A Singaporean man convicted over a high-profile fraud case at a megachurch was caught Wednesday trying to flee in a boat before he was due to start his sentence, police said.
In a case that gripped the city-state with a heady mix of religion, showbiz and fraud, six leaders from City Harvest Church were convicted in 2015 of pilfering tens of millions of dollars from the place of worship to promote the pop career of the pastor's wife.
Among them was investment manager Chew Eng Han, who was sentenced to three years and four months but had his imprisonment delayed by a series of appeals.
After losing his final challenge, the 57-year-old was allowed to remain out of prison on bail until after the Lunar New Year holiday, and was meant to start serving his sentence on February 22.
But in the latest bizarre twist to the case, police caught Chew around 8:45 am in a small fishing boat off eastern Singapore allegedly attempting to flee to Malaysia.
He was with a second man who was piloting the ..

Singaporean in church fraud case tries to flee on boat

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An ally of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny has been sentenced to ten days in detention after posting a tweet calling on followers to come to an unauthorised rally last month.
The Simonovsky District Court late yesterday ruled that Roman Rubanov was guilty of organising an unauthorised rally and sentenced him to ten days in police cells, his lawyer Ivan Zhdanov told Interfax news agency.
According to the ruling, Rubanov -- who heads Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation -- tweeted a link to a video by the Kremlin critic called "First step toward victory" in which Navalny appealed to Russians to attend the "voters' strike" rally on January 28.
Russian authorities have increasingly cracked down on the anti-corruption campaigner Navalny, who aimed to take part in the March presidential polls but was barred from standing over a controversial criminal conviction.
He is now calling for a boycott of the election.
Many of Navalny's associates have received administrative punishment 

Ally of Kremlin critic Navalny arrested over tweet

From halal fried chicken to hot springs hotels with prayer facilities, Taiwan is adapting its traditional tourist draws to woo Muslim visitors as Chinese arrivals dwindle.
Mainland tourist numbers have slid dramatically as China relations deteriorate, with speculation authorities there are turning off the taps to pressure Taiwan's Beijing-sceptic government.
Taiwan is now looking to boost relations with 16 south and southeast Asian countries, as well as Australia and New Zealand -- what it calls its "southbound policy" -- and is seeking more visitors from the region.
That has meant a growing number of tourists from Muslim-majority countries, such as Malaysia and Indonesia. Taiwan welcomed 30 percent more visitors from southeast Asia in 2017.
Taoism is the prevalent religion in Taiwan, with Muslims making up less than two percent of the population, but tourists who spoke to AFP said they were surprised how welcome they felt.
"I really like the natural scenery in Taiwan and the people ..

Taiwan looks south for Muslim tourist dollars

A German court was due today to sentence a Swedish convicted killer -- dubbed "the laser man" for using a laser-scoped rifle to target immigrants -- for the murder of a Jewish woman in 1992.
John Ausonius, 64, has already received a life prison term in Sweden for a six-month shooting spree in 1991-92 in which he killed an Iranian student and wounded 10 other immigrants.
The convict was extradited to Germany in late 2016 to face trial for one additional murder -- of 68-year-old Jewish Holocaust survivor Blanka Zmigrod in Frankfurt in 1992.
The verdict for Ausonius, who denies the woman's murder, was to be announced around 1330 GMT by justice Baerbel Stock in the Frankfurt court.
German prosecutors are seeking a life sentence.
Born as Wolfgang Alexander Zaugg in Sweden to a German mother and a Swiss father, Ausonius was reportedly bullied at school, rejected his foreign origins and later developed a strong hatred for immigrants.
He would dye his dark hair a lighter shade and wear blue ..

Swedish racist 'laser man' shooter faces Germany murder verdict

Norway's Marit Bjoergen became the most successful athlete in Winter Olympics history today as she took bronze behind a stunning win for USA in cross country skiing's women's team sprint free.  Bjoergen's bronze with Maiken Caspersen Falla put her on 14 Olympic medals, outstripping fellow Norwegian Ole Einar Bjoerndalen who has 13 in biathlon.  Bjoergen, 37, is also the second most successful woman at either the Summer or Winter Games, trailing only Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina who compiled 18 medals.  Kikkan Randall and Jessica Diggins celebrated ecstatically as they edged Sweden by 0.19sec to win the first Olympic cross country title for the United States.  Norway's Martin Johnsrud Sundby and Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo won the men's title by 1.71sec ahead of the Olympic Athletes from Russia, with France finishing third.

