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 

Qatar thrash UAE amid ugly scenes to reach Asian Cup final

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French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday held a surprise second meeting with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi after talks with the country's top clerics, ending a three-day visit aimed at boosting ties while raising human rights concerns.
Before travelling on to Cyprus for a summit of southern EU countries, Macron and Sisi held an unscheduled 45-minute meeting at Cairo airport.
Earlier, Macron met with Pope Tawadros II at St. Mark's Cathedral, seat of Egypt's ancient Coptic Orthodox Church. They both stressed the need for "dialogue between religions".
"I decided that a new conference will be held in Paris to see how to act more effectively," he said, without giving details.
A diplomatic source said the French capital would host a forum on religious minorities in the Middle East, but without giving a date.
Macron visited the church adjacent to the cathedral that was the site of a December 2016 jihadist attack which killed 29 people.
He also met in Cairo with Ahmed ...

Macron holds surprise talks with Egypt's Sisi, meets top clerics

North Korea is not likely to give up all of its nuclear weapons even if President Donald Trump's efforts to negotiate a deal with Pyongyang bear fruit, US Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said Tuesday.
"We continue to assess that North Korea is unlikely to give up all of its nuclear weapons and production capabilities, even as it seeks to negotiate partial denuclearization steps to obtain key US and international concessions," Coats said in a report to Congress on threats to the United States.
"North Korea will continue its efforts to mitigate the effects of the US-led pressure campaign, most notably through diplomatic engagement, counter-pressure against the sanctions regime, and direct sanctions evasion," Coats said in the report.
The report, an annual assessment of threats against the United States from the entire US intelligence community, said North Korea's leaders see having a nuclear weapons capability as "critical to regime survival".
It said Kim Jong Un, who is ...

N Korea 'unlikely' to give up all nuclear weapons: US intel chief

The United States said Tuesday that it has handed control of Venezuela's bank accounts in the United States to Juan Guaido, the opposition leader whom Washington has recognized as interim president.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo signed off on the order last week for Guaido to control holdings in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and federally insured banks, the State Department said.
"This certification will help Venezuela's legitimate government safeguard those assets for the benefit of the Venezuelan people," State Department spokesman Robert Palladino said in a statement.
The United States has been pressing all countries to part ways with President Nicolas Maduro, a leftist firebrand presiding over a crumbling economy and rising street protests, and recognize Guaido, the head of the National Assembly.
Palladino called on all nations to "take similar steps to protect Venezuela's patrimony from further theft by Maduro's corrupt regime." Venezuela, which is struggling to provide ..

US hands bank accounts to Venezuela's Guaido

Venezuela's attorney general asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday to bar Juan Guaido, the self-proclaimed acting president and opposition leader, from leaving the country and to freeze his assets.
The move comes after the United States earlier said it has handed control of Venezuela's US bank accounts to Guaido, to prevent President Nicolas Maduro from commandeering them in an eventual exit from power.

Attorney general seeks to bar Guaido from leaving Venezuela, freeze his assets

A senior Vatican priest accused of making advances towards a nun during confession has resigned, the Vatican said on Tuesday.
Austrian Father Hermann Geissler resigned as one of three top officials at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which ensures Roman Catholic moral doctrine.
"Geissler decided to take this step to limit the damage already done to the congregation and to his community," a Vatican statement said, adding that he "reserves the right for possible civil legal action."
A Canonical disciplinary procedure in 2014 let Geissler off with a warning after German former nun Doris Wagner accused him of inappropriate behaviour during confession.
"He kept me for hours, kneeling before him, he told me that he loved me and that he knew that I loved him and that even if we couldn't marry, there were other ways," Wagner said.
"He tried to take me in his arms and kiss me. I panicked and ran," Wagner said in testimony she put on social media.
Wagner also accused another ...

