Yemen's embattled government accused rival rebels on Thursday of failing to abide by a truce reached between the warring parties at UN-sponsored peace talks in Sweden last month.
"The legitimate government remains committed to the Sweden accords," state-run Saba news agency quoted Yemeni President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi as saying.
Hadi accused Yemen's Huthi rebels of failing to respect an agreement on the flashpoint port city of Hodeida, controlled by the insurgents since 2014, Saba said.
The news comes as reports surface that the UN is looking to replace the head of a monitoring mission to Hodeida, a lifeline to millions of Yemenis dependent on its imports to survive.
The United Nations' Yemen envoy, Martin Griffiths, met with Hadi in Riyadh on Thursday, after holding talks with rebels in the Yemeni capital Sanaa.
Also at the Riyadh meeting was retired Dutch general Patrick Cammaert, who heads a monitoring team tasked with overseeing the Hodeida truce.
Diplomatic sources on Wednesday 

Yemen govt accuses rebels of violating Hodeida truce

PTI Automatic

Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro prepared to rally his military supporters Thursday as the US and key allies backed a challenge from his leading rival who declared himself "acting president."
The announcement by Juan Guaido, 35, head of Venezuela's opposition-led legislature, came amid a fresh wave of deadly street clashes on Wednesday.
He declared himself acting leader of the oil-rich nation, which has lurched into economic chaos and violence under Maduro, 56.
The Socialist government responded by warning that the top military leadership would come out Thursday "in support of the constitutional president", Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez said.
He added the military would show "backing for the sovereignty" of Venezuela.
That was a warning shot to Maduro's foreign critics as they rallied behind Guaido.
US President Donald Trump declared Maduro "illegitimate" and called the National Assembly legislature "the only legitimate branch of government."
A furious Maduro responded to ...

Maduro rallies military support as US backs Venezuela challenger

A 25-year-old woman who accused US singer Chris Brown of rape is standing by her accusations despite Brown's denials and release from custody, her lawyer told AFP on Thursday.
"She maintains her accusations. We have taken note of his release from questioning, and will leave it in the hands of investigators as the inquiry continues," lawyer Jean-Marc Descoubes said.
The woman, identified as "Karima" in media reports, says Brown along with his bodyguard and a friend assaulted her in the luxury Mandarin Oriental hotel on the night of January 15.
Brown and his associates were released without charge on Tuesday after being held overnight for questioning on charges of aggravated rape and a drug offence.
The woman told police she met Brown in a nightclub near the Champs-Elysees avenue with a group of other party-goers.
She then agreed to go back to the hotel, which is on the glitzy Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore.
A lawyer for the Grammy Award-winning singer said his client was innocent and was 

Woman maintains Paris rape claim against Chris Brown: Lawyer

Ugandan police on Thursday announced the expulsion of another foreigner working for telecom giant MTN, following the deportation earlier this week of two of the company's expatriate staff.
MTN Uganda's general manager Elsa Mussolini, an Italian citizen, was forced out of the country on Wednesday, police spokesman Fred Enanga told AFP.
"A decision was taken that Elsa Mussolini be deported and she left the country," he said.
"She was questioned on incitement to violence while she worked at MTN, which is a serious matter," he added without giving further details.
In a message to her staff published in local media and confirmed by MTN, Mussolini said she was deported following accusations that she gave opposition figure Bobi Wine money during his campaign last year against a proposed social media tax.
Mussolini is the third expatriate employee of the South Africa-based corporation to be thrown out of Uganda this week.
She follows the expulsion on Tuesday of marketing chief Olivier ...

Uganda deports third foreign telecom employee

French carmaker Renault said Thursday that it had named Thierry Bollore as its new chief executive and Jean-Dominique Senard as board chairman, replacing former boss Carlos Ghosn following his arrest in Japan for alleged financial misconduct.
Senard, currently the CEO of tyre giant Michelin, will represent Renault in its powerful alliance with Japanese carmakers Nissan and Mitsubishi, Renault added in a statement following a board meeting.
Bollore, the chief operating officer who had been Ghosn's heir apparent as CEO, has been running the company in the wake of Ghosn's sensational arrest in November.
He will be tasked with coordinating Renault's side of "the alliance's activities in the operational field" under Senard's authority, the statement said.
"The board expresses its confidence in the new leadership and wishes it every success in its mission," the statement said.
Ghosn, who remains behind bars in Japan, resigned as Renault CEO and chairman late Wednesday.
He had already been ..

