri Maha Bodi, a tree in Anuradhapura revered by the island's Buddhists.
Pots of water blessed by monks were sent by motorcade to the Bodi, believed to have grown from a sapling of an older tree under which the Buddha attained enlightenment more than 2,500 years ago.
"There will be several offerings at the bodi 

Sri Lanka seeks divine help to end power crisis

PTI Automatic

Taiwan plans to ramp up punishments for those who cause a fatal accident while drunk driving, including the death penalty for the most egregious cases, sparking an outcry from abolition and rights groups.
The cabinet on Thursday approved a draft amendment to the Criminal Code that would make death by drunk driving an indictable murder offence, potentially punishable by death if the deed is deemed "intentional", officials said.
The proposal needs parliamentary approval but comes after a spate of high profile deaths that have generated widespread outrage.
Currently the maximum sentence in Taiwan for causing a death while drunk behind the wheel is 10 years.
The new proposal would increase jail sentences for repeat offenders who commit a new offence within five years of their first conviction.
They face up to a life sentence for causing a death and 12 years for grave injuries.
"Cases of drunk driving leading to death are rampant... drink drivers recklessly caused accidents that took lives 

Taiwan mulls death penalty for drunk driving

Three people were injured and the suspect killed in an arson and homemade explosive attack on a police station in northeastern China on Thursday, local authorities said.
The attacker set fire to the Shenyang Public Security Bureau's traffic police department at about 1:50 pm (0550 GMT) before setting off an explosive device, the bureau said in a statement.

Three hurt, suspect dead in explosive attack at China police station

A German advertisement showing an Asian woman getting aroused after smelling dirty laundry worn by white men has fueled anger in Seoul, with many women calling it racist and demanding an apology.
The commercial, produced by German DIY-store chain Hornbach, shows white men working outside in a garden before removing their sweaty clothing and dumping it in a box.
The ad then cuts to a grey, industrial city that resembles Tokyo, where an Asian woman buys a bag of dirty clothes -- previously worn by the men -- opens it and moans with pleasure, as the commercial ends with a slogan saying: "That's how the spring smells".
An online petition asking for a public apology from the German firm and the removal of the ad had secured almost 1,000 signatures by Thursday afternoon.
Angry users on social media accused the company of promoting stereotypes against Asian women.
"How many more Asian female voices will you need to take us seriously and be aware of your thoughtless deeds and apologise?" a ...

'Racist' German advertisement infuriates women in S. Korea

A truck driver barreled into a group of indigenous Guatemalans on Wednesday night, killing 18 before fleeing the scene as police began a manhunt.
The incident occurred at the entry point to the western town of Nahuala, which has a population of around 65,000, most of whom are K'iche' Maya.
A group of people had converged at the scene of another hit-and-run in which a local community leader was killed, when they in turn were hit by a truck with its lights off on a road without street lighting.
"In total there are 18 deaths that have been counted in this tragedy," fire department spokesman Cecilio Chacaj told AFP, revising down a previous toll of 30 that he attributed to early chaos on the scene where bodies were piled up on top of another.
Chacaj added the dead included three minors while 20 had been wounded, some seriously, and were being treated in hospitals.
The government announced three days of mourning from Thursday, while President Jimmy Morales tweeted: "We are currently ...

18 Guatemalans killed by hit-and-run truck driver

Vietnam police have arrested a Chinese national found with a massive haul of heroin in Ho Chi Minh City, the second such bust in a week as the country cracks down on the illicit trade.
Though communist Vietnam boasts some of the world's toughest drug laws, it is both a consumption hub and a popular thoroughfare for narcotics from the lawless "Golden Triangle" region straddling Laos, Myanmar and Thailand.
Vietnam has clocked several high-profile busts in recent months as it seeks to contain rampant drug trafficking.
Police on Wednesday found 313 kilograms (690 pounds) of suspected heroin worth an estimated USD 8.6 million after stopping a "suspicious" pick-up truck in the southern commercial hub of Ho Chi Minh City.
"Authorities found many carton boxes with objects that looked like heroin blocks," according to Cong An Nhan Dan, the official mouthpiece of the Ministry of Public Security.
"Two suspects were detained, including a Chinese person," it added in its report Thursday.
Police ...

