US President Donald Trump announced Republican lawmaker John Ratcliffe as his intelligence chief Friday, sparking fresh controversy over a crucial position that has lacked a permanent office holder for months.
The 53-year-old Trump loyalist was nominated as director of national intelligence after Dan Coats stepped down in July last year, but withdrew from consideration after strong criticism of his credentials from Democrats and a tepid response from key Republicans.
Trump instead named counterterrorism expert Joseph McGuire as acting director, overseeing the 17 agencies of the intelligence community including the CIA and National Security Agency.
But he forced McGuire out on February 20 after a senior intelligence official told Congress in a closed briefing that the Russians were again supporting Trump's bid for re-election.
The revolving door continued to spin as Trump appointed another loyalist, Richard Grenell, two weeks ago. But the former ambassador to Germany had no relevant ...

Trump nominates controversial ally as intel chief

PTI Automatic

Moscow is "ready to de-escalate with anyone" in the battleground Idlib region of northwestern Syria, Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia told the Security Council on Friday.
His comments came as the Council held emergency talks on the escalation of fighting in the country, after 33 Turkish soldiers were killed in a Syrian air raid.
Nebenzia's remarks marked a change of course from Thursday, when Russia maintained that the Security Council was holding too many meetings on the Syria issue.
The emergency talks were requested by the United States, Germany, Britain, France, Belgium, Estonia, and the Dominican Republic -- some of which have stated publicly that they support Turkey.
"A Russian delegation is currently in Ankara to stabilise the situation," Nebenzia said, adding that his country was "ready to de-escalate with anyone who wants to" in Idlib.
The ambassador reiterated that Moscow "had not participated in the attacks".
The meeting was the Security Council's sixth on ...

Russia tells Security Council 'ready to de-escalate with anyone' in Syria's Idlib

US regulators moved to impose fines Friday against the nation's four major wireless carriers for selling location data of customers without their consent.
The Federal Communications Commission proposed fining T-Mobile more than USD 91 million; AT&T some USD 57 million; Verizon USD 48 million, and Sprint USD 12 million.
The wireless firms were accused of having disclosed mobile network user location data to a third party without authorisation from customers, the FCC said.
The FCC began an investigation after a report that a sheriff in Missouri used a "location-finding service" operated by a prison communications services company called Securus to track whereabouts of people, including a judge and law enforcement officers.
The carriers provided access to customer location data to "aggregators" who then resold information to services such as Securus, according to the regulator.
"American consumers take their wireless phones with them wherever they go," FCC chairman Ajit Pai said in a ...

Regulators move to fine telecoms for selling location data

The United States on Friday warned against non-essential travel to Italy, a top destination for US tourists, over the growing coronavirus epidemic.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention "recommends that travellers avoid all non-essential travel to Italy. There is limited access to adequate medical care in affected areas", it said in a statement.
The State Department raised its travel advice a notch for Italy to "reconsider travel", pointing to a "sustained community spread" of the virus there.
Italy has reported 650 coronavirus cases and 17 deaths -- the most in Europe from the epidemic that originated in China, which is by far the most affected country.
Italy has urged tourists not to stay away, even as nearly a dozen cities in the north are under a lockdown.
More than 5.6 million Americans visited Italy in 2018, the second highest of all nationalities after Germans, according to Italian statistics.

US urges citizens to avoid non-essential travel to Italy over coronavirus

President Donald Trump on Friday chose Republican lawmaker John Ratcliffe to become the US intelligence chief, seven months after questions about the congressman's credentials torpedoed a previous plan to nominate him.
If the Senate approves Ratcliffe as the director of national intelligence, he would replace Richard Grenell, whose appointment two weeks ago as the acting director of the agency overseeing the US intelligence community drew strong criticisms.
"John is an outstanding man of great talent!" Trump tweeted.

Trump nominates Republican lawmaker John Ratcliffe as intelligence chief

Joe Biden scrambled to salvage his flagging presidential hopes Friday on the eve of South Carolina's Democratic primary, where nothing less than a decisive victory can help him rebound and challenge frontrunner Bernie Sanders.
The former vice president is the firm favourite in the first state in the race with a substantial African-American Democratic electorate -- but trails far behind the surging leftist in nationwide polls.
Both candidates will have a better picture of their prospects just days after South Carolina, with 14 states voting on "Super Tuesday" and a third of the delegates who formally choose the Democrat to face President Donald Trump in November up for grabs.
Biden, the former frontrunner who failed to notch a win in the first three states, said he hopes South Carolina will propel him into national contention.
"I've worked hard to earn these votes, and I think I'll do well," the 77-year-old told CNN early Friday, before heading to a trio of 11th-hour events.
"It's been 