Renault names Bollore CEO, Senard chairman: statement

Sixteen people were killed in an accident at a gold mining site in northern Ghana, a local official said on Thursday, prompting the authorities to launch an investigation.
The accident happened in the Talensi area of the Upper East region early on Wednesday near a site operated by China's Shaanxi Mining Company Limited.
The exact circumstances were not immediately clear.
"The death toll is 16," local government leader Christopher Boatbil told AFP, adding that management of a local mining firm had also been arrested.
"The regional security council has come to join the district security council and we are going to the community to interact with the people and get a lot of information.
A Shaanxi spokesman, Maxwell Wooma, said the victims were all illegal miners and that none of its staff was involved.
Ghana is Africa's second-largest gold producer and exports of the yellow metal, along with other minerals and oil, drive the country's economy.
The industry involves a number of major ...

16 killed in Ghana gold mine accident: Local govt

Pope Francis on Thursday warned against the "disinformation" and "targeted distortion of facts" to be found on the Internet and social networks' "manipulation of personal data".
The Internet "is a source of knowledge and relationships that were once unthinkable," the Argentine pope said in a message for the World Day of Social Communications.
"However... many experts also highlight the risks that threaten the search for, and sharing of, authentic information on a global scale," he said.
"If the Internet represents an extraordinary possibility of access to knowledge, it is also true that it has proven to be one of the areas most exposed to disinformation and to the conscious and targeted distortion of facts," the Argentine pope said.
"We need to recognise how social networks, on the one hand, help us to better connect, rediscover, and assist one another, but on the other, lend themselves to the manipulation of personal data, aimed at obtaining political or economic advantages, without .

Pope Francis warns against Internet 'disinformation'

South African prosecutors said Thursday they were temporarily setting aside prosecution of Duduzane Zuma, the son of graft-tainted former president Jacob Zuma, as they await a key witness testifying in corruption probe.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) filed corruption charges against Duduzane, 35, in 2015 for an alleged role in the attempted 600 million rand (about USD 43 million) bribery of former deputy finance minister, Mcebisi Jonas, on behalf of the wealthy Gupta family.
But on Thursday, the NPA told the Specialised Crimes Court in Johannesburg that it wanted to let Jonas finish testifying at a separate inquiry into corruption before they pursued a case against Zuma.
"The NPA took a decision to provisionally withdraw the charges against Duduzane Zuma, quoting reasons that one of our key witnesses (Jonas) in this matter is currently under oath at the commission for state capture," they said in a statement.
"The prosecutor therefore deemed it fit to halt the prosecution up 

S Africa puts graft case against Zuma's son on hold

China said Thursday it opposed external interference in Venezuelan politics, after the US and major South American countries sided with opposition leader Juan Guaido over President Nicolas Maduro in a power struggle.
China is Venezuela's main creditor and Maduro visited the country in September, striking energy and gold mining deals as he sought Beijing's support to help his crisis-hit nation.
Maduro now faces trouble at home, where Guaido proclaimed himself acting president on Wednesday amid rival protests in Caracas.
"China has consistently pursued the principle of not interfering with other countries' internal politics, and opposes the interference (in) Venezuelan affairs by external forces," said Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying at a press briefing in Beijing.
"We are paying close attention to the current situation in Venezuela and are calling on all parties to remain rational and calm, and to seek a political resolution to Venezuela's problem through peaceful ...

China 'opposes' foreign interference in Venezuelan crisis

A security agent from Sudan's intelligence service has been killed in skirmishes with a group of soldiers in the Red Sea town of Port Sudan, police said Thursday.
The fighting between members of the country's powerful National Intelligence and Security Service and a group of soldiers erupted late on Wednesday, Port Sudan police chief Mohamed Musa Omer said in a statement.
"There were skirmishes yesterday evening at 8:00 pm (1800 GMT) between members of Sudanese armed forces and members of NISS," Omer said.
"One member of NISS was killed, while there are several others from both sides who are wounded." Residents of Port Sudan told AFP that the fighting was close to the coast, forcing nearby cafes and restaurants to shut.
Omer said the commanders of both the groups later stopped the fighting and the "situation is now under control across the Red Sea state".
Members of NISS are leading a sweeping crackdown on anti-government protests that have rocked Sudan for more than a month now, with 

One dead in skirmishes between Sudan security forces

The United States has freed a journalist working for Iran's English-language television station Press TV after 10 days in detention, the channel has announced.
US-born Marzieh Hashemi was arrested on arrival at St Louis Lambert International Airport on January 13.
A Muslim convert who changed her name from Melanie Franklin, she had reportedly been visiting her ill brother and other family members.
Press TV reported her release late on Wednesday.
"The US government has released without charge Press TV anchor Marzieh Hashemi after 10 days of illegal detention," said the report published on its website.
The site carried an audio message from Hashemi in which she confirmed her release and thanked her family and friends for their support.
"Finally, I've been released from jail," she said.
"I have a lot to say about what I've been through. We will talk about it later, God willing," she added, apparently in a reference to reports she had been forced to remove her headscarf worn as required ..

