Venezuela's Supreme Tribunal of Justice barred self-declared president Juan Guaido from leaving the country and froze his bank accounts Tuesday, as leader Nicolas Maduro seeks to neutralize the American-backed opposition chief.
The 35-year-old head of the National Assembly legislature "is prohibited from leaving the country until the end of the (preliminary) investigation" for having "caused harm to peace in the republic," high court president Maikel Moreno said.
The court is stacked with Maduro loyalists.
The move came after the State Department revealed that Guaido -- the National Assembly head and self-proclaimed interim president -- has been handed control of Venezuela's US bank accounts.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo signed off on the order last week, which was then followed on Monday by US sanctions targeting Venezuela's state oil giant PDVSA, the cash-strapped government's main source of hard currency.
"This certification will help Venezuela's legitimate government ...

Venezuela bars self-declared president Guaido from leaving country

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Foreign ministers from around the world will meet next week in Washington to coordinate the fight against the Islamic State movement after President Donald Trump's controversial decision to pull out of Syria, the State Department said.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will host a day of meetings on February 6 of the 79-member Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, which the United States assembled in 2014 as the extremists seized vast stretches of Syria and Iraq.
"The United States is determined to prevent a resurgence of ISIS in Syria and Iraq after the withdrawal of US forces from Syria takes place, and remains committed to working with the Global Coalition to continue to destroy ISIS remnants and thwart its global ambitions," the State Department said in a statement on Tuesday.
"As ISIS is defeated on the battlefield, the coalition will continue its stabilization efforts to facilitate the safe and voluntary return home of those who have been displaced by the violence."
Trump, a ...

Foreign ministers to meet in US on IS amid Syria pullout

A grenade attack on a mosque in the troubled southern Philippines killed two people early Wednesday, authorities said, just days after a deadly Catholic cathedral bombing and a vote backing Muslim self-rule.
"A grenade was lobbed inside a mosque killing two persons and wounding another four," regional military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Gerry Besana told AFP of the attack in Zamboanga City.
The victims were sleeping inside the mosque at the time of the attack on the insurgency-plagued island of Mindanao, which is home to the Philippines' Muslim minority.
The blast comes as the country was on high alert after a cathedral bombing that killed 21 people at Sunday mass on the remote, Muslim-majority island of Jolo.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the cathedral blast.
Philippine authorities initially said it was not a suicide attack, but on Tuesday President Rodrigo Duterte contradicted them saying one of the bombers had blown himself up outside the cathedral.
Besana ...

Grenade attack kills two at southern Philippines mosque

Apple said Tuesday that profits held steady in the most recent quarter, with revenue growth in music, movies, apps and other services offsetting slumping iPhone sales, sparking a rally in shares of the California tech giant.
Profit in the final quarter of last year was USD 20 billion, a dip of less than one per cent, on revenue of USD 84.3 billion even as money from iPhone sales was down 15 per cent from the same period in 2017.
The full extent of the slump in iPhone sales was not clear because Apple for the first time stopped reporting unit sales for its iconic smartphones.
Overall revenue for Apple dipped nearly five per cent from a year ago, in line with the lowered guidance earlier this month that stunned the market and hammered shares of the iPhone maker.
"While it was disappointing to miss our revenue guidance, we manage Apple for the long term, and this quarter's results demonstrate that the underlying strength of our business runs deep and wide," chief executive Tim Cook said .

Apple profit stable as service gains offset iPhone slump

The extradition hearing for a top Huawei executive at the center of a diplomatic row between Ottawa and Beijing was pushed back to March, after the US unveiled sweeping charges against her and the Chinese tech giant.
Meng Wanzhou, Huawei's chief financial officer and the daughter of its founder, was indicted along with Huawei and two affiliates in a US case related to alleged Iran sanctions violations that has inflamed tensions with China.
She was arrested at Washington's request on December 1 as she changed planes in Vancouver, and was later released on bail pending a decision on extradition to the US.
In Meng's first court appearance on Tuesday since being released, the judge moved the start of her extradition hearing to March 6, a month later than previously scheduled, in order to allow the defense time to review the evidence in the case.
Extradition cases can take months or years, noted David Lametti, Canada's new attorney general.
"By the time all the individual's rights are ...

