Almost 600,000 members of Britain's main opposition Labour party began voting on Monday for a new leader to replace leftist Jeremy Corbyn in the wake of a devastating election defeat.
Three candidates -- all members of parliament -- are on the ballot paper, with the final result due to be announced on April 4.
Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer is currently the frontrunner, viewed as more moderate than his main rival, Corbyn ally and business spokeswoman Rebecca Long-Bailey.
The third candidate, Lisa Nandy, is well-regarded in Westminster but has a low public profile.
Corbyn was elected Labour leader in 2015 in a shock result, after a political career spent on the sidelines of a party where few MPs share his staunch socialist views.
Now 70, he drew an enthusiastic following among young people but was forced to step down after a second general election defeat in December.
Labour suffered its worst result since 1935 while Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson triumphed with his promise ..

UK Labour members vote on leader to replace Corbyn

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Angela Merkel's centre-right CDU will choose a new leader at a special congress in April or May, sources said on Monday, as the party scrambles to prepare for the veteran German chancellor's departure.
Merkel's initial heir apparent, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, resigned as party leader this month over a scandal involving apparent cooperation with the far right.
The surprise move threw open the race to succeed Merkel, who has been in power for more than 14 years and plans to bow out at the next general elections in 2021.
The Christian Democratic Union's extraordinary party congress in spring should anoint a new chairman, who would then be almost sure to become the party's candidate for chancellor.
Kramp-Karrenbauer -- widely known as "AKK" -- held talks with party grandees on Monday with the CDU still in crisis mode.
On Sunday, the party suffered its second-worst result ever in a regional election, coming third in Hamburg with just 11.5 per cent of the vote.
It is also engulfed in an ..

Germany's CDU to decide on Merkel successor in April or May

Mo Farah repeatedly denied to the United States Anti-Doping Agency taking a legal supplement prior to the 2014 London Marathon, before changing his account once he learned the doctor who injected him had told the investigators he had taken it, the BBC reported on Monday.
The four-time Olympic champion had been asked by USADA whether he had been injected with L-carnitine, a naturally occurring amino acid, as part of its investigation into his former coach Alberto Salazar.
The supplement had been obtained through a contact of Salazar's in Switzerland.  As a result of the overall investigation, Salazar has been banned from athletics for four years over doping violations.
Two of Salazar's violations relate to using a banned method to administer an infusion of L-carnitine.
The US coach, who is appealing against his ban at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, led the Nike Oregon Project training group, where Farah was a star name from 2011-2017.
According to the BBC, Farah -- who finished ...

Farah caught up in controversy over 2014 London Marathon injection

The Red Cross said on Monday it had obtained an exemption to United Nations sanctions against North Korea to provide testing kits and medical equipment against a possible coronavirus outbreak.
"The potential for an outbreak of COVID-19 in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea poses a threat to millions of people who are already in need of humanitarian assistance," the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said in a statement.
IFRC's Asia Pacific chief Xavier Castellanos was quoted as saying that the sanctions exemption was "a life-saving intervention and an important measure to ensure that sanctions do not bear a negative impact on the people of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea."
"We know that there is urgent need of personal protective gear and testing kits, items vital to prepare for a possible outbreak," he said in the statement.
The exemption was granted by the United Nations Sanctions Committee after the US said last week that it ...

Red Cross gets sanctions exemption for NKorea virus aid

A South African inquiry into the forced sterilisation of dozens of HIV-positive pregnant women said on Monday that their rights had been breached and called for government action.
The investigation was launched in 2015, when two women's rights organisations approached South Africa's Gender Equality Commission (CGE) with 48 documented cases of coerced sterilisation.
CGE obtained sworn affidavits from the complainants on the alleged procedures.
"All the women who had lodged the complaint were black women who were mostly HIV positive," CGE head Keketso Maema said in the report released on Monday.
"Just before giving birth... they were coerced or forced to sign forms that they later learnt through various means were consent forms allegedly permitting the hospital to sterilise them."
Investigators found that hospital staff threatened to deny women medical attention if they did not sign the paperwork.
Some of the complainants said they were given the forms in moments of "extreme pain" ...

