Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May vowed Thursday that she would reach a deal to ensure Britain leaves the European Union on schedule on March 29, after talks with EU leaders.
"I'm going to deliver Brexit, I'm going to deliver it on time. I'll be negotiating hard in the coming days to do just that," May told reporters in Brussels.

May vows to 'deliver Brexit on time' after EU talks

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Ukrainian lawmakers on Thursday voted to ban Russians from monitoring a forthcoming presidential election, as tensions between the neighbours flare before the poll.
Kiev, fighting a Moscow-backed insurgency in eastern Ukraine, has said it suspects Russia of planning to interfere in the election.
Lawmakers also voted to allocate around USD350 million to the intelligence services to counter the perceived threat.
Thursday's measure would block Russian nationals from taking part in international election-monitoring missions, and would also apply to parliamentary and local votes.
The proposal has been condemned by Moscow and Kiev's Western allies alike.
Kurt Volker, the US special representative in Ukraine, said Russians should take part in monitoring as long as they were overseen by international organisations.
If they do not take part, this allows "people to question election," Volker wrote on Twitter ahead of the vote.
"No games. Ukraine needs to have confidence in its own democratic ...

Ukraine bans Russians from monitoring elections

A Danish court on Thursday sentenced a mother to four years in jail for aggravated abuse for having unnecessarily drawn a half-litre (one pint) of blood from her son weekly for five years.
A trained nurse, the 36-year-old woman began drawing her son's blood when he was 11 months old, averaging about once a week for the next five years.
The mother said she would not appeal the verdict handed down by the district court in the western town of Herning.
"It's not a decision that I took consciously. I don't know when I started doing what I had no right to do. It came gradually. I threw the blood down the toilet and put the syringes in the garbage," she told the court.
The boy, today aged seven and who lives with his father, suffered an intestinal illness shortly after birth but as the years went by doctors could not explain why he had so little blood in his system.
To remedy the situation, doctors gave him 110 blood transfusions over the years.
They eventually grew suspicious of the mother, 

Danish nurse jailed for drawing son's blood for years

UN agencies are ready to send aid to Venezuela as requested by opposition leader Juan Guaido, who more than 40 nations recognise as interim president, but they can only act with authorisation from the Caracas government, a spokesman said on Thursday.
Backed by the United States, European and Latin American allies, Guaido is challenging President Nicolas Maduro for the leadership of the oil-wealthy nation to end a crisis that has caused medicine and food shortages and forced more than 2.3 million Venezuelans to flee since 2015.
Some UN agencies are on the ground like UNICEF and the Pan American Health Organisation, part of the WHO, operating programmes in development and prevention, which they plan to expand.
But the World Food Programme, which provides emergency aid to countries in crisis and conflict is not operating in Venezuela at the moment.  "There is an urgent need for more humanitarian assistance," a UN spokesman in Geneva said.
Venezuela's crisis has deepened since last month .

UN says ready to send aid if Caracas govt approves

The Bank of England on Thursday slashed its forecast for UK growth this year to 1.2 per cent from 1.7 per cent, blaming the downgrade on a global economic slowdown and "the fog of Brexit".
"UK economic growth slowed in late 2018 and appears to have weakened further in early 2019," the BoE said after keeping its main interest rate at 0.75 per cent.
"This slowdown mainly reflects softer activity abroad and the greater effects from Brexit uncertainties at home," it added.
Bank of England governor Mark Carney warned that Britain was "not prepared" for a no-deal Brexit.
"Although many companies are stepping up their contingency planning, the economy as a whole is still not yet prepared for a no-deal no-transition exit," Carney told a press conference to elaborate on the BoE's latest forecasts.
"The fog of Brexit is causing short term volatility in the economic data and more fundamentally it is creating a series of tensions in the economy. Tensions for business," he added.
The European ...

Bank of England slashes UK growth outlook over 'fog of Brexit'

A British-made rover that will set off for Mars next year in search for signs of life was named Thursday after DNA pioneer Rosalind Franklin.
UK astronaut Tim Peake revealed the name of the first European scavenger of the Red Planet at the Airbus factory just north of London where it was built.
Cambridge-educated Franklin "helped us understand life on Earth and now her namesake will do the same on Mars," UK Science Minister Chris Skidmore said at the unveiling.
The brilliant, but long-unrecognised, 20th century British scientist's name was selected with the help of a public competition in which nearly 36,000 took part.
"Just as Rosalind Franklin overcame many obstacles during her career, I hope 'Rosalind the Rover' will successfully persevere in this exciting adventure, inspiring generations of female scientists and engineers to come," said Skidmore.
Franklin's work was used to formulate the seminal 1953 hypothesis about the structure of DNA -- the molecule containing an organism's ...