US frees Iranian state TV journalist: employer

Hitachi's frozen nuclear power project in Britain can only be revived if it is nationalised, Nikkei news agency reported the company's chairman as saying on Wednesday.
"Nationalisation is the only path," Hiroaki Nakanishi was quoted as saying at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
But he added that legal changes would be required for the British government to take a majority stake in the business to fill a funding gap left by the private sector.
The chairman said private investors had little appetite to support the power plant after seeing similar projects around the world stall, Nikkei reported.
Hitachi last week froze construction of the Wylfa Newydd plant in Wales owing to financing difficulties.
It had launched the project after acquiring British-based Horizon Nuclear Power in 2012.
The UK government had agreed to take a one-third equity stake in the project, alongside investment from Hitachi, Japanese government agencies and other strategic partners.
Fund-raising efforts ...

Hitachi wants nationalisation of UK nuclear project: report

Former Scottish first minister and pro-independence figurehead Alex Salmond was on Thursday arrested and charged in a probe over allegations of sexual harassment, police said.
"We can confirm that a 64-year-old man has been arrested and charged," a spokeswoman for Police Scotland said in response to a question about reports of Salmond's arrest.
Salmond became Scottish first minister in 2007 and took Scotland to the brink of independence in a historic referendum in 2014 before stepping down.  He is set to appear in court later on Thursday.
A staunch nationalist, Salmond resigned from the Scottish National Party last year after it emerged police were probing two harassment allegations against him.
He has fiercely denied the claims, which were formally raised with the Scottish government last January and date back to 2013 when he was still in office.
Salmond took legal action against the government -- now led by former party colleague Nicola Sturgeon -- over how it handled the complaints 

Former Scottish leader charged in sex harassment probe

Russia on Thursday slammed what it called foreign interference in Venezuela and denounced the opposition's "usurpation of power", calling President Nicolas Maduro the crisis-hit country's legitimate leader.
In a strongly-worded statement backing Moscow ally Maduro, the Russian foreign ministry warned that international support for opposition leader Juan Guaido, who declared himself interim president Wednesday, was a "direct path to lawlessness and bloodshed".
"Only Venezuelans have the right to determine their future. Destructive outside interference, especially in the current extremely tense situation, is unacceptable," it said.
In a separate statement to reporters, Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman slammed attempts by the opposition to usurp power.
"We consider the attempted usurpation of power in Venezuela as... a breach of the foundations of international law," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters during a conference call.
"Maduro is the legitimate head of ...

Russia slams 'usurpation' of power in Venezuela

Some fine pace bowling from Jhye Richardson and Pat Cummins put a dominant Australia firmly in charge after the first day of the day-night Test against Sri Lanka in Brisbane on Thursday.
Newcomer Richardson took three wickets and Cummins four as the home side dismissed Sri Lanka for just 144.
Australian opener Marcus Harris then batted assuredly to finish on 40 not out at the close of play as the home side finished the day 72 for two.
Australia lost opener Joe Burns on 15 during the difficult night session to a fine outswinger from Suranga Lakmal, while Usman Khawaja (11) chopped on a ball from off-spinner Dilruwan Perera 10 minutes before the close.
Sri Lankan captain Dinesh Chandimal earlier won the toss and elected to bat first on a hot and humid Brisbane afternoon but the visitors were forced to battle hard against the Australian attack.
The 22-year-old Richardson bowled with real pace and found just enough movement to trouble the Sri Lankans, who struggled to come to terms with ..

Dominant Australia in charge against Sri Lanka

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hopes Anthony Martial will agree a new contract with Manchester United in the coming weeks as the club look to tie down a clutch of top players.
France forward Martial and goalkeeper David de Gea are both out of contract at the end of next season after United triggered 12-month extension options shortly before Christmas.
The club are in talks with both players as well as forward Juan Mata, whose contract expires this coming June.
Ed Woodward, United's executive vice-chairman, is known to be keen to get the futures of all three players sorted out while he works on appointing a permanent manager before the start of next season.
Martial is understood to be close to agreeing a five-year contract, while Spain international De Gea has made it clear he wants to remain at Old Trafford.
Solskjaer, United's caretaker manager for the rest of this season following the sacking of Jose Mourinho in December, has received indications that strong progress has been made with ...

