Nigerian police have rescued 24 babies and four expectant mothers from an illegal maternity home in the southern oil city of Port Harcourt, a spokesman said Thursday.
"In a covert operation on Tuesday, our men burst a child trafficking syndicate at Woji in Port Harcourt where 24 babies between the ages of one and two, and four pregnant teenagers were rescued," Nnamdi Omoni told AFP.
He said the victims were looking "frail and malnourished" and had been hospitalised while investigations were ongoing to find those responsible for the facility.
Police raids on illegal maternity units -- dubbed "baby factories" -- have been relatively common in Nigeria, especially in the south.
The "factories" are usually small facilities parading as private medical clinics that house pregnant women and offer their babies for sale. In some cases, young women have allegedly been held against their will and raped, with their newborns sold on the black market.
But security services say many cases have seen ..

24 babies, pregnant teens freed from Nigeria 'baby factory'

PTI Automatic

Sri Lanka have recalled all-rounder Thisara Perera to the 15-member Twenty20 to play two matches against the visiting West Indies.
The cricket board said right-arm medium-pacer Nuwan Pradeep, who was dropped from the three-match Twenty20 series against India earlier this year, was also brought back.
Sri Lanka retained the ODI squad with the exception of Dimuth Karunaratne who skippered the 50-overs team, but does not play in the shortest form of the game.
In the current three-match ODI series against West Indies, Sri Lanka has already won two and the series with one more match to be played in Kandy on Sunday.
The first Twenty20 is on Wednesday while the other will be on Friday.  Both matches will be played in Kandy.
The Sri Lanka squad: Lasith Malinga (captain), Avishka Fernando, Kusal Perera, Shehan Jayasuriya, Niroshan Dickwella, Kusal Mendis, Angelo Mathews, Dhananjaya de Silva, Thisara Perera, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Lakshan Sandakan, Isuru Udana, Nuwan Pradeep and ...

Sri Lanka brings back Perera, Pradeep into T20 squad

The African Union confirmed Thursday that it expected to send a temporary deployment of 3,000 troops to West Africa's Sahel region, where regional forces are struggling to respond to a nearly eight-year-old onslaught by armed Islamists.
The decision was made at the AU summit earlier this month, Smail Chergui, head of the AU's Peace and Security Commission, said at a press conference.
"On the decision of the summit to work on deploying a force of 3,000 troops to help the Sahel countries degrade terrorist groups, I think this is a decision that we'll be working on together with the G5 Sahel and ECOWAS," Chergui said.
"I think this decision has been taken because as we see, as you can recognise yourself, the threat is expanding, it's becoming more complex."
G5 Sahel is a 5,000-member joint force already on the ground in the Sahel, and ECOWAS is the West African regional bloc.
A localised revolt that began in northern Mali in 2012 has spread to the centre of the country and to ...

African Union says preparing 3,000-troop deployment to Sahel

Zinedine Zidane said Real Madrid are down but not out in the Champions League yet the stark reality is their season could be over in March for a second year running if they keep unravelling in the Clasico on Sunday.
In more than half a century of playing in Europe's premier competition, Real have never overturned a first leg defeat at home to go through, indicating the size of the task in front of them when they face Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium on March 10.
"We know the situation, we have to go there and win," Zidane said.
"If there is any team that can do it, with their experience and history, it is Real Madrid," admitted Pep Guardiola.
But even if the 2-1 loss is still retrievable, a five-point deficit behind Barcelona in La Liga might not be, should Zidane's team do the unthinkable and make it three consecutive defeats in the week that was billed as potentially season-defining.
They can take heart from Barca's own, numerous, fallibilities but lose this weekend, and a kind 

Real on the rocks again as Zidane pins hopes on Clasico recovery

The African Union chief on Thursday highlighted "differences" over topics like international justice and gay rights at a meeting with the European Union intended to deepen the partnership between their continents.
"Certainly, we have our differences. International criminal justice, sexual orientation and identity, the death penalty, the centrality of the African Union in certain crises, etcetera," Moussa Faki Mahamat, chair of the African Union Commission, said at a press conference kicking off a meeting between AU and EU leaders.
Calling these differences "normal", Faki said they could be overcome only with "recognition and acceptance".
Thursday's talks mark the second visit by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to AU headquarters in less than three months.
In December she chose to visit the AU on her first trip outside Europe after taking her post, a decision she said at the time was intended to send a "strong political message" about Europe's partnership with ...