New Mars rover named after DNA pioneer Rosalind Franklin

Britain and the EU agreed Thursday to hold more talks to try to avoid a no-deal Brexit, after a "robust" meeting between Prime Minister Theresa May and European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker.
A joint statement issued after the talks in Brussels said Juncker had again warned that  November's withdrawal agreement could not be renegotiated -- after May came hoping to persuade Brussels to agree on the need to change the so-called "backstop" clause for the Irish border.
But Juncker "expressed his openness to add wording" to a parallel political declaration laying out ambitions for future EU-UK ties if London wants to seek a "more ambitious" closer relationship after Brexit.
In a sharp reminder of the urgency of finding a solution before Brexit day on March 29, Bank of England governor Mark Carney warned that Britain's economy was "not yet prepared" for a no-deal departure.
May came hoping to change the backstop so that Britain cannot be "trapped" in the bloc against its will -- and .

May, Juncker hold 'robust' Brexit meet, agree new talks

BB&T and SunTrust announced Thursday they are to merge in a USD66 billion deal that will create the sixth largest bank in the United States.
The companies said in a statement that both boards had approved the all-stock tie-up, which gives the new organisation USD442 billion in assets, USD301 billion in loans, and USD324 billion in deposits serving more than 10 million households in the United States.
The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2019 subject to "customary regulatory approvals" as well as endorsement by the shareholders of each company.
The merger comes with Democrats newly in control of the powerful House of Representatives committee overseeing banking. Financial services committee chairwoman Maxine Waters has warned that the days of lax oversight are over.
President Donald Trump's administration has sought to cut regulations in a variety of sectors. Congress has eased scrutiny of smaller banks, but those with more than USD250 billion in assets still face ...

US banks BB&T and SunTrust announce USD66 bn merger

France's foreign ministry said Thursday it had recalled its ambassador to Rome for consultations after a series of "provocations" by Italy's populist government.
"For several months France has been the subject of repeated accusations, unfounded attacks and outlandish claims," the ministry said in a statement, calling them "unprecedented" since the end of World War II.
Tensions between Paris and Rome have escalated since June when the anti-establishment Five Star Movement and far-right League party came to power in Italy in a coalition government.
Senior officials in the coalition have done away with diplomatic niceties in their criticism of President Emmanuel Macron, who has made no secret of his goal to combat populist movements among EU members.
The latest spat erupted on Tuesday after Italy's deputy prime minister and Five Star chief Luigi Di Maio said he had met with "yellow vest" anti-government protesters outside Paris.
He said the aim was to prepare a common front for European .

France recalls Italy envoy over 'unprecedented' criticism

South Africa's President Cyril Ramaphosa will on Thursday deliver his last state-of-the-nation address ahead of elections in May with his party smarting from corruption allegations.
In his address to parliament last year, two days after Jacob Zuma resigned from office, Ramaphosa vowed a "new dawn", promising economic revival and to fight endemic corruption, earning him plaudits even from the opposition benches.
But a year later, growth is tepid and unemployment remains stubbornly high at more than 27 percent while embarrassing details have emerged of corruption within the government and among ANC ruling party officials.
An ongoing commission into graft has heard blow-by-blow details of how bribes were paid to several government and party officials, including senior cabinet ministers serving in Ramaphosa's government.
Mineral resources minister Gwede Mantashe and environment minister Nomvula Mokonyane are some of the top party guns whose names have been linked to corruption by ...

S Africa's Ramaphosa to give policy speech amid graft allegations

West Indies recalled veteran batsman Chris Gayle on Thursday for the first two one-day internationals against England in preparation for this year's World Cup.
The hard-hitting, 39-year-old Gayle last played for West Indies during a home series against Bangladesh last July, and could renew an explosive opening partnership alongside Evin Lewis.
Lewis and Gayle both missed the recent ODI series in India and Bangladesh but have been included as part of a 14-man squad that saw left-handed batsman Nicholas Pooran called up for the first time.
West Indies and England will contest five one-dayers following the conclusion of the Test series, in which the hosts hold an unassailable 2-0 lead ahead of the finale in St Lucia on Saturday.
"As we continue our Cricket World Cup preparations, the upcoming series against the top ranked ODI side is a great opportunity for us to gauge where we are as a team," said West Indies chairman of selectors Courtney Browne.
"This allows us to identify any areas ..

