Russia rejected a new US proposal at the United Nations today to set up an investigation to identify the perpetrators of chemical weapons attacks in Syria.
The United States put forward a draft resolution to the Security Council following alleged toxic gas use in the rebel-held town of Douma that killed at least 40 people.
The US push for a new inquiry came amid heightened tensions over possible US military action in Syria, with President Donald Trump saying that "major decisions" would be taken within 48 hours.
Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said the US-drafted measure "contains some unacceptable elements, which make it worse" than a previous US proposal put forward in March.
"From what we hear now, I am afraid they are looking for a military option, which is very, very dangerous," he told reporters following an emergency council meeting.
Trump -- who last year launched a missile strike on a Syrian air base after sarin was used in the town of Khan Sheikhun -- warned after the ...

Russia rejects US proposal for UN Syria gas attacks probe

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The United States approved a deal to sell Qatar USD 300 million in guided missiles today, on the eve of President Donald Trump's White House meeting with Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.
The Gulf emirate is a long-standing American military ally and host to the largest US air base in the Middle East, but ties have been clouded by a crisis with its Arab neighbors.
Led by US allies Saudi Arabia and the UAE, Qatar's regional rivals launched a diplomatic and trade blockade last year, and Trump initially appeared to take Riyadh's side.
Saudi and Emirati officials have accused Thani's government of cozying up to Iran and funding Islamist extremist groups. Qatar denies this and Washington wants to mediate a truce.
The emir met US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis yesterday and is due to meet Trump today. His visit comes after Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman conducted a successful three-week US visit.
As a warmup to the visit, the State Department approved the sale of 5,000 Advance Precision .

US agrees guided missiles for Qatar before Trump talks

US Ambassador Nikki Haley today urged the United Nations Security Council to act following the latest alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria, warning the United States was ready to respond.
Russia said a US military strike against Syria would have "grave repercussions" and stressed that the use of chlorine or sarin had not been confirmed in the attack Saturday in Douma.
"We have reached the moment when the world must see justice done," Haley told an emergency meeting at UN headquarters in New York.
Britain, France, the United States and six other countries requested the urgent meeting after toxic gas was allegedly used in the rebel-held town of Douma, killing at least 40 people.
"History will record this as the moment when the Security Council either discharged its duty or demonstrated its utter and complete failure to protect the people of Syria," she said.
"Either way, the United States will respond."
Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said Moscow had told the United States that .

'World must see justice done' in Syria: Haley

Federal agents today raided the New York offices of President Donald Trump's longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen, who made a USD 130,000 payment to an adult film actress who says she had an affair with the former real estate magnate.
Cohen's own attorney Stephen Ryan said agents seized "privileged communications" between Cohen and Cohen's own clients, in part based on a request from Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating links between Russia and the Trump campaign.
Cohen has been Trump's personal lawyer and confidant for years, advising him on real estate and personal matters, as well as supporting him since he became president.
Cohen also made the USD 130,000 payoff to the porn actress Stormy Daniels, ahead of the 2016 election, which she claims was meant to keep her quiet about an alleged affair with Trump.
Ryan lashed out at prosecutors over the raid, which came as Mueller seeks to interview Trump for his sprawling investigation.
"The decision by the US attorney's .

FBI raids offices of Trump's personal lawyer

Mexico is reevaluating its cooperation with the United States because of "very public and blatant differences" with President Donald Trump's administration, the foreign minister said today after a week of rising tension.
Speaking after Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto announced a sweeping review of bilateral cooperation -- including in vital areas such as security -- Foreign Minister Luis Videgaray said the move was a response to recent tensions over Trump's decision to order National Guard troops to the border and his Twitter outbursts over a caravan of US-bound migrants.

Mexico reviewing cooperation with US due to 'blatant' tension

The White House pointed the finger of blame for an alleged chemical attack on Syrian civilians at Tehran and Moscow today, suggesting the Damascus regime could not have carried out such a strike alone.
"Russia and Iran also bear responsibility for these acts since they would not be possible without their material support," said press secretary Sarah Sanders.
The Syrian regime and its Russian and Iranian backers have denied using chemical weapons in a series of alleged attacks, including one on Saturday that killed at least 48 people in the rebel-held town of Douma, outside Damascus.

Syria cannot conduct chemical attacks without Russia, Iran support: WHouse

A huge blast killed at least 11 civilians as it wrecked a multi-storey building in Syria's northwestern jihadist-held city of Idlib today, a war monitor said.
The explosion of unknown origin also wounded 80 others, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said.
The group, which relies on sources inside Syria for its information, said the death toll was likely to rise as several of the wounded were in serious condition and many others were trapped under the rubble.
The cause of the explosion was not immediately clear.
An AFP correspondent at the scene saw volunteers operate a bulldozer in the dark near the collapsed multi-storey building, as rescue workers searched for victims using lamps.
Idlib city is controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a group led by Syria's former Al-Qaeda affiliate.
Held by an array of jihadists and rebels, the surrounding province of the same name is the last in Syria largely beyond government control.
More than 350,000 people have ..