Huawei exec's extradition hearing pushed to March

The pound tumbled against the dollar and euro on Tuesday after the British parliament rejected a proposal to delay Brexit.
On a mixed day for global stocks, the trajectory of Britain's departure from the European Union was as murky as ever after a series of votes in parliament that included a rejection of a proposal to order the Prime Minister Theresa May to delay the exit if no new deal with the EU emerged by February 26.
Parliament then went on to vote 317 to 301 in favour of the amendment asking May to replace the deal's so-called backstop provision preventing a hard border with Ireland -- a proposal immediately rejected by an EU spokesman.
Near 2130 GMT, the pound was at USD 1.3069, down 0.7 per cent compared with Monday night and a similar amount against the euro.
Boris Schlossberg, a foreign exchange analyst at BK Asset Management, said the EU and British parliament were in a "game of chicken" over terms to avoid a so-called "hard Brexit," where Britain exits the bloc without a .

Pound falls as 'hard' Brexit seen as more likely

The Brexit withdrawal deal between Britain and the other 27 EU members is "not open for renegotiation", a spokesman for EU leader Donald Tusk said Tuesday.
Tusk, whose European Council represents EU leaders, had spoken with them after Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May demanded changes to the accord following a vote in parliament.
"We continue to urge the UK Government to clarify its intentions with respect to the next steps as soon as possible," the spokesman said.

Brexit deal not open to renegotiation: EU spokesman

British MPs on Tuesday voted in favour of an amendment excluding a "no-deal" Brexit, although the result is not binding on Prime Minister Theresa May.
MPs voted 318 to 310 in favour of the amendment, undermining the government's argument that Britain would be willing to crash out of the European Union without an agreement.

UK MPs pass non-binding vote against 'no-deal' Brexit

Thousands more troops will head to the US-Mexico border, Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said, as part of a controversial mission to enhance security along the frontier.
Currently, about 2,350 active-duty troops are working along the border, where they are helping border patrol agents by providing logistical support and installing concertina-wire fencing.
They were deployed under an order President Donald Trump gave before midterm elections in November as "caravans" of Central American migrants made their way to the border to seek asylum from violence and poverty in their own countries.
At a Pentagon press conference Tuesday, Shanahan said "several thousand" additional troops would deploy on the border mission, which was supposed to wrap up January 31 but has been extended through September.
The Department of Homeland Security has asked for additional help putting up fencing and with "expanded surveillance," Shanahan said.
Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jamie Davis ...

'Several thousand' more US troops to go to southern border: Pentagon

US President Donald Trump's national security advisor warned Tuesday of "serious consequences" if any harm comes to Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido.
"Let me reiterate -- there will be serious consequences for those who attempt to subvert democracy and harm Guaido," Trump advisor John Bolton tweeted.
Washington has recognised Guaido as the South American country's acting president and says that strongman President Nicolas Maduro should leave power.
Bolton's warning followed a request by the Maduro government's attorney general for the Supreme Court to bar Guaido from leaving the country and to freeze his assets.
That followed the United States' decision to hand control of Venezuela's US bank accounts to Guaido, barring Maduro from accessing the funds.
Guaido said on Monday that the US maneuver would stop Maduro from emptying the "coffers" if he is removed from office.

White House warns against 'harm' to Venezuela's Guaido

French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday the Brexit deal is the "best agreement possible and is not renegotiable", as Britain's premier pushed to reopen talks with Brussels.
Macron's comments during a summit in Cyprus came as Prime Minister Theresa May appealed to British lawmakers to give her a mandate to renegotiate, after parliament rejected an accord reached with the European Union.
Macron urged the British government to "promptly" lay out to EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier "the next steps that will prevent an exit without an agreement, which nobody wants but for which we must all prepare ourselves".
With the deadline for Britain's divorce from the bloc just two months away, Brussels has insisted it will not budge on the December deal, which the House of Commons overwhelming rejected on January 15.
May's massive defeat heightened fears that Britain could leave the EU on March 29 with no new arrangements in place, prompting economic chaos on both sides of the English ...