Biden counting on South Carolina as 'Super Tuesday' looms

A federal appeals court on Friday blocked a key asylum policy of Donald Trump's administration which has forced many applicants to wait in Mexico while their claims are processed, delivering a blow to the US president's signature crackdown on migration at the southern border.
The policy, known as "Remain in Mexico", has been used to send tens of thousands of asylum seekers from Central America back to Mexico, but was placed on hold by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.
The court ruled that the policy "is invalid in its entirety" under US law concerning migrant rights and UN refugee protocols, and should be blocked "in its entirety".
The court had originally allowed the policy to go ahead last year, pending the appeal, overruling a district judge who had ruled against the measure.
The district judge had heard evidence that migrants returned to Mexico under the policy faced discrimination, physical violence, sexual assault, corruption and lack of food and shelter.
Some 

US court blocks Trump's 'Remain in Mexico' asylum policy

Saudi Arabia on Friday barred citizens from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council from entering two of Islam's holiest cities amid fears over the new coronavirus, the foreign ministry said.
The decision to halt access to Mecca and Medina comes a day after the kingdom suspended visas for the year-round "umrah" pilgrimage, an unprecedented move that has left tens of thousands of Muslim pilgrims around the world in limbo.
The foreign ministry announced in a statement "the temporary suspension of entry of (GCC) citizens to the cities of Mecca and Medina". The GCC states include Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar.
The ministry statement did not specify whether this suspension extended to Saudi citizens.
But it said the decision excludes "GCC citizens who have been in the kingdom for 14 consecutive days and did not show signs of coronavirus infection".
Saudi Arabia has so far reported no coronavirus cases but there are mounting concerns over a spike in ...

Saudi bars Gulf citizens from holy cities over coronavirus fears

At least 12 people were killed and more than 20 injured on Friday in clashes in central Somalia between the army and a Sufi militia opposed to the regional administration, a local leader told AFP.
Fighting broke out between the army and the Ahlu Sunna Wal Jamaa (ASWJ) militia on Thursday night in Dhumasareb, the capital of the semi-autonomous Galmudug region, and intensified on Friday.
"There is still sporadic gunfire and there are casualties inflicted on both sides," a local elder, Mohamed Moalim Adan, told AFP by phone.
"We are receiving information that at least 12 people had been killed, including civilians, and more 20 others wounded so far."
Earlier this month, the parliament of Galmudug elected Ahmed Abdi Kariye, a former minister backed by the federal government, as president of the region.
ASWJ leader Sheikh Mohamed Shakir rejected the result and declared himself president. A former Galmudug president, Ahmed Duale, also claimed victory by forming his own parliament.
"This ...

12 killed in fighting in central Somalia

Paris police reported a fire Friday near the Gare de Lyon train station, which was partially evacuated after violence broke out on the margins of a banned protest against a Congolese artist giving a concert nearby.
"Avoid the area and allow the emergency services to intervene," the police said on Twitter, later saying the fire had been brought under control and was "being extinguished."
Police said it had intervened to stop protesters who set alight garbage bins and scooters, releasing a thick, black smoke cloud over the city centre.
The SCNF train service operator said the underground section of the Gare de Lyon was evacuated as a precautionary measure.
Police had banned any protests around the AccorHotels Arena in Paris, not far from the station, where Congolese artist Fally Ipupa was to give a concert.
Congolese expats regularly speak out against artists from home who perform in France or Belgium, accusing them of being close to former DR Congo president Joseph Kabila and his ...

Fire in central Paris, train station evacuated during protests: police

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his US counterpart Donald Trump agreed in a phone call on Friday on steps to avoid a "humanitarian tragedy" in northern Syria, the Turkish presidency said.
The call came after 33 Turkish soldiers were killed in an air strike by Russian-backed Syrian regime forces in the northwestern province of Idlib on Thursday, triggering a deadly retaliation by Ankara.
"The two leaders agreed on additional steps without delay in order to avert a big humanitarian tragedy unfolding in the Idlib region," the Turkish presidency said in a statement.
Erdogan told Trump that Turkey had delivered the necessary response to the perpetrators of the "despicable attack aimed at our heroic soldiers" and reiterated Ankara's determination to clear "regime elements" from areas in Idlib covered by a ceasefire agreement signed by Ankara and Moscow in 2018, it said.