Vietnam arrests Chinese man with 300 kg of heroin

Malta's armed forces said Thursday they had taken control of a tanker that was hijacked by migrants it had rescued off Libya.
It said a special operations team is escorting the vessel to Malta where it was expected to arrive Thursday morning, to "be handed over to the police for further investigations".
The Palau-flagged tanker Elhiblu I picked up the migrants on Tuesday evening in waters where Libyan coastguards are responsible, and then headed back to Tripoli.
But six nautical miles from port the ship suddenly changed course and headed north toward Europe.
Italy's far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini said Wednesday the vessel had been hijacked, and vowed that the migrants would not be allowed to disembark in Italy.
The tanker was about 30 nautical miles from Malta when the Armed Forces of Malta (AFM) established communications with the captain.
"The captain repeatedly stated that he was not in control of the vessel and that he and his crew were being forced and threatened by a 

Maltese navy takes control of tanker hijacked by migrants: statement

Singapore on Thursday defended nominating its street food for UN recognition as a bid to "safeguard" local culture after the move sparked a cross-border culinary clash with Malaysia.
The city-state is home to many open-air food courts where vendors, known as "hawkers", serve dishes such as chicken and rice, noodles and satays at relatively cheap prices.
Singapore announced last year it would nominate its hawker culture to be designated as intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO, and if successful it will join items such as traditional Japanese cuisine and Belgian beer on the list.
But the move sparked anger in Malaysia -- while the country's street food is similar to that in Singapore, Malaysians claim it is generally far superior.
Announcing Singapore's nomination had been officially submitted this week, senior National Heritage Board official Yeo Kirk Siang insisted the bid was not meant to show the city's street food was "better" than that of other countries.
"It's not about ...

Singapore defends UN bid for street food honour

A military helicopter has crashed in southwestern Kazakhstan, killing all 13 servicemen on board, the defence ministry said Thursday.
The crash involving the Russian-made Mi-8 aircraft occurred on Wednesday, the ministry said in a statement.
"13 servicemen were killed... while performing their military duty," it said.
Kazakhstan's new president Kassym-Jomart Tokayev tweeted that he had ordered an investigation into the crash.
A Soviet-era workhorse first built in the 1960s, the Mi-8 helicopter is widely used to transport passengers and supplies to remote sites.
It has been involved in a number of recent accidents.
In August last year, 18 people were killed in a crash in Siberia.
The defence ministry said on Thursday that the families of those killed would receive compensation.
Tokayev became Kazakhstan's president last week following the shock resignation of long-ruling 78-year-old strongman Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has retained key decision-making powers in the Central Asian country 

13 killed in military helicopter crash in Kazakhstan

A Japanese court on Thursday acquitted a man who spent 13 years in prison for murder, finding there was "no material evidence" he committed the crime, his lawyer and media said.
"He was found innocent," Fumio Takemura, lead lawyer for the now 85-year-old Koki Miyata, told AFP.
Miyata was sentenced to 13 years in prison in 1986 after being convicted of stabbing an acquaintance to death in the town of Matsubase in southwestern Japan.
His sentence was confirmed by the Supreme Court four years later and he was not released until 1999.
He has since suffered several strokes that have left him partially handicapped.
"Objectively, there are contradictions in the confessions and there is no material evidence," the judge said in explaining the decision to overturn Miyata's conviction, local media said.
In recent years, there has been a surge in the number of appeals against convictions in Japan because of legal changes including the introduction of jury trials for serious crimes.
Among the ...

Japan court acquits man jailed for 13 years on murder charge

Nine people have been arrested in Thailand for spreading "fake news" on Facebook with posts about sacked election officials and bogus ballots in the wake of controversial polls in the kingdom.
Junta-ruled Thailand held its first vote since a 2014 coup on Sunday, with a military-backed party and its main rival linked to a self-exiled billionaire both claiming the right to govern.
Full official results have not yet been released but questions are mounting over election irregularities that may have skewed initial numbers.
A Thai official said Thursday that nine people were arrested for sharing fake news on Facebook claiming two election commissioners had been sacked and that 600,000 illegitimate ballots were mixed into the vote count.
They were charged Wednesday under the draconian Computer Crimes Act "for sharing or onpassing false information", said Siriwat Deephor, a spokesman for the Computer Crime Suppression Division Police.
"They confessed and said they didn't know that it was ...