Blast kills 11 civilians in Syria's Idlib

Tehran accused Israel today of "flagrant" aggression in Syria after an air strike hit a regime base killing four Iranian "military advisers", Iranian media said.
The Islamic Republic condemned "strongly the aggression and the air strike by the Zionist regime" against the T-4 airbase in Homs, Iran's foreign ministry said in a statement.
The ministry called on "all free states... to not be indifferent to this flagrant Zionist aggression", adding that the air strike further complicated the situation in the war-torn country.
Iran's Fars news agency said "four Iranian military advisers" were killed in Monday's attack on the military airport.
The news agency, which is close to the country's elite Revolutionary Guards, had earlier reported that three Iranians had "fallen as martyrs".
The ministry's press release made no mention of the alleged victims.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the country's conflict, said 14 fighters were killed, including Syrian army officers ..

Tehran accuses Israel of strike that killed 4 Iranians in Syria

With global outrage mounting over an alleged chemical attack on a rebel-held town in Syria, the Pentagon today weighed its options for a retaliatory strike.
Military action against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad seemed likely, after President Donald Trump warned of a "big price to pay" and spoke of imminent "major decisions" within the next 48 hours.
Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said he won't rule anything out militarily.
But thanks to the Trump administration's whipsawing messaging over whether America will even stay in Syria, and the dangerous complexities of the multi-national conflict, the Pentagon's options appeared limited.
The attack on the rebel-held Syrian town of Douma killed at least 48 people Saturday after a "poisonous chlorine gas attack" in Eastern Ghouta, rescuers and medics said.
By Monday, the United States and France had promised a "strong, joint response" and Britain, too, joined a growing chorus demanding action.
Syria and its ally Russia have dismissed ..

Pentagon weighs military response after Syria 'chemical attack'

US President Donald Trump said today he will decide on military action in Syria within hours, as Washington readied its response to a "heinous attack on innocent Syrians with banned chemical weapons."
The US commander-in-chief -- who last year ordered missile strikes on a Syrian airfield after seeing gruesome images of civilians poisoned with sarin -- looked poised to act again.
"It was an atrocious attack, it was horrible, you don't see things like that -- as bad as the news is round the world -- you just don't see those images," Trump said.
"We are very concerned that a thing like that can happen. This is about humanity, we are talking about humanity, it can't be allowed to happen."
"We are studying that situation extremely closely, we are meeting with our military and everybody else and we are making some major decisions over the next 24-48 hours," he told reporters and his cabinet.
Trump, who has long courted better relations with Russian president Vladimir Putin, indicated that ..

Trump says 'major' Syria decision coming in '24-48 hours'

More than 4,000 Chadian refugees who lived in two camps in Sudan's war-torn region of Darfur have voluntarily returned to their country since December, the UN refugee agency said today.
About 4,000 Chadians remain in the state of Central Darfur, most of them having arrived in the area to flee hostilities in Chad between the government and opposition in 2006 and 2007.
Since December 2017, the UN refugee agency UNHCR has run a programme to assist the return of Chadian refugees to their country.
On Friday, more than 500 Chadians living in Camp Mukjar in Central Darfur were provided with return packages to Chad, raising the total to over 4,000.
With Chadian refugees having left Mukjar, which was set up in 2006, UNHCR now plans to close the facility.
"UNHCR and Commissioner of Refugees are now making the final arrangements to hand over the land and camp facilities to local authorities and the host community," UNHCR said in a statement.
The voluntary return of Chadian refugees began under a 

Over 4,000 Chadian refugees in Sudan returned home: UN

US President Donald Trump said today he plans to meet with North Korea's Kim Jong Un next month or in early June, indicating a historic summit between the Cold War rivals is still on track.
Speaking at the White House, Trump expressed hope that relations -- which for a century have been marked by war, animosity and a perilous arms race -- could be put on a friendlier footing.
Trump told reporters before a cabinet meeting that the summit would be sometime in "May or early June" -- letting the original May time line slip a little, but confirming the meeting is still on.
"I think there will be great respect paid by both parties and hopefully there will be a deal on denuking," he said.
"Hopefully it will be a relationship that will be much different than it has been for many, many years."
After Trump's shock March announcement that he had accepted an invitation to meet the reclusive North Korean leader, there have been doubts about whether the talks will go ahead.
For decades, North Korea 

Trump says talks with N.Korea's Kim in 'May or early June'

Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg will accept responsibility for the social network's failure to protect private data and prevent manipulation of the platform, according to testimony released on the eve of his first Congressional appearance.
"We didn't take a broad enough view of our responsibility, and that was a big mistake. It was my mistake, and I'm sorry," Zuckerberg said in his written testimony released by a House of Representatives panel.
"I started Facebook, I run it, and I'm responsible for what happens here."
Zuckerberg is to testify before senators tomorrow, and a House panel on Wednesday.