Gayle returns to Windies squad for England ODIs

Batting all-rounder Wiaan Mulder has been included in South Africa's squad for two Test matches against Sri Lanka, starting in Durban.
Mulder, 20, was added to the 13-man squad which beat Pakistan in all three Tests in a home series earlier this season.
"Wiaan has been part of our strategic thinking in developing a batting all-rounder for the Test squad for some time," said selection convener Linda Zondi in announcing the squad on Thursday.
Mulder was part of the Test squad for a series against Australia last season but did not make the starting eleven. He suffered an ankle injury during a one-day international against Zimbabwe last September but made a successful return to first-class cricket for the Lions franchise last month.
A notable omission is fast bowler Lungi Ngidi, who is recovering from a knee injury sustained during a limited overs tour of Australia in November.
Ngidi has been training with the South African limited overs squads in recent weeks but Zondi said the selectors 

All-rounder Mulder added to South Africa Test squad

Investigators recovered a body underwater from the wreckage of a plane carrying Argentine footballer Emiliano Sala in the Channel and transported it to the British mainland on Thursday for identification.
Britain's Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) said that bad weather meant they were unable to recover the plane and as a result it was closing down the operation.
The light aircraft was carrying the 28-year-old footballer to his new Premier League team Cardiff City when it disappeared near the British island of Guernsey on January 21, along with 59-year-old pilot David Ibbotson.
Sala's disappearance prompted an outpouring of grief across the footballing world, including at his former club Nantes in France where the plane was flying from.
After search operations were suspended, a shipwreck hunter hired by Sala's family with funds donated by football stars such as Lionel Messi found the wreckage on Sunday.
The body was taken to Portland Harbour in southern England on board the ...

Body from wreckage of Sala's plane arrives in Britain

A German auction house on Thursday scrapped the planned sale of 26 artworks attributed to Adolf Hitler, after doubts emerged about their authenticity just days before they were due to go under the hammer.
Five other paintings signed "A. Hitler", all of them watercolours, will still be auctioned off on Saturday as scheduled, according to the Weidler auction house in the southern city of Nuremberg.
A vase, wicker armchair and table cloth presumed to have belonged to the late Nazi dictator also remain on offer in what Weidler has billed a "special auction".
"Unfortunately we must inform you that some of the pictures have been dropped because of a review," the auction house said in a statement sent to the Spiegel news weekly.
The move came after prosecutors on Wednesday collected 63 artworks from the Weidler premises bearing the signature "A.H." or "A. Hitler", over suspicions that the works were not created by Hitler himself.
Twenty-six of the works had been advertised for Saturday's ...

German auction house pulls 26 'Hitler paintings' on forgery fears

South African police said Thursday that five people had died after trespassing into a disused mine, with local media reporting the deaths were caused by a gas explosion.
At least 20 people are believed to be still trapped underground at the Gloria coal mine near the town of Middelburg in the eastern province of Mpumalanga after entering the shafts to try to steal cables.
"So far we have five killed," police spokesman Leonard Hlathi told AFP, saying he had no number of those trapped.
State broadcaster SABC said experts had launched a rescue operation to search for more than 20 people trapped underground.
It added that the group went underground to steal copper cables in the mine, which has been closed for several months.
Police said the group went into the mine between Sunday and Wednesday, and that rescue efforts were being hampered by unsafe conditions and a lack of ventilation.
The body of one person who died was taken out on Wednesday and the other four bodies were recovered on ...

Five killed in S.Africa coal mine blast, some trapped

Britain's economy is "not yet prepared" for a disorderly no-deal departure from the European Union next month, Bank of England governor Mark Carney warned Thursday.
"Although many companies are stepping up their contingency planning, the economy as a whole is still not yet prepared for a no-deal no-transition exit," Carney said after the central bank slashed its economic growth forecasts.