Senior Vatican priest resigns over advances to nun

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees on Tuesday appealed to nations to help it maintain a USD1.2-billion budget in 2019 after it was hit last year by the withdrawal of US funding.
The organisation, known as UNRWA, was able to fully fund a budget of the same amount in 2018, despite a dramatic initial shortfall when the administration of US President Donald Trump announced it was withdrawing nearly all support.
"The campaign last year was successful," agency chief Pierre Kraehenbuehl told reporters in Geneva.
"We closed the entirety of the shortfall, which was an almost existential shortfall of USD446 million, ... thanks to the remarkable and generous mobilisation of member states" and others, he said.
The US, which was previously UNRWA's largest contributor, last year cut a full USD300 million in funding to UNRWA, and has said it will not repeat the $60 million it did provide.
In the void, the European Union, followed by Germany and Saudi Arabia were the biggest donors, with a total .

UN agency eyes USD1.2 bn budget for Palestinians despite US cuts

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Tuesday launched an uphill battle for re-election, after five years in power marked by confrontation with Russia.
Opinion polls put him behind ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko, who rose to international prominence in 2004 during the anti-corruption Orange Revolution demonstrations and announced her own run last week.
"This feeling of deep responsibility towards my country... prompted me to decide to run again for the office of president of Ukraine," Poroshenko told a rally in Kiev ahead of the March 31 poll.
Poroshenko asked voters for a mandate to "guarantee the process of European and Atlantic integration, to guarantee our independence, to renew the territorial integrity of Ukraine".
During a roughly 40-minute long speech he repeated calls for Ukraine to seek full membership of NATO and the European Union.  Poroshenko's years in power have seen Kiev seek closer ties with the West as war rumbles on in eastern Ukraine against Russia-backed ...

Facing uphill fight, Ukraine's Poroshenko announces re-election bid

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Tuesday hailed an economic deal with key ally Iran as a bulwark against what he described as an "economic war" waged by the West.
Assad spoke the day after the allies signed a string of agreements including a long-term "economic cooperation" deal ahead of reconstruction in the war-torn country.
"These deals... will help consolidate Syrian and Iranian resilience against the economic war waged against them by some Western states," the presidency quoted him as saying.
Assad called for "intensifying common efforts to stave off these countries that keep trying to weaken both countries", it said.
The United States has reimposed sweeping sanctions on Iran, while it and the European Union have also blacklisted several Damascus officials and Syrian businessmen.
The 11 deals and memoranda of understanding signed on Monday covered fields including the economy, culture, education, infrastructure, investment and housing.
They were signed during the visit of Iran's .

Syria-Iran deal to counter 'economic war' from West: Assad

Five engineers, including two working for a German company, were arrested in Brazil Tuesday as part of a probe into a deadly dam collapse last week at a mine in the country's southeast, officials said.
Three of the engineers work for Vale, the owner of the mine, and were directly involved in the process of the facility's operating licenses, the prosecutors' office in the state of Minas Gerais said.
They were arrested in Belo Horizonte, the main city of Minas Gerais and close to where the Vale mine is situated, near the town of Brumadinho.
The other two worked for TUEV SUED, a German company that in September carried out the last safety inspection on the collapsed mine. They were in arrested in Sao Paulo.
They were in preventive custody which can last up to 30 days during which they would be questioned by prosecutors, a statement said. Search warrants had also been issued.
The state prosecutors said their probe was "evaluating the criminal responsibility of the Vale company" in the ...

Five engineers arrested in Brazil over deadly dam collapse

British Prime Minister Theresa May will seek "legal changes" to the Brexit deal she agreed with EU leaders only last month to try to secure the support of MPs, her spokesman said Tuesday.
She will hold talks with unnamed officials or leaders from the bloc throughout Tuesday, he said, as the clock ticks down to Britain's exit from the European Union on March 29.
Brussels has repeatedly said it will not reopen the withdrawal agreement that May herself negotiated over nearly two years, but the spokesman said it was clear it would never be accepted by the British parliament.
"We have to have a deal which can carry the support of parliament and that's going to require some changes to the withdrawal agreement," he said.
The House of Commons, which rejected May's deal by a huge margin earlier this month, will from 1900 GMT Tuesday vote on a series of amendments designed to show the prime minister exactly what they want.
May's spokesman said she backed an amendment that called for the removal 