Nine arrested in Thailand for posting election 'fake news'

A shadowy dissident group allegedly behind last month's raid on North Korea's embassy in Madrid promised "bigger things ahead" on Thursday, but said they would temporarily suspend operations because of intense media scrutiny.
The Cheollima Civil Defense (CCD) group emerged from the shadows this week to claim responsibility for a commando-style raid on Pyongyang's embassy to highlight illicit activities rampant in North Korea's foreign missions.
On Wednesday a Spanish court named Adrian Hong Chang, a Mexican national, as being the leader of the group which burst into the diplomatic mission and roughed up employees before fleeing with documents and computers.
"We are a group of defectors who have come together with compatriots around the world," the CCD said in a statement posted on its website.
Various preparations to "shake the Kim Jong Un regime by the root" were underway, it added, but had been hampered by a spike in media interest.
"The activities of the members have been ...

North Korea embassy raid group promises 'bigger things ahead'

Israeli cave explorers said Thursday that a salt cave with striking stalactites near the Dead Sea is the world's longest, beating the previous record-holder in Iran.
The cave named Malham, stretching over 10 kilometres, runs through Mount Sodom, Israel's largest mountain, and spills out to the southwest corner of the adjacent Dead Sea.
Pale salt stalactites hang from the ceilings, and some of the walls sparkle with salt crystals. Drops of salty water are visible at the tips of some of the stalactites.
Malham became known to researchers through the work of Amos Frumkin, founder and director of the Hebrew University's Cave Research Centre, who in the 1980s mapped around five kilometres of it.
But in 2006, researchers mapped over six kilometres of the N3 cave in southern Iran's Qeshm island, granting it the widely recognised status of the world's longest salt cave.
Two years ago, Israeli spelunker Yoav Negev decided to complete Frumkin's work, reaching out to Bulgarian cave explorers for 

Israelis unveil 'world's longest salt cave'

A 44-year-old man who shot and killed five people in northern China earlier this week was motivated by revenge over "trivial matters" and targeted specific individuals, authorities said Thursday.
The suspect was the deputy director of a local water plant, said the Kailu county government from Tongliao city in the Inner Mongolia region.
Citing local police, officials said the shooter, surnamed Liang, was driven by "conflicts created by trivial matters in work and life", without offering more details.
Police have seized the small calibre rifle used in the crime, said authorities on their official WeChat social media account.
The suspect was in police custody and an investigation was underway, they added.
Kailu county police declined to comment.
The shooting, which took place on Monday, was a rare case of gun violence in China, where the government tightly restricts ownership of firearms.
There are no official statistics on gun-related deaths.
In November 2017, three people were shot ...

Shooting in north China motivated by 'revenge': police

The United States and China open the latest round of their trade talks Thursday as the economic superpowers edge towards a deal to resolve a months-long spat that has rattled the global economy.
US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are expected to resume talks in Beijing with China's top economic official Liu He, the first since China put into law new measures seen as an olive branch in their high-stakes stand-off.
While US President Donald Trump has voiced hope that he could soon hold a signing ceremony with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, negotiations have dragged on, suggesting substantial differences remain.
But Lighthizer sought to play down expectations ahead of the meeting in Beijing, which is due to be followed by more talks in Washington in early April.
"I'm hoping but not necessarily hopeful... If there's a great deal to be gotten, we'll get it -- if not, we'll find another plan," he told National Public Radio earlier this ...

US-China trade talks to open in Beijing

A Pakistani minister has branded the US ambassador to Kabul a "little pygmy" in a high-level diplomatic Twitter row that erupted over ongoing peace talks between Washington and the Taliban in Afghanistan.
The furore underscores the delicate balance of regional tensions as the US steps up a push to find a way out of Afghanistan, more than 17 years after the invasion.
It began after Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan reportedly suggested an interim government in Afghanistan to help smooth the talks process, making the comment during a briefing with local reporters on Monday.
Khan's comments caused uproar in Afghanistan, which has long held neighbouring Pakistan's shadowy intelligence services responsible for supporting and training the Taliban.
Kabul recalled its ambassador on Tuesday, and the Pakistani foreign office tried to downplay Khan's comments on Wednesday, saying they had been reported "out of context... leading to an unwarranted reaction".
But shortly after US ambassador to ..