Erdogan, Trump agree on steps to avoid 'humanitarian tragedy' in Idlib

The World Health Organisation on Friday raised its global risk assessment of the new coronavirus to its highest level after the epidemic spread to sub-Saharan Africa and caused financial markets to plunge.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the risk was being raised to "very high" because of the continued increase in cases and the number of new countries affected in recent days.
These developments "are clearly of concern", Tedros told reporters in Geneva.
But he added: "We still have a chance of containing this virus, if robust action is taken to detect cases early, isolate and care for patients and trace contacts."
The virus has proliferated around the globe over the past week, emerging on every continent except Antarctica, prompting many governments and businesses to try to stop people travelling or gathering in crowded places.
Switzerland became the latest country to announce drastic measures on Friday, saying all events with more than 1,000 participants would be suspended ..

WHO raises global virus risk to maximum level

Chelsea manager Frank Lampard has revealed the club "are not clear" on how long Tammy Abraham will be out of action following a recurrence of the England striker's ankle injury.
The 22-year-old limped away from Chelsea's warm-down after the London club's chastening 3-0 loss at home to German giants Bayern Munich in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Abraham managed to play through the pain in Chelsea's 2-2 draw at Leicester on February 1 but it now appears he failed to recover fully and may have exacerbated his original injury.
"For Tammy it's the same -- we are trying to find a solution. It's obviously frustrating that he comes in and out somewhat, but he's injured," Lampard said Friday.
The Chelsea boss said he was uncertain as to how long Abraham would be sidelined on this occasion.
"I don't know, we need to see," he said.
"I speak to the doctors every day about it but we are not actually clear on that one.
"At the minute he's not doing anything active for the next couple of days, so 

Chelsea face uncertainty over Abraham injury

Manchester City defender Aymeric Laporte could be out of action for up to a month with a hamstring injury, manager Pep Guardiola confirmed on Friday.
The Frenchman was forced off in the first half of Wednesday's Champions League victory at Real Madrid -- just his eighth appearance of an injury-ravaged season.
"He has a hamstring injury, so that is normally three weeks or one month, more or less," said Guardiola.
"We tried to avoid it but unfortunately it has happened after four or five months out and then going directly into a big game. It sometimes happens."
Laporte suffered a knee injury in late August and then suffered a setback on his return in January, keeping out for a further month.
The clash at the Bernabeu was just the third game of his latest comeback.
The 25-year-old has been sorely missed throughout a season in which City have failed to mount a strong defence of their Premier League title.
His injury could hamper their quest for silverware on other fronts. He will miss ...

Laporte out for 'up to a month', says Man City boss Guardiola

The EU has received "reassurances" from the Turkish foreign minister that Ankara will stick to its side of a deal restricting migrant flows to Europe, the bloc's diplomatic chief said Friday.
EU foreign policy high representative Josep Borrell held talks by telephone with Turkey's Mevlut Cavusoglu after Ankara threatened to open the gates for refugees to flee to Europe -- raising the spectre of a repeat of the 2015-2016 migrant crisis.
The warning came as Turkey sought international support after 33 of its soldiers were killed in an air strike in Syria. Ankara publicly blamed the deaths on the Damascus regime.
The Turkish threat to allow refugees free passage prompted Bulgaria and Greece to say they were tightening border security.
But Borrell said Cavusoglu had assured him Turkey stood by a 2016 deal with Brussels that dramatically cut the flow of migrants crossing the Aegean Sea to Greece.
"Spoke to Turkish Foreign Minister @MevlutCavusoglu. De-escalation remains key to effectively .

EU receives Turkey 'reassurances' over migrant deal: Borrell

Manchester United will meet Austrian club LASK in the last 16 of the Europa League, while Wolves were pitted against Olympiakos in Friday's draw in Nyon.
United, who lifted the trophy in 2017, are one of six former champions left in the competition. The first leg will be played in Linz on March 12 with the return a week later at Old Trafford.
Austrian league leaders LASK made their group stage debut this season and secured a 3-1 aggregate win over Dutch outfit AZ Alkmaar in the last 32.
Wolves progressed to the last 16 of a major European competition for the first time since finishing runners-up in the UEFA Cup in 1971-72, after overcoming Spanish strugglers Espanyol.
Nuno Espirito Santo's side will take on an Olympiakos team that shocked Arsenal in the last round, the Greeks advancing on away goals following a 2-1 extra-time victory in London.
Steven Gerrard's Rangers, the 2008 finalists, face Bayer Leverkusen who dumped out Porto in a clash of two former winners of the ...

