Former US president George W. Bush on Monday called immigration a "blessing and a strength," as lawmakers  tussled with Donald Trump over border wall funding.
The Republican, who has largely stayed out of the spotlight after leaving office in 2009, did not explicitly criticize Trump or the border wall policy.
Speaking at a naturalization ceremony for 51 new American citizens at the George W Bush Presidential Center in Dallas, Texas, the nation's 43th president called for reform of "outdated and ineffective" immigration laws.
He also emphasized: "Borders are not arbitrary and they need to be respected."
"Amid all the complications of policy, may we never forget that immigration is a blessing and a strength," Bush said in prepared remarks.
"I hope those responsible in Washington can dial down the rhetoric, put politics aside and modernize our immigration laws soon." Bush's remarks came as Congress and the White House were gearing up for a court fight over Trump's declarations of an ...

Bush calls immigration 'blessing' and 'strength'

PTI Automatic

Dutch police on Monday arrested the suspect in a shooting on a tram in the city of Utrecht in which three people were killed, a police chief said.
"We have just been informed that the suspect has been arrested," Utrecht police chief Rob van Bree told a news conference.
Police had earlier said they were searching for Turkish-born suspect Gokmen Tanis, 37, and issued a picture of him.

Dutch police arrest Utrecht shooting suspect

The US Supreme Court on Monday took up a lower court's ruling that some Virginia districts were deliberately redrawn to diminish the impact of the African American vote -- an urgent issue as the eastern swing state prepares for legislative elections.
The state, whose population is nearly 20-percent black, underwent redistricting in 2011 by the House of Delegates, the lower house of the state legislature.
Residents mounted a legal challenge, arguing that the electoral map was drawn to concentrate African American voters in certain districts, in order to diminish their influence in other districts.
The stakes are important in a country where most blacks vote for Democrats, while whites tend to favour Republicans.
A lower court found in favour of the plaintiffs but the Supreme Court, the first time it took up the issue, found that the court's arguments were flawed and sent the case back.
In its new ruling, the lower court found that voters' skin colour had played a preponderant role in ..

Top US court considers case on racial redistricting

The Taliban have captured 58 Afghan border soldiers, the defence ministry said Monday, after days of fighting which saw dozens of troops briefly chased into neighbouring Turkmenistan in the latest blow to beleaguered security forces.
The ministry statement came after reports of days of fighting in Bala Marghab district of Badghis province, in northwestern Afghanistan near the border with Turkmenistan.
"Unfortunately, 58 BSS (border security soldiers) are captured by the enemies," a defence ministry tweet said Monday, adding "Search Ops will continue until we release them".
The ministry also said that 58 BSS had "returned home from Turkmenistan". A spokesman speaking in a video posted with the tweet said they were "back on duty", however.
Earlier this week Jamshid Shahabi, the Badghis provincial governor spokesman, said that some security forces had "tactically retreated" across the border into Turkmenistan.
He said the fighting had been going on for 10 days, with 13 security forces ...

Taliban capture 58 Afghan security forces: defence ministry

President Donald Trump on Monday gave possible 2020 presidential election rival Joe Biden a taste of what to expect if he does jump in the race, with a tweeted insult about his intelligence.
Biden, who was vice president under Barack Obama and is seen as potentially the most heavyweight Democrat, remains on the sidelines. However on Saturday he appeared to confirm his candidacy before correcting himself in mid-sentence, as if having made a slip of the tongue.
Trump, who delights in inventing mocking nicknames and poking fun at opponents, pounced.
"Joe Biden got tongue tied over the weekend when he was unable to properly deliver a very simple line about his decision to run for President," Trump tweeted. "Get used to it, another low I.Q. individual!" Biden's surprise slip -- or, as some speculated, crafty hint -- came during a speech in his home state of Delaware.
"I'm told I get criticized by the new left. I have the most progressive record of anybody running for the United...," he ...

Trump paints possible 2020 rival Biden as 'low IQ'

President Donald Trump on Monday complained that he is being blamed by journalists for the massacre of 50 people in attacks on two mosques in New Zealand.
"The Fake News Media is working overtime to blame me for the horrible attack in New Zealand," Trump told his more than 59 million followers on Twitter.
"They will have to work very hard to prove that one," he tweeted. "So Ridiculous!"
Trump appeared to be referring to criticism of his response to the attack, which was allegedly carried out by a 28-year-old white supremacist claiming to be resisting genocide against white people.
In a lengthy written rant, the alleged killer had referred to Trump as "a symbol of renewed white identity." Trump did on several occasions tweet and speak to condemn the "horrible" attack and offer any US assistance to New Zealand's authorities.
However, he courted controversy Friday when he played down the wider implications of the gunman's ideology, saying that violent white nationalism is not a growing ..