Brexit deal 'best possible' and 'not renegotiable': Macron

Five people are dead and about 130 missing off the coast of Djibouti after two boats carrying migrants capsized, the UN migration agency said on Tuesday.
The incident occurred about 30 minutes after the overloaded boats set off in heavy seas from Godoria on the Horn of Africa nation's northeast coastline, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).
"After being alerted by local residents, a team of gendarmerie gathered this afternoon near the reported site of the disaster and discovered two survivors as well as the remains of three women and two men," IOM said in a statement.
One survivor estimated there were 130 people on his boat, but wasn't able to say the number of passengers on the other vessel.
"The coast guard was also alerted and launched search and rescue operations. Those operations are still underway with two patrol boats," said the statement.
Located across the Bab el-Mandeb strait from war-torn Yemen and next to volatile Somalia and Ethiopia, Djibouti 

Five dead, 130 missing as 2 migrant boats sink off Djibouti: IOM

French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday the Brexit deal is the "best agreement possible and is not renegotiable", as Britain's premier pushed to reopen talks with Brussels.
Macron's comments during a summit in Cyprus came as Prime Minister Theresa May appealed to British lawmakers to give her a mandate to renegotiate after parliament rejected the accord reached with the European Union.

Brexit deal is 'best possible' and 'not renegotiable': Macron

Two Malian soldiers were killed and 10 wounded Tuesday in a suspected jihadist attack in the country's troubled north, the defence ministry said.
A post in Tarkint, near the city of Gao "was the object of a sophisticated attack", a statement said.
A 14,000-strong UN military and police mission has been deployed in Mali since 2013 to help counter jihadist activity.
In his last quarterly report on Mali, UN chief Antonio Guterres said more than half of the attacks by armed groups targeted Malian security forces, especially in the central Mopti region and Timbuktu and Gao in the north.
Mali, one of the world's poorest countries, has struggled to return to stability since extremists linked to Al-Qaeda took control of the north in 2012, prompting French military intervention.
The jihadists were routed from key desert towns such as Timbuktu and Gao, but large stretches of the landlocked Sahel state remain out of government control.
A peace deal between the government and armed groups was ...

Two Malian soldiers killed, 10 injured in attack: Army

As President Nicolas Maduro's rule hangs in the balance in Venezuela, Russia risks losing its long-cultivated main ally in Latin America and billions invested in oil and arms contracts.
Russian President Vladimir Putin spent years building up an alliance with Venezuela's late populist leader Hugo Chavez and his successor Maduro, often playing host to the two in Moscow.
As pressure has built on Maduro from self-proclaimed acting president Juan Guaido and his Western allies, Russia has stood firm behind its man in Caracas. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday vowed Moscow would "do everything" to protect its ally.
Behind this support, analysts say, is an understanding that if it loses Venezuela, Moscow will have few allies to speak of in Latin America.
"Venezuela is practically the last thing that Vladimir Putin has left in Latin America," said Vladimir Rouvinski, a Russian international relations specialist at Colombia's Icesi University.
Moscow likes to present itself as an ...

In Venezuela, Russia risks losing an ally and billions

Rescuers were searching for nine copper miners reported missing Tuesday after a tremor at the Rudna mine in south-west Poland, its operator KGHM said.
"There were 32 people in the danger zone, currently nine are missing. Seven workers were taken to hospital for tests," the company said on Twitter.
Five miners had been found since KGHM earlier put the number of missing at 14, and were being brought to the surface, company spokeswoman Lidia Marcinkowska-Bartkowiak told broadcaster TVN24.
KGHM said the tremor occurred around lunchtime some 770 metres (2,526 feet) underground.
According to the US Geological Survey, a magnitude 4.1 quake struck near the southwestern village of Grebocice.
Rudna is Europe's largest copper mine and one of the biggest in the world. It has 11 operating shafts, the deepest of which is 1,25 kilometres (0.77 miles) deep.
In late 2016, a quake at the mine killed eight miners.