S Africa 'sterilised pregnant HIV patients without consent'

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer says Bruno Fernandes has lifted the mood at Old Trafford, comparing the January signing to a mix between former Manchester United players Paul Scholes and Juan Sebastian Veron.
Fernandes arrived for an initial 55 million euros and, while that could rise to 80 million euros if a variety of targets are reached, United look to have struck a good deal.
The Portugal international has impressed in all three United starts to date, following up fine displays against Wolves and Chelsea with a goal and an assist against Watford.
Successive wins have lifted United into fifth place in the Premier League table as they push for Champions League qualification.
"He's given everyone a boost," Solskjaer said of the 25-year-old Fernandes.
"It means more than just getting a player in. You can see the supporters, they're used to players with that personality, mentality and quality so he's been a big plus.
"He's come in from day one, the first minute, and felt like a presence in the ...

Fernandes has lifted the mood at Man Utd, says Solskjaer

China on Monday declared an immediate and "comprehensive" ban on the trade and consumption of wild animals, a practice believed responsible for the deadly coronavirus outbreak.
The country's top legislative committee approved a proposal "prohibiting the illegal wildlife trade, abolishing the bad habit of overconsumption of wildlife, and effectively protecting the lives and health of the people," state television reported.
Previous temporary bans have been put in place, including after the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) virus killed hundreds of people in China and Hong Kong in 2002-03 and was also traced to wild animal consumption.
That prohibition was short-lived, however, and conservationists have long accused China of tolerating a cruel trade in wild animals as exotic menu items or for use in traditional medicines whose efficacy is not confirmed by science.
The decision was made by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), which oversees the country's 

China 'comprehensively bans' wildlife trade over virus

Mushfiqur Rahim joined skipper Mominul Haque as the second centurion of the day as Bangladesh built a big lead over Zimbabwe in the one-off Test on Monday.
Bangladesh reached 442 for five at tea on day three to stretch their first-innings lead to 177 in Dhaka.
Mushfiqur remained unbeaten on 143 while Mominul, who reached his first hundred as Test captain in the first session, made 132 as the pair added 222 for the fourth wicket after Bangladesh resumed on 240 for three.
Ainsley Ndlovu took a brilliant reflex catch off his own bowling to dismiss Mominul for Zimbabwe's first success of the day as the Bangladesh captain departed an hour into the second session.
Mominul had earlier brought up his ninth Test hundred off 156 balls, joining teammate Tamim Iqbal as Bangladesh's most prolific century-makers in the five-day format.
Mominul, unbeaten on 79 overnight, struck 14 fours in his 234-ball innings -- his first hundred since becoming Bangladesh Test captain in November.
Mushfiqur, who ...

Mominul, Mushfiqur tons put Bangladesh on top

Most small businesses in China are yet to reopen and are struggling with supply chain obstructions after the new coronavirus epidemic triggered a national shutdown, officials said on Monday.
Authorities extended January's Lunar New Year holiday and ordered the closure of schools, factories and railways to try and halt the spread of the outbreak, which has killed more than 2,500 people.
Some industries have since resumed operations but only around three in 10 small and medium-sized enterprises were back to work, industry ministry spokesman Tian Yulong said Monday.
Ongoing transport disruptions make it hard for workers to travel and has prevented the shipment of raw materials, he added.
Officials pledged finance and aid for smaller enterprises on Monday, including preferential tax treatment for transport, catering and tourism businesses.
Key industries dominated by larger firms appeared to be in stronger shape.
Cong Liang, an official at China's top economic planning agency, said the ...

Most small firms in China yet to reopen after virus outbreak

Italy reported Monday its fourth death from the new coronavirus, an 84-year old man in the northern Lombardy region, as the number of people contracting the virus continued to mount.
It was the third death in Lombardy, where villages have been put in lockdown and security measures enforced in a bid to stem the spread of the disease, the region's health department said.
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has said that residents could face weeks of lockdown in an effort to sit out the virus.
The president of the Lombardy region Attilo Fontana said 165 people had now tested positive in the region, the worst-hit zone in Italy.
The country now has the most confirmed cases in Europe.
"The number is still rising, but we are sure that the measures taken will prevent it spreading further," Fontana said.
Eleven towns -- 10 in Lombardy and one in neighbouring Veneto -- are under lockdown, with some 50,000 residents prohibited from leaving.
Regional authorities have ordered gathering spots, such as ...