Pakistan minister brands US envoy 'little pygmy' in Twitter row

At least 30 indigenous Guatemalans were killed on Wednesday night when they were struck on a highway by a semi-trailer truck in the town of Nahuala in the country's west, rescue workers said.
"Personnel from the Departmental Municipal Firefighters have counted at least 30 dead people at this point," spokesman Cecilio Chacaj told reporters.
The group had congregated at the site of a hit-and-run accident that had killed a resident of their neighborhood when they in turn were hit by the truck, Chacaj added.
Guatemala, a Central American country of some 16.5 million people, has a poor road safety record and traffic rules are frequently ignored.

30 Guatemalans killed by truck: officials

International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach admitted Wednesday that he's a fan of breakdancing's dizzy choreography as the street-wise discipline joined climbing, skateboarding and surfing in getting the provisional nod for the 2024 Paris Games.
"There's a very authentic expression, you feel the performance and the personalities of the athletes," said the 65-year-old after a meeting of the IOC's executive committee.
"I must admit that I admire the movements." The four sports will now be submitted to the IOC's next session in June in the next step for inclusion on the Olympic programme.
Climbing, skateboarding and surfing will make their Olympic debut in Tokyo next year where they will be subject to a "programme of monitoring".
Breakdancing, which is not on the Tokyo schedule, figured in the Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires last October which is where Bach caught the bug.
Bach added at Wednesday's press conference that the inclusion of the four sports will make the Paris ...

IOC chief 'admires' breakdance moves as Paris 2024 sports get green light

Maren Mjelde fired Chelsea into the last four of the Women's Champions League and a clash with all-conquering Lyon after her stoppage time strike saw them squeeze past Paris Saint-Germain 3-2 on aggregate.
Norway international Mjelde met Karen Carney's pinpoint pass seconds into added time to snatch the tie and spark wild celebrations after the Blues let their 2-0 first-leg advantage slip and risked being dumped out by a powerful PSG performance on Wednesday.
Her late strike was enough for Emma Hayes's side to go through despite losing 2-1 on the night and being completely outplayed by PSG.
The Parisiens were all over Chelsea in a dominant second-half display, and levelled the tie through Marie-Antoinette Katoto two minutes after the break and a comical own goal from Blues keeper Ann-Katrin Berger.
Roared on by a passionate home crowd led by a hardcore ultras group who protested treatment they received by police at the first leg in England -- when fans were caught with weapons and ...

Chelsea snatch PSG triumph to set up semi-final showdown with Lyon

Former Australian Test star Bruce Yardley, who was later regarded as one of the world's leading spin-bowling coaches, has died aged 71 after a battle with cancer.
The West Australian played 33 Tests and was his country's first-choice spinner in the 1980s, taking 126 wickets at an average of 31.63.
He was also handy with the bat, holding the Australian record for the quickest Test fifty for 38 years.
Known as "Roo", Yardley was equally well known for coaching Sri Lanka in the 1990s and being a big influence on the greatest Test wicket-taker of all time -- Muttiah Muralitharan.
Yardley, who was the international cricketer of the year in 1981, was reportedly the man who advised the Sri Lankan great to start bowling his famous "Doosra" delivery.
"Bruce was a significant figure in Australian cricket, contributing in many ways on and off the field," said Cricket Australia chief executive Kevin Roberts after his death on Wednesday.
"As a player, it took him more than 10 years of persistence .

Former Australian Test spinner Bruce Yardley dies

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern on Thursday welcomed Facebook's move to curb support for white nationalism on its platforms but said more needed to be done in the wake of the Christchurch mosque attacks.
The social media giant has unveiled tougher guidelines on hate speech for Facebook and Instagram, ruling that white nationalism and white separatism are both linked to organised hate groups and will be banned.
When making the announcement, the California-based company did not specifically reference the March 15 Christchurch atrocity that claimed 50 lives when a self-avowed white supremacist targeting Muslims opened fire in two mosques.
But Ardern made it clear she believed it was a direct response to the criticism that has since been levelled at Facebook, which the accused gunman used to livestream the attack.
"Arguably these categories should always have fallen within (Facebook's) community guidelines on hate speech," she told reporters.
"But it's positive that ...

AFP

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