Trump complains he is being blamed for New Zealand attack

A shroud of black smoke covered the Islamic State group's last redoubt in eastern Syria on Monday as US-backed forces battled holdout jihadists after a night of shelling and heavy air strikes.
Even as it fought IS, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces also came under threat from Damascus, which has sworn to retake the third of the country the SDF controls.
The SDF has been closing in on IS fighters holed up in a small sliver of territory in the eastern village of Baghouz since January.
A cluster of rudimentary tents and vehicles is all that remains of the once-sprawling "caliphate" declared across large swaths of Syria and neighbouring Iraq in 2014.
Tens of thousands of men, women and children have poured out of the small farming village in recent weeks, slowing down an SDF offensive aimed at crushing the last vestige of the jihadist proto-state.
Backed by air strikes by the US-led coalition, the SDF pummelled the IS pocket with shelling on Sunday night, pushing deeper into the ...

Assault on IS jihadist redoubt in Syria grinds on

Barcelona forward Luis Suarez has been ruled out of playing in the China Cup with Uruguay after spraining his ankle for his club at the weekend.
Suarez, 32, is expected to miss between 10 and 15 days after limping off late in Sunday's 4-1 win at Real Betis in La Liga.
"He will... undertake his recovery with the FC Barcelona medical team, having been withdrawn from the Uruguayan national team squad," the club said in a statement Monday.
Suarez's absence adds to that of Edinson Cavani for Uruguay after the Paris Saint-Germain striker failed to shake off a thigh injury for the trip to China.
Oscar Tabarez's squad travel to Nanning to take on take on Uzbekistan on March 21, with the winner meeting China or Thailand in the final four days later.
Suarez scored his 18th league goal of the season at Betis to draw level with Diego Forlan for the most goals scored by a Uruguayan in Spain's top flight with 128.

Injured Suarez to miss China Cup for Uruguay

The carnage unleashed in Christchurch by a white supremacist has highlighted what analysts say is the global problem of a far-right threat that frequently flies beneath the intelligence radar.
Like other extremist groups, racist ideologues have leveraged the power and reach of the internet to disseminate violent ideas, and give advice on the logistics of terror.
And while not a well-defined group with a core leadership, they represent a "blind spot" for security services, says Amarnath Amarasingam, a researcher at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue.
Bridging this gap -- instead of focusing primarily on Islamist militants -- needs to be a priority.
"We're able to -- in multiple sectors of government and policy... connect random knife attacks inspired by (the Islamic State group) to a global terrorist movement with some ease," Amarasingam wrote on Twitter after the Christchurch attack.
"But we struggle to do this with white nationalism, the alt right, etc. We need to quickly rethink ..

Christchurch attack 'shows blind spot on white nationalism'

Boeing said Monday that the flight stabilisation system under scrutiny following two deadly 737 MAX plane crashes, met all US regulations.
"The 737 MAX was certified in accordance with the identical Federal Aviation Administration requirements and processes that have governed certification of all previous new airplanes and derivatives," Boeing said Monday.
Boeing and regulators face increased examination over the stall prevention system, the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System or MCAS, which authorities have said was likely a factor in deadly crashes in Indonesia in October, while the crash in Ethiopia earlier this month showed similarities.
"The FAA considered the final configuration and operating parameters of MCAS during MAX certification, and concluded that it met all certification and regulatory requirements," Boeing added.
Since the Ethiopian crash, which claimed 157 lives, questions have been raised not only about Boeing, but also the FAA and its close relationship .

Boeing: 737 MAX certification followed US rules

Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi on Monday warned that the death toll from a cyclone that smashed into the country's central provinces last week could climb to more than a thousand.
"For the moment we have registered 84 deaths officially, but when we flew over the area ... this morning to understand what's going on, everything indicates that we could register more than 1,000 deaths," he said in a nationwide address.
He cited a body floating in the water as he flew over.
"This is a real humanitarian disaster," he said as he estimated that "more than 100,000 people are in danger".
Aerial photographs released by a Christian non-profit organisation Mission Aviation Fellowship, showed groups of people stuck on roof tops with flood waters up to window level.
Local authorities and humanitarian aid organisations have warned that the biggest threat now are floods as dams are full and rivers have burst their banks.
Nyusi said more than 400 people were rescued from flooded areas on Monday.