May will seek to reopen Brexit divorce deal

Nearly 5,000 low-paid Bangladeshi garment workers stitching clothes for global brands have been sacked by factory bosses for joining strikes over wages this month that turned violent, police said Tuesday.
Thousands of labourers walked out of factory floors across the country in days-long protests that disrupted the USD 30 billion industry -- and saw police fire rubber bullets and tear gas at demonstrators.
One worker was killed and more than 50 injured in clashes in Ashulia, a key industrial town outside Dhaka where clothes are sewn for retail giants H&M, Walmart and many others.
Police say thousands of factory workers accused of looting and vandalism during the protests have been fired, but unions have accused the industry of intimidation and a crackdown.
"So far the factories have dismissed 4,899 workers due to the unrest," a senior police officer told AFP on condition of anonymity.
More than 1,200 garment workers -- whose wages start at USD 95 a month -- were dismissed from a ...

Nearly 5,000 garment workers sacked over Bangladesh strikes

China warned on Tuesday that US sanctions against Venezuela's state oil company will hurt the livelihoods of ordinary people and complicate the situation in the crisis-hit country.
The sanctions announced Monday hit PDVSA just as embattled President Nicolas Maduro faces a challenge from opposition leader Juan Guaido, who has won the backing of the United States and other Western nations.
"We oppose unilateral sanctions," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a regular press briefing.
"Historical experience has proved that external interference or sanctions will only complicate the situation and will not help solve practical problems," Geng said.
The sanctions "will lead to a deterioration of the people's livelihoods in Venezuela, and (those who imposed them) should be responsible for the serious consequences," he said.
China is a key financial back of the Venezuelan government. Asked on Tuesday whether China still recognises Maduro as president, Geng repeated that ...

China says US sanctions will harm Venezuelans

The United Arab Emirates said Tuesday it had filed a complaint to the World Trade Organization after Qatar banned UAE goods, the latest escalation in hostilities between the Gulf neighbours.
An official statement carried by the state-run WAM news agency said Qatar was in "flagrant violation" of WTO rules, after Doha had already sought WTO arbitration over a blockade imposed by the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt in June 2017.
The UAE and its allies have accused Doha of supporting both Islamist extremists and Shiite Iran, Saudi Arabia's main rival. Qatar denies the accusations.
In May, Qatar ordered all shops to remove goods originating from the four Arab states in retaliation against the boycott.
Qatar filed a complaint to the WTO in August 2017 saying it was the victim of an "illegal siege" perpetrated by the Saudi-led bloc.
The four Arab states' measures include trade and diplomatic boycotts on Qatar, which accuses Riyadh and its allies of seeking regime change in Doha.
The row 

UAE files WTO complaint over Qatar goods ban

European's leading motorbike maker, KTM, booked record profits last year as it lifted sales and expanded its market share, according to preliminary figures obtained by AFP on Tuesday.
KTM, based in Mattighofen close to the German border, said its net profit climbed by 28 per cent to 108 million euros (USD 124 million) in 2018 as unit sales jumped by 10 per cent to 261,454 motorcycles.
Turnover edged up by two per cent to 1.56 billion euros.
And the group, whose brands include KTM and Husqvarna, said its market share grew to 11.7 per cent from 8.9 per cent.
KTM said it is targeting annual sales of 400,000 units by 2022, which would represent an increase of 50 per cent over the 2018 figures, with growth coming from emerging economies such as India.
KTM acquired the Husqvarna brand from German rival BMW in 2013.
It produces the majority of its motorbikes at the plant in Mattighofen and exports more than 90 per cent of its output.
The group, which employs a workforce of 4,300, is listed ..