AU chief flags disputes over gay rights, justice in EU talks

European and the Tokyo stock markets slumped once again on Thursday as new coronavirus infections surged outside China.
While the markets in Shanghai and Hong Kong both closed higher, Europe was a sea of red with London, Frankfurt, Paris and Italy all down around 2.0 per cent approaching the half-way mark.
Tokyo closed with a loss of 2.1 per cent.
Oil prices also tumbled more than two per cent, while the yen gained as traders turned to a traditional haven in times of economic turbulence.
"The stock market sell-off has picked up pace once more, with European markets... heavily in the red on continued fears of a global coronavirus pandemic," remarked Joshua Mahony, senior market analyst at IG trading group.
"What was a centralised focus on Italian containment efforts has now turned into a European-wide crisis as new cases pop up throughout the continent."
President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday said France was preparing for a jump in the number of coronavirus cases, adding "we are going ..

European, Tokyo stocks slump as virus takes hold outside China

The organiser of Geneva's international expo of fine watches said Thursday it had decided to cancel the April event because of the spread of the deadly new coronavirus.
"In view of the latest developments concerning the worldwide spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus... the decision has been taken to cancel the upcoming edition of Watches and Wonders Geneva," said the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie.
The announcement came as more than 2,700 people worldwide have died of COVID-19, and almost 80,000 have been infected, mainly in China.
Switzerland reported its first case this week, and by Thursday the number of cases had grown to five, including one in Geneva.
The Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie said that "in order to protect the health and wellbeing of all our guests, press, partners and teams" it had decided to cancel the event, due to have taken place from April 25-29.
The event is a major trade show for the luxury watch industry and is particularly important for the many ...

Geneva watch expo cancelled over coronavirus

Zimbabwe faces a grim economic outlook this year and is also at risk of an extreme humanitarian crisis, the International Monetary Fund warned Thursday.
An IMF team issued the warning after experts visited the southern African country and met with officials there.
Zimbabwe's economy has been in a slump for more than a decade, with chronic shortages of cash, fuel, medicines and food, and shops are now even running out of cornmeal, a main source of nourishment.
The worst drought in 40 years has added to the misery, and more than half of the country's 15 million people are suffering food shortages.
"Executive directors noted with concern that Zimbabwe is facing an economic and humanitarian crisis exacerbated by policy missteps and climate?related shocks," an IMF statement said.
"With another poor harvest expected, growth in 2020 is expected at nearly zero with food shortages continuing," the global lender added.
The IMF said while government's 2020 budget provides "a significant increase 

Zimbabwe risks 'deep humanitarian' crisis, IMF warns

Premier League leaders Liverpool made a pre-tax profit of ?42 million ($54 million) last year despite a record ?223 million investment on players, figures showed on Thursday.
While that top line is well below the record ?125 million profit for the year ending May 2018, the rewards are being felt on the pitch, with the club just four victories away from winning their first league title in 30 years.
Figures released for the financial year to May 31, 2019 incorporate the big-ticket purchases of Alisson Becker, Naby Keita, Fabinho and Xherdan Shaqiri.
They also include the increased costs of new contracts for 11 players, including those for captain Jordan Henderson, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, who have all played a key role in helping Jurgen Klopp's champions-elect establish a 22-point lead at the top of the table.
Some of that cost was offset by sales including Danny Ings, Dominic Solanke and Danny Ward.
Income was also boosted by the club's success in winning a sixth Champions League .

Liverpool post healthy profit despite transfer spending

The coronavirus epidemic in Iran has cost 26 lives, the health ministry announced Thursday, with seven new deaths reported over 24 hours as the spread appeared to accelerate.
Ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour also told a press briefing that 106 more cases of the disease had been confirmed, raising the tally of infections to 245, the highest outside China where COVID-19 originated.
The additional cases made up the highest number for a single day since Iran announced its first cases on February 19.
Among the latest sufferers of the new coronavirus is Mojtaba Zolnour, head of parliament's national security and foreign affairs committee, who appeared in a video posted by Fars news agency saying he was in self-quarantine.
The cleric is a deputy for the Shiite holy city of Qom in central Iran where the country's first cases were detected.
The announcement by Zolnour comes two days after another top official, deputy health minister Iraj Harirchi, head of the government's coronavirus task 