'My mistake, I'm sorry,' Facebook's Zuckerberg to tell Congress: prepared text

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari declared today he would seek re-election next year, in a move that put an end to months of speculation amid concerns over his health.
The 75-year-old former general and one-time military head of state made the announcement in the national capital Abuja following a meeting with the national executive of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) party.
Buhari, nicknamed "Baba Go Slow" for his lethargic pace in office, will have to convince his divided party he is fit to run after spending months in London last year seeking medical treatment for an undisclosed illness.
If nominated, he faces the Herculean task of convincing Nigerians he is the best candidate to steer the country out of its worst recession in 25 years after implementing a series of unorthodox policies blamed for worsening the economic crisis.
"President @Buhari has just announced his intention to seek the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and contest for a ...

Nigeria's Buhari to run for re-election next year

The number of Britons becoming citizens of another European Union country more than doubled in 2016, the year the UK voted to leave the bloc, official figures showed today.
As the pro-Brexit camp waged a campaign in which fears of uncontrolled immigration featured prominently, 6,555 British nationals became citizens of other member states -- a rise of 165 percent on the previous year, according to data from the EU statistics agency Eurostat.
Germany was the biggest recipient, with 2,702 Britons taking citizenship there -- more than four times the 2015 figure of just 594. Sweden saw the number double from 453 in 2015 to 978 in 2016.
Britain will become the first country to leave the EU on March 29 next year and many Britons have applied for citizenship of other bloc members to be sure they will still have the right to travel and work freely in the remaining 27 states.
Anti-Brexit campaign group Best for Britain said the government should be "ashamed that people feel they have no option 

Britons taking EU citizenship boomed in Brexit vote year

German physicist Peter Gruenberg, a joint Nobel Prize winner whose work revolutionised digital data storage, has died aged 78, his research centre said Monday.
Professor Gruenberg died last week, said a statement by the Research Centre Juelich near Cologne, mourning the loss of "an excellent researcher" and "well-respected and popular colleague".
Gruenberg received the 2007 Nobel prize for physics, together with French scientist Albert Fert, after both had separately discovered so-called giant magnetoresistance (GMR) which led to a breakthrough in the development of gigabyte hard disks.
Their work laid the foundations for the field of spintronics, which exploits the quantum mechanical spin of electrons for micro- and nanoelectronics, with applications ranging from video tape to MP3 players and hard disks, said the centre.
"Without exaggeration one can say Peter Gruenberg and his discovery of giant magnetoresistance decisively changed our lives," said the institute in a ...

German physics Nobel laureate Peter Gruenberg dead at 78

Six rangers were killed today in an ambush in the Virunga National Park, the Democratic Republic of Congo's famed haven for gorillas and other endangered species, the park said.
"We have sadly lost six rangers," park spokesman Joel Malembe told AFP, adding that the ambush occurred between the sectors of Lulimba and Ishasha.
Located in DR Congo's violence-torn North Kivu province, the park is one of the most important conservation sites in the world, covering 7,800 square kilometres (3,011 miles) -- three times the size of Luxembourg.

Six park rangers killed in DR Congo's Virunga wildlife sanctuary

US Forces confirmed today they had killed a top Islamic State commander in Afghanistan in an airstrike, describing the leader as "key" to foreign fighters entering the country's north.
Qari Hikmatullah -- also spelled Hekmat -- and his bodyguard were killed in the northern province of Faryab on Thursday, US Forces-Afghanistan said in a statement.
The airstrike happened in Bal Chiragh district, the statement said. That borders Darzab district in Jowzjan province, which Afghan officials on Saturday had given as the location of the airstrike. Some had also said the incident happened on Friday.
Hikmatullah was a "native Uzbek" who previously belonged to other militant groups, including the Taliban, before joining IS's local franchise in northern Afghanistan, US Forces said.
The group has established a stronghold in Jowzjan after coming under intense pressure in the eastern province of Nangarhar.
Afghanistan's defence ministry said on Saturday that Hikmatullah was involved in or ...

US confirms top IS commander in Afghanistan killed in airstrike

Three Iranian fighters were killed Monday in a strike attributed to Israel on a Syrian airbase in the province of Homs, Iran's Fars news agency said.
Blaming the "Zionist regime", the news agency said "three defenders of the shrines... fell as martyrs" in the attack on the base, publishing the names and photos of the three young men.
Tehran uses the term "defenders of the shrines" to refer to Iranian fighters in Iraq and Syria.

AFP

AFP

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