Austrian motorbike maker KTM profits race to record

The Palestinian government officially submitted its resignation to president Mahmud Abbas Tuesday, a statement said, though it will remain in place while a new administration is formed.
Analysts see the change in government as an attempt by Abbas to strengthen his position and further isolate his political rivals Hamas as a decade-long split in Palestinian politics deepens.
"The government of Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah submitted on Tuesday its resignation to President Mahmud Abbas," official news agency Wafa said in English following a cabinet meeting.
The government "will continue to serve our people wherever they are and shoulder all its responsibilities until a new government is formed," it added.
Hamdallah had offered to resign Monday, after the central committee of Abbas's Fatah movement recommended the formation of a new government that would comprise members of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO).
The Islamist movement Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, is not part of 

Palestinian government 'submits resignation' to Abbas

Over 30,000 people fled the Nigerian town of Rann and across the border to Cameroon over the weekend amid fears of renewed attacks by Boko Haram jihadists, the UN said Tuesday.
"All the population seems to be panicking and they are on the run as a preemptive measure to save their lives," UN refugee agency spokesman Babar Baloch told reporters in Geneva.
Rann, near the border with Cameroon in northern Borno state, already saw an exodus of some 9,000 people earlier this month after a Boko Haram attack on January 14 left 14 people dead.
Baloch said that Cameroon had sent back the 9,000 refugees and had initially sent in troops that are part of a multinational taskforce to protect the town.
"It was a bit peaceful, but as far as we understand now, that multinational taskforce has left," he said.
Refugees had told aid workers that Boko Haram militants had "promised to return to Rann," he said, explaining the panic.
He said UNHCR was reiterating its call to Cameroonian authorities "to keep ..

30,000 fled Nigerian town in two days amid Boko Haram threat: UN

Floods and landslides that battered Indonesia's Sulawesi island have killed at least 70 people, authorities said Tuesday, as aerial footage underscored the scale of the disaster with whole villages wiped off the map.
Lashed by heavy rain, rivers swelled and burst their banks, inundating dozens of communities across 12 districts as well as parts of the provincial capital Makassar.
The bodies of 70 victims have been found, while six are still missing, Syamsibar, head of South Sulawesi's disaster mitigation agency, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, told AFP.
Drone footage showed landslides had buried Pattallikang village in hard-hit Gowa district, with only a few buildings -- including a mosque -- visible after an avalanche of mud and rock cascaded down a nearby hillside.
Nearly 9,500 people have been displaced by the extreme weather, and hundreds of houses, government buildings, schools and bridges have been damaged, the disaster mitigation agency said Monday.
Authorities say .

Indonesia flood, landslide death toll hits 70

British lawmakers have approved a year-long trial of proxy voting for MPs on parental leave from Tuesday.
MPs have been discussing the idea for several months but matters came to a head when one of their number postponed a Caesarian section in order to vote in Britain's long-running Brexit saga.
The motion was passed late Monday. It will allow new parents to nominate a colleague to vote on their behalf.
Currently MPs walk through two lobbies to cast their vote, effectively being counted in person.
If members cannot get to parliament to vote, they can pair up with an MP from the opposing side who likewise does not vote, so the overall outcome is unaffected.
As a last resort, a system known as "nodding through" allows an MP's vote to be counted if they are on the parliamentary estate but cannot physically walk through the lobbies.
In the past, this has seen MPs vote by being driven through the estate in an ambulance.
Opposition Labour MP Tulip Siddiq postponed the birth of her son ...

British MPs back baby leave proxy voting

The EU on Tuesday urged advertising trade associations and US internet giants to intensify the fight against disinformation campaigns from suspects such as Russia, ahead of European elections in May.
The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, said Google, Facebook, Twitter, Mozilla and trade associations have made "some progress" by removing fake accounts and checking suspect sites.
"But we need to go further and faster before May," when a new European Parliament is elected, the EU's security commissioner Julian King said.

EU urges internet firms to intensify fake news fight

A former Israeli military chief regarded as the only serious challenger to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was to formally launch his election campaign on Tuesday.
Benny Gantz was to deliver a speech in Tel Aviv to "discuss all the issues at hand" and respond to claims made against him by political opponents, a source close to the retired general said.
His party, Israel Resilience, is set to be the second largest in parliament in the April 9 vote, according to a series of polls since its launch in December.
The widely respected former military chief of staff, seen as a political centrist, has kept his cards close to his chest and made few public comments.
In a rare remark, he committed to amend a contentious law defining Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people in order to accommodate its Druze minority, leading to Netanyahu calling him a "leftist".
Apart from messages on social media promising "something different" for Israel and a song pledging "no more right or left", ...

AFP

AFP

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