Norway's Bjoergen becomes most successful Winter Olympian

Australia cruised to a 19-run victory in a rain-affected T20 tri-series final with New Zealand today to claim the world number one ranking in the shortest form of the game for the first time.
New Zealand struggled to 150 for nine after electing to bat first at Auckland's Eden Park but failing to repeat the pyrotechnics that saw them score 243 against Australia at the same ground last Friday.
Australia's bowlers avenged that pasting as they tore through New Zealand's middle order, led by spinner Ashton Agar's career-best T20 figures for three for 27.
Ross Taylor's 43 of 38 balls was the highlight of a poor New Zealand batting display that included just five sixes, despite Eden Park's notoriously short boundaries.
Australia never looked in danger of missing the 151-run target but the manner in which the victory came was anti-climatic.
The players were off the pitch when officials decided to abandon the match due to persistent rain, awarding Australia a 19-run win under the ...

Australia down New Zealand in T20 final, take number one ranking

Ten suspected Islamic militants who were trying to establish a Malaysian cell of a Philippine kidnap-for-ransom group have been arrested in Borneo island, police said today.
The alleged extremists, mostly Filipinos, are also accused of trying to help fighters linked to the Islamic State (IS) group travel to the Philippines to join up with militants there, they said.
The southern Philippines has long been a pocket of Islamic militancy in the largely Catholic country. A long siege in Marawi, the country's main Muslim centre, sparked fears IS was seeking to establish a foothold in the region.
Malaysian police made the arrests in January and early February in Sabah state on the Malaysian part of Borneo, not far from the southern Philippines. Borneo is a vast island shared between Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.
Seven of those detained were Filipinos, including several senior members of Philippine extremist group Abu Sayyaf which has been behind the kidnappings of numerous foreigners, ...

Malaysia holds Filipinos seeking to set up extremist cell

Cuban President Raul Castro has received a bipartisan delegation of US lawmakers, who are visiting the island with the alleged "acoustic attacks" against US diplomats on their agenda.
"During the meeting they discussed matters of interest to both countries," the Cuban government said in a statement yesterday.
The delegation, led by Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont, arrived in Cuba Sunday to address various issues including the mysterious supposed attacks in Havana.
The issue has hit US-Cuba relations, with Washington withdrawing half of its diplomats from Cuba and expelling 15 officials from the Cuban embassy in the US capital.
The Cuban foreign ministry's US director, Carlos Fernandez de Cossio, met with the congressmen Monday assuring them that "no evidence that attacks occurred against US diplomats in Cuba exists," according to his deputy Johana Tablada.
Accompanying Leahy on the visit are senators Ron Wyden of Oregon and Michigan's Gary Peters, along with ...

Raul Castro receives US lawmakers on visit to Cuba

Syrian and Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta enclave have killed more than 100 civilians for the second straight day and put another hospital out of service.
In a major development in Syria's complex seven-year war, Damascus also sent pro-regime fighters to the northern Afrin region, where they came under fire by Turkish forces attacking the Kurdish-controlled enclave.
On the outskirts of Damascus, air strikes, rockets and artillery fire have been battering the Eastern Ghouta enclave in apparent preparation for a government ground assault.
At least 250 civilians have been killed since the escalation began on Sunday, among them dozens of children, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Bombardment on Tuesday killed 106 civilians, including 19 children, the Britain-based war monitor said.
It was the second straight day that the civilian death toll topped 100, after 127 were killed Monday in Eastern Ghouta's bloodiest day in four years.
The strikes left an ...

Syria, Russia pound rebel enclave, put clinic out of service

Indonesia was battling a rash of forest fires today as it raised an alert over the blazes which occur every year and emit choking smog that can envelop neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia.
Fires have broken out in four provinces -- South Sumatra, Riau, West Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan -- prompting them to declare "alert emergency" status, one notch below the most severe warning.
Hundreds of hectares of land have been destroyed over the past week and the government is stepping up efforts to contain the fires.
The blazes are frequently deliberately set by farmers using fire to clear land for cultivation.
"We are now preparing planes for cloud seeding and helicopters for water bombing," said disaster mitigation agency Sutopo Purwo Nugroho.
The agency will deploy soldiers, police, firefighters and volunteers to combat the fires, officials said.
The annual forest fires on Sumatra island and the Indonesian part of Borneo island typically occur during the months-long dry season which ..