UK economy 'not prepared' for no-deal Brexit: BoE chief

A Norwegian Air Shuttle plane en route to the French city of Nice returned to Stockholm safely after receiving a bomb threat shortly after take-off on Thursday, the airline said.
"Norwegian can confirm that a bomb threat was issued against flight DY4321 from Arlanda to Nice," it said in a statement, providing no other details.
Stockholm police spokeswoman Towe Hagg told AFP that local and border police as well as tactical units were "working actively at Arlanda to gather information, follow up and take necessary measures."
A traveller at Arlanda airport, Pertti Arnberg, told daily Expressen the plane was parked at the far end of the runway, surrounded by a swarm of emergency vehicles with blue lights flashing.
The plane had taken off at 10:09 am (0909 GMT) and landed back at the airport around 11:15 am.
Sweden's Joint Rescue Coordination Centre for sea and air rescues, which was informed of the bomb threat about 30 minutes into the flight, said in a statement 169 passengers were on ...

Norwegian flight returns to Stockholm after bomb threat

Several parties to the Central African Republic's peace accord have yet to sign the much-trumpeted deal, a minister said on Thursday.
The accord was signed in the capital Bangui on Wednesday by militia leaders and President Faustin-Archange Touadera, but its contents have not been disclosed.
"You cannot publish a document until everyone has signed," government spokesman and communications minister Ange Maxime Kazagui told AFP on Thursday.
"There are still three signatures" needed, he said, without identifying the individuals or their affiliation.
Those signatures could be made during the upcoming summit of the African Union (AU), taking place in Addis Ababa on February 10-11, he said.
If so, the accord, named the Khartoum Agreement after the city where it was brokered, will be published afterwards, he said.
The accord was reached in the Sudanese capital at the weekend by the CAR government and 14 armed groups.
The deal is the eighth attempt in nearly six years to forge peace in the ...

Central African peace deal still not fully signed: Minister

European Union leader Jean-Claude Juncker and Prime Minister Theresa May agreed Thursday to hold further talks on Britain's withdrawal from the bloc, after what they described as a "robust" meeting.
EU negotiator Michel Barnier will meet Britain's Brexit Minister Stephen Barclay on Monday in Strasbourg and May and Juncker themselves will get back together before the end of February, a spokesman said.
In a joint statement issued after May met Juncker at EU headquarters in Brussels, the pair confirmed that the European Commission president had warned the British premier that the Brexit withdrawal deal cannot be renegotiated.
But he "expressed his openness to add wording" to a parallel political declaration laying out ambitions for future EU-UK ties if London wants to seek a "more ambitious" closer relationship after Brexit.
May, however, urged that the withdrawal agreement itself be changed, and reminded Juncker that the British parliament had mandated her to seek "a legally binding ...

Britain and EU agree to hold further Brexit talks

Billions of tonnes of meltwater flowing into the world's oceans from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets could boost extreme weather and destabilise regional climate within a matter of decades, researchers said Wednesday.
These melting giants, especially the one atop Greenland, are poised to further weaken the ocean currents that move cold water south along the Atlantic Ocean floor while pushing tropical waters northward closer to the surface, they reported in the journal Nature.
Known as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), this liquid conveyor belt plays a crucial role in Earth's climate system and helps ensures the relative warmth of the Northern Hemisphere.
"According to our models, this meltwater will cause significant disruptions to ocean currents and change levels of warming around the world," said lead author Nicholas Golledge, an associate professor at the Antarctic Research Centre of New Zealand's Victoria University of Wellington.
The Antarctic ice ...

Melting ice sheets may cause 'climate chaos': Study

The French foreign ministry on Wednesday denounced as "unacceptable" a meeting between Italy's Deputy Prime Minister Luigi Di Maio and France's "yellow vest" anti-government protesters.
"This new provocation is unacceptable between neighbouring countries and partners at the heart of the European Union," a ministry spokesman said in a statement a day after Di Maio met the protesters on French soil.
"Mr Di Maio, who has governmental responsibilities, should ensure that he does not impair with its repeated interferences our bilateral relations, in the interest of both France and Italy," the spokesman said.
Di Maio, head of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S), announced Tuesday he had met near Paris with yellow vest leader Christophe Chalencon and candidates on a yellow vest list for European Parliament elections in May, led by Ingrid Levavasseur.
He invited them and other yellow vests to a follow-up meeting in Rome, claiming on Twitter that "the wind of change has crossed the 

AFP

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