Mozambique president says cyclone death toll could exceed 1,000

Eleven people have died and more than 30,000 have been infected this year in a major outbreak of measles in Ukraine, the European country worst hit by the disease, Kiev said Monday.
The latest victim was a nine-year-old girl who died from complications Saturday after contracting the highly infectious disease, the health ministry said.
Some 30,500 people, including 17,000 children, have been infected so this year.
Authorities blame a combination of factors including shortages of vaccine and cuts to health services amid an economic slowdown exacerbated by a five-year conflict with Moscow-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
Anti-vaccination sentiment, often driven by online campaigns spreading false information about the alleged risks, also plays a role.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends a 95-percent vaccination rate to prevent mass hospitalisations and fatalities.
But in Ukraine, just 42 percent of one-year-olds had been vaccinated as of end-2016, according to the United 

Ukraine measles outbreak kills 11, infects 30,000

Tehran is preparing a lawsuit in Iran against US individuals involved with economic sanctions imposed by Washington, President Hassan Rouhani said Monday.
Rouhani said the presidency's legal affairs office as well as the justice and foreign ministers have been tasked with "drawing up a lawsuit against all those within America involved with designing and executing these sanctions".
The case would be lodged in a "competent court inside Iran," he said, quoted by state television.
Speaking after the last cabinet meeting of Iran's calendar year which ends on March 20, Rouhani condemned the sanctions as a "crime against humanity" that was hitting ordinary Iranians.
"The world should know that what America has done was not against the Iranian state, it was not against Iran's nuclear programme, it was against the wellbeing of the Iranian people," he said.
Rouhani said the sanctions targeted "the normal life of the people... the food supply... the medical supply of the people".
Last May, US ...

Tehran aims to sue US individuals over sanctions

Thirty-two people were killed and 91 others injured when a freight train carrying stowaways derailed in DR Congo overnight, officials said on Monday, updating an earlier toll of 24 dead.
Officials said there was a large number of children among the dead when the train veered off the tracks in central Kasai province.
Of the injured, 18 were in serious condition, a district official told AFP after arriving at the site on Monday.
The goods train veered off the tracks as it was crossing a bridge over a river about 140 kilometres (85 miles) northwest of the provincial capital Kananga.
"Many carriages fell into the water from the bridge over the Luembe River," a police official said late on Sunday at Bena Leka train station.
In such a vast country, stowaways tend to be very common.
"We are overwhelmed by the number of injured, we are working urgently," said Dr Jean Claude Tshimanga who works at the nearby Kakenge hospital when the initial toll stood at 24 dead and 31 injured.
It was the ...

Toll rises to 32 dead, 91 hurt as DR Congo train derails

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday signed controversial legislation that allows courts to fine and briefly jail people for showing disrespect for authorities and block media for publishing "fake news."
Putin signed off on the legislation against the advice of human rights activists, who warned the laws amounted to censorship and would be abused to crack down on freedom of speech.
The hugely controversial legislation on disrespecting authorities backs punishment for "offending state symbols" and stipulates hefty fines and jail terms of 15 days for repeat offenders.
Another law allows prosecutors to decide what amounts to "fake news" and gives a media watchdog the power to demand an outlet delete the information.
Websites that fail to comply would be blocked.
Fines could reach 1.5 million rubles (over USD 22,700) if the infraction leads to grave consequences like death or rioting.
Rights activists say that since first becoming president in 2000, Putin has gradually crushed ...

Putin signs laws against 'disrespecting' authorities, fake news

A UN report released Monday showed an increase in allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation by staff working in UN agencies and their partner organisations.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in an annual report however there was a drop in cases of rape and exploitation involving UN peacekeepers, down to 54 in 2018 from 62 the previous year and 104 in 2016.
Guterres has vowed to stamp out sexual abuse at the United Nations following a string of cases over recent years that have severely tarnished the image of UN peacekeepers and staff.
In all, there were 94 allegations against UN personnel in 2018 and 109 targeting staff of local organisations that work with the United Nations worldwide, up from 25 in 2017.
Eleven cases involve child rape, according to the report.
The World Food Programme received 19 allegations of sex abuse against its staff and partner organizations in 2018, compared to 26 over the previous 12 years.
The UN refugee agency UNHCR reported 34 allegations in .