Nine copper miners missing after quake hits Poland

Longtime Donald Trump advisor Roger Stone pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to charges stemming from the ongoing investigation into whether the US president's campaign colluded with Russia in the 2016 election.
Stone, 66, is charged with lying to Congress, witness tampering and obstruction in relation to his contacts with WikiLeaks, whose publication of embarrassing Russian-hacked communications from Democrat Hillary Clinton's campaign gave a boost to Trump.
Stone, a veteran Republican consultant who prides himself on his reputation as a political dirty trickster, entered a not guilty plea to the seven charges during a brief appearance in federal court in Washington.
He did not speak to reporters following the arraignment and is to appear in court again on Friday.
Following his arrest last week, he said he was the victim of a "politically-motivated investigation" and said he would not testify against Trump because he "would have to bear false witness against him."
Stone is the sixth ...

Trump confidant Roger Stone, indicted by Mueller, pleads not guilty

Methane emissions from coal mining in China have continued to rise despite tough legislation and ambitious government targets, a new study based on satellite data said Wednesday.
The news is likely to fuel concerns that major emitters like China are failing to meet targets intended to prevent nightmare climate change scenarios.
"China's methane regulations have not had a detectable impact on the country's methane emissions," the study's first author Scot Miller told AFP.
"China has been able to 'talk the talk' so to speak in terms of setting emissions reduction policies, but we found that the country has not yet been able to 'walk the walk'," added Miller, assistant professor of environmental health and engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
The research used data gathered by a Japanese satellite that monitors greenhouse gases, and looked at measurements from 2010-2015, the most recent information available when the study began two years ago.
It found that emissions continued to ...

China failing to curb methane emissions, study finds

French MPs on Tuesday began debating a controversial anti-rioting bill which aims to crack down on the sort of street violence that has marred "yellow vest" anti-government protests since November.
The bill notably aims to ban individuals identified as habitual hooligans from taking part in demonstrations, and force protesters involved in acts of violence to pay for the damage.
Some MPs also want more severe penalties for organisers of unauthorised demonstrations as well as people who cover their faces during violent protests.
But the bill has drawn fire -- even within President Emmanuel Macron's own centrist party -- from critics who say the proposals represent a threat to civil liberties.
Announcing the draft law earlier this month, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said some of the anti-Macron "yellow vest" protests had led to unacceptable violence.
"In many towns in France, demonstrations have been peaceful -- but we cannot accept some people taking advantage of these demonstrations 

France debates riot bill after 'yellow vest' unrest

The Islamic State group maintains a force of thousands of fighters who pose a potent threat in the Middle East as its leaders continue to encourage attacks on the West, a top US intelligence official warned Tuesday.
Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats added that the jihadists, who once held vast swaths of territory in Syria and Iraq but are now reduced to a shrinking enclave, would exploit any reduction in counter-terror pressure to stage a comeback.
President Donald Trump last month announced he was ordering a full withdrawal of the 2,000 US troops from Syria. Senior US officials have since given contradictory statements about US intentions, but the Pentagon said it had begun the withdrawal, although how long it would take remained uncertain.
"ISIS still commands thousands of fighters in Iraq and Syria, and it maintains eight branches, more than a dozen networks, and thousands of dispersed supporters around the world, despite significant leadership and territorial losses," ...

IS still has 'thousands' of fighters, seeking comeback: US intel chief

Qatar punished unwelcoming hosts United Arab Emirates 4-0 in a politically charged clash marred by disgraceful crowd behaviour on Tuesday to reach their first Asian Cup final.
The Qataris, whose national anthem was drowned by boos before the game, face Japan in Friday's final after goals from Boualem Khoukhi, Almoez Ali, Hasan Al-Haydos and Hamid Ismaeil sealed victory for the 2022 World Cup hosts amid ugly scenes in Abu Dhabi.
As they celebrated victory and a record sixth clean sheet at a single Asian Cup, shoes were thrown at them and plastic bottles rained down from angry local fans -- as they had for every Qatar goal, midfielder Salem Al-Hajri hit on the head after their third.
A clash bristling with simmering regional tension over the long-standing Gulf blockade of Qatar quickly burst into life as a meaty tackle from Bandar Al-Ahbabi on Akram Afif put the Qatari midfielder up in the air.
But Qatar drew first blood after 21 minutes when Khoukhi's shot squirted under UAE goalkeeper 

AFP

AFP

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