Rash of forest fires breaks out in Indonesia

Australia today named their strongest possible team ahead of their tour opening match against South Africa A starting at Willowmoore Park tomorrow.
The only likely member of their Test starting eleven missing from the warm-up match is opening batsman David Warner, who was captaining Australia's Twenty20 team in the final of a triangular tournament in Auckland, New Zealand, on Wednesday.
The South Africa A team includes five players with international experience.
The first of four Tests starts in Durban on March 1.
Teams:
South Africa A: Khaya Zondo (captain), Theunis de Bruyn, Zubayr Hamza, Beuran Hendricks, Pieter Malan, Wiaan Mulder, Senuran Muthusamy, Duanne Olivier, Rudi Second (wkt), Malusi Siboto, Shaun von Berg.
Australia: Steve Smith (captain), Usman Khawaja, Peter Handscomb, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, Tim Paine (wkt), Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon, Josh Hazlewood.

Australians name best team for opener

High-profile Bahraini activist Nabeel Rajab was sentenced to a further five years in jail today over tweets critical of the war in Yemen, a judicial source and human rights groups said.
Rajab, a leading figure in 2011 protests against the Gulf state's Sunni minority rulers, was already serving a two-year sentence handed down last July for "disseminating rumours and false information" in television interviews critical of the government.
He has served multiple stints in prison since 2012, all linked to his role in the protests.
In the latest case, Rajab was found guilty of insulting a neighbouring country and spreading false news and rumours, a judicial source told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The charges are linked to tweets and retweets, made via Rajab's account and critical of a Saudi-led coalition, including Bahrain, that has been fighting in Yemen in support of its beleaguered government since 2015.
The charges also relate to tweets critical of Bahrain's treatment of inmates at ..

Bahrain activist Rajab sentenced to 5 years for tweets

Record-breaking Alina Zagitova, 15, stole the show in figure skating today as America's Lindsey Vonn wound up her Olympic downhill career by becoming the oldest female alpine ski medallist in Games history.
Zagitova was breathtaking in the Russian-dominated short programme, breaking the world record set just minutes earlier by her team-mate, 18-year-old Evgenia Medvedeva.
It put the Russians top of the standings ahead of Friday's free skate, where Zagitova will attempt to become the youngest women's singles figure skating champion since Tara Lipinski in 1998.
They also look set to win the first gold of the Games for the Olympic Athletes from Russia, who are competing as neutrals after Russia's national team was banned over a major doping scandal.
"We are friends, we are young girls, we can talk about anything with each other," said Medvedeva, 18, who like Zagitova is making her Olympic debut.
"But on the ice, we must fight, I feel like it's a little war, when you skate you are alone," 

Zagitova, 15, smashes skate record as Vonn gets bronze

An armed gang stormed into a rural police station in South Africa today and stole firearms in an attack that left five officers and a soldier dead, police said.
The robbers entered the police station in the southern village of Engcobo shortly after midnight, opening fire on the officers and seizing two others, who were later shot and killed, police spokesman Vish Naidoo said.
"During the early hours of this morning six people were killed when robbers attacked Engcobo police station," Naidoo told AFP.
"Five of the six were on-duty police officers. Three police officers were killed at the police station when robbers attacked the station and randomly opened fire on the members."
Naidoo said the robbers made off with firearms and bundled two other officers into a police car. The bodies of the two were later found dumped on the side of a road.
The attackers also shot and killed a soldier as they fled.
Attacks on police are common in South Africa, which has one of the highest crime rates in 

Six killed in attack on S Africa police station

Australia's ill-fated Tasmanian tiger looked like any other marsupial when born but assumed dog-like features by the time it left the mother's pouch, scientists said today in shedding new light on its puzzling evolution.
Using CT technology, they scanned all 13 juvenile specimens of the extinct carnivore found in collections around the world, developing the first 3D models of the tiger from birth to adulthood.
"These scans show in incredible detail how the Tasmanian tiger started its journey in life as a joey that looked very much like any other marsupial, with robust forearms so that it could climb into its mother's pouch," said Christy Hipsley, from Museums Victoria.
"But by the time it left the pouch around 12 weeks to start independent life, it looked more like a dog or wolf, with longer hind limbs than forelimbs."
Kangaroos, koalas, wombats and the Tasmanian devil are also marsupials.
The animal's resemblance to the dingo, a wild dog native to Australia, is one of the clearest ...

Tasmanian tiger just another marsupial in the pouch

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's move to ban a critical news website from covering the presidential palace is a threat to press freedom, rights and media groups said today.
Rappler, set up in 2012, is among a clutch of Philippine news organisations that have sparred with Duterte over their critical coverage of his drug war which the government says has claimed the lives of nearly 4,000 suspects.
Human rights groups charge that thousands more have been killed by shadowy vigilantes.
Duterte's spokesman said the president had decided to bar Rappler journalists from covering his events due to a "lack of trust".
US-based watchdog Human Rights Watch said the move "threatens media freedoms".
"It could portend a broader assault on journalists and news organizations, whose critical watchdog role has magnified the government's poor human rights record," it said in a statement.
The move came as the site also faced state-enforced closure, after the government's corporate regulator last ...