Solskjaer hopeful over new Man Utd contract for Martial

The Philippines welcomed a record 7.1 million tourists to its beaches and dive spots in 2018, despite its most famous resort Boracay being shut half the year to recover, authorities said Thursday.
The archipelago nation of over 7,000 islands saw the number of visitors jump by nearly eight per cent over the previous year, with South Koreans leading the way as its top tourists.
This growth came without much help from Boracay, which was closed for clean up from April to October after President Rodrigo Duterte branded it a "cesspool" fouled by reckless development.
Before the closure, the tiny island's white sand beaches and turquoise waters were seeing some two million sun worshippers a year.
"The challenging act of closing down Boracay... the country's top sun-and-beach destination has evidently become a blessing in disguise," said Philippine tourism secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat.
Other spots like natural paradise Palawan and beach destination Siargao island saw a jump in foreign ...

Philippines breaks tourism record in 2018

Rafael Nadal handed rising star Stefanos Tsitsipas a tennis lesson Thursday as he drubbed him 6-2, 6-4, 6-0 in the Australian Open semi-final.
Greek 14th seed Tsitsipas had enjoyed a fairytale run to his first Grand Slam last four, including a win over Roger Federer, but found Nadal in ruthless form as he won in 1hr 46min.
The Spanish second seed has not dropped his serve for an astonishing 63 straight games and has not lost a set on his way to the final, where he will face either Novak Djokovic or Lucas Pouille.
"It's been a great match, a great tournament," Nadal said after a breathtaking display of almost perfect tennis.
"I think I have played very well every day. After a lot of months without playing is probably this court, this crowd it gives me that unbelievable energy."
The 20-year-old Tsitsipas had been hailed as a new Greek god of tennis after beating Federer, but his ascent to the summit of his personal Olympus was comprehensively halted by the colossus called Nadal.
Nadal's 

Ruthless Nadal routs Tsitsipas to reach Australian Open final

Brave Petra Kvitova admitted Thursday it had been "a long journey" to make the Australian Open final after a knife-wielding burglar slashed her racquet hand in an attack that left her traumatised and scared to be alone.
The 28-year-old feared she may never play tennis again after the 33-year-old man broke into her apartment in the eastern Czech town of Prostejov just weeks before the opening Grand Slam of 2017.
She suffered career-threatening injuries to her left hand as she fought him off.  Despite grim forecasts by doctors, who even warned she might lose her fingers, the 2011 and 2014 Wimbledon champion never gave up believing and miraculously returned to the sport in time for the 2017 French Open.
But she was still struggling mentally, admitting it took time to regain her confidence.
"It wasn't only physically but mentally very tough," she said. "It took me really a while to believe (in the) people around me again, and especially the men, for sure.
"So I wasn't pretty confident to .

Courageous Kvitova completes 'long journey' after knife attack

UN chief Antonio Guterres on Thursday appealed for dialogue to stop Venezuela's political crisis spiralling out of control, after opposition leader Juan Guaido declared himself interim president.
"What we hope is that dialogue can be possible, and that we avoid an escalation that would lead to the kind of conflict that would be a disaster for the people of Venezuela and for the region," he said at the World Economic Forum in Davos.
The United States, Brazil and other countries on Wednesday endorsed Guaido's declaration in repudiation of President Nicolas Maduro, as more protests rocked the economically strapped country.
"Sovereign governments have the possibility to decide whatever they want," the UN secretary-general said on a Facebook Live broadcast from Davos.
"What we are worried (about) with the situation in Venezuela is the suffering of the people of Venezuela," he said.  In a statement, Guterres's office said he was also "concerned over reports of casualties in the context of ..

UN chief urges dialogue in Venezuela to avert 'disaster'

Arrested car boss Carlos Ghosn resigned his position as chief executive and chairman of Renault, ending his leadership roles in the auto industry and signalling the start of new era for the French manufacturer.
Ghosn, the most powerful man in car-making until his sensational arrest in Japan last November on financial misconduct charges, had already been sacked as chairman of Japanese auto groups Nissan and Mitsubishi.
But the 64-year-old had held on to the top job at Renault, which has been run on an interim basis by one of his deputies while he languishes in a Japanese jail.
French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire confirmed to AFP that Ghosn tendered his resignation late Wednesday -- ahead of a Renault board meeting in Paris that would have seen him replaced.  A senior director from the firm "received last night the letter of resignation from Carlos Ghosn," Le Maire said.
As head of Renault since 2005, Ghosn was the keystone of its alliance with Nissan and Mitsubishi, forging an ...

AFP

AFP

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