Iran coronavirus deaths jump to 26

Manchester City's European ban means they are under enormous pressure to win the Champions League this season and they are one step closer after arguably their greatest result in the competition at Real Madrid.
Nothing is won yet, not even after City's 2-1 victory in the first leg of the last-16 tie at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday, as Pep Guardiola was keen to point out.
Real, who been European champions a record 13 times, have a history of dramatic comebacks However, City's first-ever victory against one of Europe's traditional giants in the knockout stages of the Champions League was vindication for Guardiola.
"For us to win at the Bernabeu is a great satisfaction for us," said the City boss.
"It is incredible to be able to win here for us because we are not used to doing these things.
"We hope it will help us in the future to believe in ourselves and to be able to go to any stadium and play the way we have."
Guardiola said earlier this week City's two-year Champions League ...

Landmark Man City win in Madrid vindicates Guardiola

Britain's Court of Appeal on Thursday ruled in favour of green campaigners who oppose the building of a third runway at London's Heathrow airport, Europe's busiest.
The court said the UK government -- which in 2018 approved the Heathrow extension -- had failed to take into account its commitments to the Paris Agreement to limit climate warming.
The legal action against the approval was brought by various London councils, environmental groups including Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth, and London Mayor Sadiq Khan. They lost at an original hearing in May.
In a summary, judge Keith Lindblom said the Conservative government under then-prime minister Theresa May gave no explanation of how it took into account the 2015 Paris accord -- which seeks to cap climate warming to less than two degrees Celsius.
"The Paris Agreement ought to have been taken into account... and an explanation given as to how it was taken into account, but it was not," Lord Justice Lindblom said.  The judge added ...

Climate campaigners win appeal to block new Heathrow runway

A blogger from Russia's mainly Muslim region of Chechnya critical of its strongman leader Ramzan Kadyrov said Thursday he had fended off an attacker armed with a hammer while at home in exile in Europe.
Tumso Abdurakhmanov posted a video showing the attacker, whom he had apparently overpowered, covered in blood. He also brandished the hammer that he said the assailant wanted to kill him with.
The Sweden-based Chechen rights group Vayfond described the attack as an "assassination attempt".
Abdurakhmanov, currently in Poland, has lived in exile since 2015 after receiving what he describes as threats to his life from Chechnya.
His YouTube video blog critical of Kadyrov has some 75,000 subscribers.
He gained greater international prominence earlier this year when he said that the murder of another Chechen blogger, Imran Aliev -- known as Mansur Stariy -- in the French city of Lille in late January was an assassination carried out by another Chechen whom he named.
"Who sent you? Where did .

Anti-Kadyrov Chechen blogger says target of hammer attack

Scandal-hit opera star Placido Domingo on Thursday said his apology over sexual harassment allegations had given a "false impression" but cancelled his appearance in an upcoming performance in Madrid.
"I feel I have to issue another statement to correct the false impression generated by my apology," he said in a statement that said he had withdrawn from "La Traviata" at Madrid's Teatro Real and would do the same with any theatre or opera house "that might have difficulties" with his presence.
The latest statement came two days after the 79-year-old, who faces multiple allegations of sexual harassment, apologised for "the hurt" caused to his accusers, saying he accepted "full responsibility" for his actions.
At least 20 women have accused Domingo of forcibly kissing, grabbing or fondling them in incidents dating back to the 1980s, and on Tuesday, the AGMA union said an internal probe found the storied tenor-turned-baritone had engaged in a pattern of "inappropriate activity".
But the ..

Domingo says apology gave 'false impression', drops Spain show

Britain's Court of Appeal on Thursday ruled in favour of green campaigners who oppose a third runway at London's Heathrow airport, Europe's busiest.
The court said the UK government that had given the Heathrow extension the green light in 2018 had failed to take into account the Paris Agreement to limit climate warming.