Duterte slammed for barring Philippine news site from his events

Details of a revamped cross-Pacific pact aimed at slashing trade barriers were released Wednesday amid a renewed push for the United States to rejoin the 11-nation deal.
New Zealand unveiled the official text of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP-11, which had to be redrawn after Donald Trump rejected it last year just days into his presidency.
The nation's Trade Minister David Parker said making it public would allow better scrutiny before it is formally signed in Santiago on March 8.
"New Zealand has been working hard to see the text made public as quickly as possible," Parker said, adding that changes to the original document included the suspension of 22 items relating to areas such as intellectual property and taxpayer subsidised medicine.
Australian Trade Minister Steve Ciobo said the landmark agreement would eliminate more than 98 percent of tariffs in a trade zone with a combined GDP of some US$13 trillion.
"The (Malcolm) Turnbull government wants to see this landmark ...

Text of revised Pacific trade deal released

Lee Chong Wei has revealed he once rejected an offer by a match-fixer and said he was "ashamed" two fellow Malaysian badminton players were under investigation over alleged fixing, a report said today.
World number two Lee said he was approached a few years ago, without giving further details.
"Money is not everything to me," he was cited as saying in Kuala Lumpur by Malaysia's New Straits Times newspaper.
"For me, national pride comes first and it is my responsibility to uphold it."
The 35-year-old's revelation came after news emerged last week that two Malaysian players are being investigated by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) for suspected match-fixing.
The pair, who are reportedly due to face a BWF hearing in Singapore later this month, could be banned for life if found guilty.
Lee, a three-time Olympic silver medallist, said the allegations had "tarnished" Malaysia's reputation.
"As a top player, I feel embarrassed and ashamed," he said. "I hope the case comes to an end ...

Badminton ace Lee was approached by match-fixer: report

Team captain Jim Furyk named Tiger Woods and Steve Stricker as vice captains for the American Ryder Cup team.
Furyk made the announcement at PGA of America headquarters in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
The Ryder Cup will be played September 28-30 at Le Golf National outside of Paris, France. The Americans have not won in Europe since 1993.
Furyk had previously named 2012 and 2016 captain Davis Love to be a vice captain.
Furyk, Woods and Love served as assistants on Stricker's winning American Presidents Cup team last year.
Woods was an assistant for the US Ryder Cup victory at Hazeltine in 2016.

Woods, Stricker named vice captains for Ryder Cup

Serena Williams says she lives in fear of blood clots, a condition that surfaced during a harrowing postnatal ordeal in September when she almost died giving birth to her first child.
In an op-ed piece she wrote for CNN on Tuesday, the tennis legend lifted the lid on her near-death experience while giving birth to daughter, Olympia, after getting blood clots in her lungs.
"I almost died after giving birth to my daughter," Williams said.
The 23-time Grand Slam champion Williams said she had to have an emergency Cesarean section surgery after her heart rate plummeted dramatically during contractions. The surgery was successful and before she knew it she was holding the newborn.
"But what followed just 24 hours after giving birth were six days of uncertainty," she said.
In a Vogue magazine interview in January, Williams said that during her postnatal ordeal she suffered a pulmonary embolism -- when blood clots block one or more arteries in the lungs.
But this was not the first time the ..

Williams says terrifying health scare almost killed her

Venezuela has formally launched its new oil-backed cryptocurrency in an unconventional bid to haul itself out of a deepening economic crisis.
The leftist Caracas government put 38.4 million units of the world's first state-backed digital currency, the Petro, on private pre-sale from the early hours.
During the first 20 hours of the pre-sale, which runs through March 19, Venezuela received "intent to buy" offers to the tune of USD 735 million, according to President Nicolas Maduro.
"The Petro reinforces our independence and economic sovereignty and will allow us to fight the greed of foreign powers that try to suffocate Venezuelan families to seize our oil," he said.
A total of 100 million Petros will go on sale, with an initial value set at USD 60, based on the price of a barrel of Venezuelan crude in mid-January -- but subject to change.
Economist and cryptocurrency expert Jean-Paul Leidenz told AFP prices during the pre-sale "will be agreed privately," and will then fluctuate ...

AFP

AFP

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