Man Utd to play Austria's LASK in Europa League last 16

Jurgen Klopp praised his Liverpool players' fighting qualities as the runaway Premier League leaders prepare to take on a team in the relegation zone for the third consecutive match.
Liverpool face second-bottom Watford on Saturday on the cusp of their 19th league win, which would set a new record in English football.
It follows hard-fought victories in the past two weeks against struggling Norwich and West Ham.
"We have to be 100 percent ready for these fights and that's what I love most about my boys, that they are ready to fight," Klopp said at his pre-match press conference on Friday.
"It's not that when they realise in a game it's not the clicking day today that they then lose the desire or whatever.
"No, it's the other way around -- that we try it in a different way and try to find another way and that's really brought us in the position we are."
Klopp is anticipating a physical battle against Nigel Pearson's Watford, who have taken just two points from a possible 15 after a ...

Klopp praises Liverpool's 'fighting' qualities

Mexico's Health Ministry confirmed the country's first cases of coronavirus on Friday, saying two men who recently returned from Italy tested positive for the virus.
Two other men who were part of the same group visiting Bergamo in northern Italy are under observation, a health ministry official said.
Italy is Europe's epicentre with 650 cases and 17 deaths centred around cities in the north.
One of Mexico's confirmed cases, a 35-year-old resident of the capital, "has a mild, mild illness," with symptoms "similar to that of a cold," said Hugo Lopez-Gatell, a senior health ministry official.
"He is a young individual and so he is at very low risk." The man and five members of his family have been isolated in the National Institute of Respiratory Diseases, Lopez-Gatell said.
The second positive case, a 41-year-old man who also returned from Bergamo, is in isolation at a hotel in the northwestern state of Sinaloa after being tested by regional authorities, the official said.
"We have two 

Mexico confirms first two cases of coronavirus, linked to Italy

Tottenham striker Harry Kane is ahead of schedule in his recovery from hamstring surgery, with boss Jose Mourinho banking on him being fit to take part in the club's push for a Champions League spot.
Kane went under the knife in January after rupturing his tendon against Southampton on New Year's Day and Mourinho initially feared he might not play again this season.
But the England captain is a notoriously quick healer and is making good progress, having begun on-field rehabilitation this week.
Mourinho has said that he may now get five games out of his talisman at the end of the season, with the north London derby against Arsenal at the end of April looking a possibility.
It is a big boost for Tottenham, who have no fit strikers, and England boss Gareth Southgate ahead of Euro 2020.
"I would say a little bit ahead, it gives me a hope of, instead of one or two matches, (it will be) three, four or five. I don't know," Mourinho said on Friday.
"Just speculating a little bit but the ...

Kane could return for Spurs ahead of schedule, says Mourinho

Marnus Labuschagne will be supported by several of his South African family when he plays for Australia in the first one-day international against South Africa at Boland Park on Saturday.
Some of those family members share his surname -- but not the way it is pronounced.
It has been a source of some amusement for South Africans to hear the way Australia's rising batting star's name is pronounced -- Lab-u-shane, quite different from the more guttural Afrikaans Lab-u-scargh-nay.
"Lab-u-shane is my taken name now because I'm Australian," he said on Friday in his first press conference in the land of his birth.
"Obviously there is the traditional way it is pronounced over here but I'm not bothered at all. I'm not concerned how it is pronounced."
Born in the mining town of Klerksdorp, Labuschagne's father, Andre, accepted a mining job and took the family to Australia when Marnus was nine, about to turn 10.
The 'Australian' way of saying his name started when he began school in ...

Family support for Australia's Labuschagne in South Africa

Premier League club Newcastle United have introduced a handshake ban to protect against the spread of the coronavirus, manager Steve Bruce said on Friday.
"There's a ritual here that everybody shakes hands with everybody as soon as we see each other every morning -- we've stopped that on the advice of the doctor," Bruce said.
"We are like everybody else. Thankfully, we've got a superb doctor here and he will keep us informed of what we have to do.
"We're like everybody else, we're glued to the TV for where it's going to go next and let's hope it doesn't get any worse in this country."
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said the club took the threat of the coronavirus seriously but there was no current advice not to shake hands at the club.
"We don't do some things that we maybe usually would do but that's when the flu is going around it's for us the same," he told his pre-match press conference.
"We cannot do anything different to that."
He added: "In the end nobody has told us yet that ..

AFP

AFP

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