UN reports increase in sex abuse allegations by UN staff

More than 2.2 million Thais turned out for early voting - almost 90 per cent of those registered - for Thailand's hotly anticipated national election, as the junta's main opposition predicted a cliffhanger to the first poll in eight years.
The 2011 election had a 55 per cent turnout for advanced voting, bringing about 1.4 million early to the ballot box.
But enthusiasm is soaring from a public starved of democratic processes since a 2014 coup ousted then-premier Yingluck Shinawatra - reflecting in the country's high number of early voters on Sunday.
"There was an 86.98 per cent turnout" among the 2.6 million early voters registered, Ittiporn Boonpracong, chairman of the Election Commission, said Monday.
Many voting centers had "more than 90 percent turnout", he added.  Since the junta's takeover in 2014, leader Prayut Chan-O-Cha has repeatedly postponed elections, seeding resentment among a public weary of crackdowns on dissent and political debate.
With election day looming, voter ...

Cliffhanger election looms as record number of Thais turn out for early voting

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Manchester United face Barcelona in the Champions League quarter-finals while Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur clash in an all-Premier League tie following Friday's draw.
The second leg will take Solskjaer back to the Camp Nou, where in 1999 the Norwegian won United the Champions League by coming off the bench to score a stoppage-time winner against Bayern Munich.
With City and United not allowed to play their home leg in the same week, United will entertain the leaders of La Liga at Old Trafford on April 10, with the return six days later.
Barcelona have not lost any of their last 30 home games in the competition, winning all but three of those.
United's bitter rivals Liverpool will meet FC Porto in the knockout rounds for the second year in succession, while Ajax's reward for eliminating the holders Real Madrid is a two-legged tie against Cristiano Ronaldo and Juventus.
English hopes are high that this could be their year in Europe after all four Premier .

Solskjaer in Camp Nou return as Man Utd draw Barcelona in Champions League

Arsenal will take on Napoli in the pick of the ties in the quarter-finals of this season's Europa League following Friday's draw, as Chelsea were paired with outsiders Slavia Prague.
Unai Emery's team will host Napoli at the Emirates Stadium in the first leg on April 11, with the return in Italy a week later.
It is a tough draw for the Gunners, with Carlo Ancelotti's Napoli currently second in Serie A -- they were eliminated from the Champions League in the group stage despite beating Liverpool at home and drawing twice with Paris Saint-Germain.
The winners of that tie will go on to a semi-final against the winners of an all-Spanish quarter-final between local rivals Valencia and Villarreal.
Both La Liga sides defeated Russian opposition in the last 16, with Valencia edging out Krasnodar and Villarreal, who are struggling domestically, knocking out Zenit Saint Petersburg.
Before winning the Europa League three years running with Sevilla between 2014 and 2016, Emery really came to ...

Arsenal draw Napoli in pick of Europa League quarter-finals

Manchester City will be banned by FIFA from making signings in the next two transfer windows after they broke rules related to the protection of youth players and third-party ownership, according to a report in the Sun newspaper.
The club are already being investigated by the Football Association and Premier League over allegations related to youth transfers and financial fair play rules.
European football's governing body UEFA is also looking into potential breaches of financial fair play, an investigation that could result in City being banned from the Champions League.
A transfer ban for the Premier League champions would come less than a month after Chelsea were hit with the same sanction for 29 breaches of article 19 of FIFA's regulations on the transfer and status of players.
The west London club have already lodged an appeal against that punishment but were told by world governing body FIFA last week that the sanction would not be frozen while the case is being reviewed, as ...

Man City face FIFA transfer ban: report

Zinedine Zidane has offered a way back for Gareth Bale, Isco and Marcelo at Real Madrid as he prepares for his first game against Celta Vigo on Saturday since being re-appointed as coach.
Bale, Isco and Marcelo have all endured difficult seasons under Julen Lopetegui and Santiago Solari, with Bale heavily criticised for his form while Isco and Marcelo have been dropped.
Zidane's return puts Bale's future in further doubt, given the pair's relationship became strained last season, before the Welshman said he was considering his future at the club.
"I am not going to talk about Bale's season, I only talk about the 11 games we have left," Zidane said on Friday.
"We all know the player that Gareth is. I am counting on him like everyone else, we are ready and Gareth is ready."
Whether Zidane's words come with a place for Bale in his first starting line-up at the Santiago Bernabeu remains to be seen, as Madrid look to rebuild following a turbulent few months.
Isco never started a single La .

AFP

AFP

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