Climate campaigners win appeal against new Heathrow runway

The UN rights chief called Thursday on the authorities in Guinea to ensure this weekend's votes are transparent and inclusive, warning that any escalation in the country's crisis would be "profoundly harmful".
Guinea, a country with a long tradition of political turmoil, is to vote on Sunday in a referendum and in a legislative election.
The referendum on constitutional changes is seen by critics as a ploy by President Alpha Conde, 81, to stay in power for a third term, after a decade in power.
Months of protests against the referendum have resulted in "dozens of deaths," Michelle Bachelet told the UN Human Rights Council on Thursday.
"Reports also indicate that ethnic divisions are deepening, with increasing incitement to hatred and violence on social media and at political rallies," she said.
"Any further escalation of this crisis could be profoundly harmful."
Bachelet highlighted a warning about  "serious irregularities in the voters' register" from the international association of 

Guinea vote must be 'transparent': UN rights chief

Countries should only use quarantine against the deadly new coronavirus when truly needed, and must respect the rights of those in isolation, the UN rights chief said Thursday.
Addressing the UN Human Rights Council, Michelle Bachelet hailed the medical teams around the world working to rein in the COVID-19 outbreak that has killed more than 2,700 people and infected more than 80,000 worldwide.
But she said that respec for human rights needed to guide the response.  "All public health measures should be carried out without discrimination of any kind," the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said.
She said the ongoing epidemic, which began in China, had "set off a disturbing wave of prejudice against people of Chinese and East Asian ethnicity".
In particular, Bachelet voiced concern about widespread use of quarantine to halt the spread of the virus.
"Quarantines which restrict the right to freedom of movement should be proportionate to the risk, time-bound and safe," she said.
"The ..

Virus quarantines must be 'proportionate', respect rights: UN

President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday that France was preparing for a jump in the number of coronavirus cases, adding "we are going to have to deal with it as best we can."
"We are facing a crisis, an epidemic that is coming," Macron said while visiting staff at the La Pitie-Salpetriere hospital in Paris, where the first French person carrying the new coronavirus died Tuesday.
"We know that we're only at the beginning... we're going to try with all our caretakers to make the right decisions," Macron said alongside Health Minister Olivier Veran.
"You had a case here... I know this affected many of your teams," he said, pledging to address the crisis "truthfully" so that measures can be taken "calmly".
France has reported 18 cases so far and two deaths, including an 80-year-old Chinese tourist who was the first casualty of the virus reported outside Asia.
The second was a 60-year-old teacher, a case that has worried officials because he had not travelled to an outbreak hotspot.
A ...

Macron says France facing coronavirus 'epidemic'

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday called on schools to close nationwide from March 2 for several weeks to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.
"The government considers the health and safety of children above anything else," Abe said.
"We request all primary, junior high and high schools... across the nation to close temporarily from March 2 next week until their spring break." The spring break for public schools usually starts in late March in Japan and lasts several weeks.
"Efforts to prevent the spread of infections among children are being made in various areas," Abe added.
Many public elementary schools and junior high schools in northern Hokkaido were already closed on Thursday after the governor requested public schools to close for about a week.
The city of Osaka also said it will close its kindergartens, elementary and junior high schools from Saturday for two weeks.
Abe's call comes after the government urged organisers of major events to consider ...

Japan PM calls for nationwide closure of schools over virus

A team preparing for UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet's possible visit to the tightly controlled Muslim-majority Chinese region of Xinjiang this year should be given "unfettered access", she said on Thursday.
In a speech in Geneva, Bachelet welcomed the invitation from China to tour the region but added: "We will continue to request unfettered access for an advance team in preparation for this proposed visit".
"We will seek to analyse in depth the human rights situation in China, including the situation of members of the Uighur minority," she said, addressing the UN Human Rights Council.
China has come under international criticism for its treatment of the Uighurs, with activists and witnesses saying it is trying to forcibly integrate the mostly Muslim ethnic group and strip them of their Islamic heritage.
Beijing has described internment camps in which an estimated one million Uighurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic Turkic minorities have been held as educational.  China's Ambassador 

UN demands 'unfettered access' for China Uighur region visit

Six Asian Champions League games were postponed over the coronavirus on Thursday as the Asian Football Confederation wrestles with the deadly outbreak.
Four Iranian clubs were affected by the postponements, which came as the regional body announced emergency talks over the epidemic.
Next month's World Cup qualifiers could also be disrupted, and the women's Olympic playoffs involving China, South Korea, Vietnam and Australia will be rescheduled.
"These are unprecedented and challenging times, but the AFC is working tirelessly to monitor the situation," AFC general secretary Windsor John said in a statement.
The Champions League has been hard hit by the outbreak, with Chinese clubs mostly sidelined until April and one game in South Korea set to take place behind closed doors.
Next week's four games involving clubs from Iran -- which has the highest toll outside China, with 22 dead -- have all been postponed.
FC Seoul's home game against Chiangrai United of Thailand will also be played ..

AFP

AFP

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