Italy reports fourth coronavirus death as infections mount

Iran's government on Monday pledged to be transparent with its figures on a deadly outbreak of the new coronavirus in the country, amid allegations of a coverup.
"We will announce any figures (we have) on the number of deaths throughout the country. We pledge to be transparent about the reporting of figures," government spokesman Ali Rabiei said in a news conference aired live on state television.

Iran government pledges transparency on virus figures

Two Wall Street Journal reporters left China on Monday after being expelled over a controversial headline in an op-ed that angered Beijing.
Three reporters were ordered out of the country last week over what Beijing deemed a racist headline that the journalists were not involved in writing -- marking one of the harshest moves against foreign media in years.
But analysts noted that the decision to revoke their credentials came a day after Washington tightened rules on Chinese state media operating in the United States -- raising suspicion that Beijing had retaliated.
The Journal opinion piece -- headlined "China is the Real Sick Man of Asia" -- was written by a US professor who criticised the Chinese government's initial response to the coronavirus outbreak.
China's foreign ministry said it was "racially discriminatory", and as the newspaper wouldn't apologise, the three China-based reporters had their press cards revoked.
Deputy bureau chief Josh Chin and reporter Chao Deng, both US ..

Expelled Wall Street Journal reporters leave China after headline row

China on Monday declared an immediate and "comprehensive" ban on the trade and consumption of wild animals, a practice believed responsible for the deadly coronavirus outbreak.
The country's top legislative committee met on Monday and approved a proposal "on comprehensively prohibiting the illegal wildlife trade, abolishing the bad habit of overconsumption of wildlife, and effectively protecting the lives and health of the people," state television reported.

China 'comprehensively' bans illegal wildlife trade

UN chief Antonio Guterres launched a "call to action" on Monday against rising attacks on human rights worldwide, highlighting the persecution of minorities and "alarming levels of femicide".
"Human rights are under assault," said the secretary general as he opened the UN Human Rights Council's main annual session in Geneva.
"People are being left behind. Fears are growing," he said, pointing to swelling divisions and political polarisation in many countries.
"A perverse political arithmetic has taken hold: divide people to multiply votes," he said, warning that "the rule of law is being eroded".
Guterres said civilians were being "trapped in war-torn enclaves, starved and bombarded in clear violation of international law" as well as "human trafficking, affecting every region in the world, preying on vulnerability and despair".
He also said women and girls were being "enslaved, exploited and abused", "activists tossed in jail, and religious and ethnic minorities groups persecuted" and 

Human rights under assault worldwide: UN chief

All eight airports on Spain's Canary Islands reopened on Monday a day after a sandstorm shrouded the archipelago, forcing their closure, the transport ministry said.
"The overnight improvement in the weather has allowed the resumption of air traffic in all airports in the Canary Islands," the ministry tweeted.
ENAIRE, the public body that manages Spanish airspace, said flights had resumed after "an improvement in the haze".
Air travel was disrupted on the archipelago on Saturday after strong winds carrying red sand from the Sahara shrouded the tourist hotspot in a murky haze, forcing the cancellation or diversion of flights to and from the islands of Gran Canaria and Tenerife.
Some flights briefly resumed Sunday morning before Spanish airport operator AENA was forced to close all of the islands' eight airports -- the three in Gran Canaria and Tenerife as well as five others.
"Air transport professionals don't remember seeing such adverse weather conditions for air transport in the ...

Canary island airports reopen as haze clears

Israeli air strikes targeting the Islamic Jihad militant group in the Gaza Strip and Syria killed at least six fighters, a war monitor said Monday, after the jihadists fired a barrage of rockets at Israel.
In the latest tit-for-tat violence ahead of a March 2 general election in the Jewish state, the Israeli Air Force targeted "Islamic Jihad terror sites" throughout Gaza and near the Syrian capital Damascus, a military statement said.
It followed more than 20 rockets and mortars fired from the Palestinian enclave, themselves a response to the killing of an Islamic Jihad militant along the Gaza-Israel border.
Islamic Jihad, which along with allied group Hamas has fought three wars with Israel since 2008, operates in both the Gaza Strip and Syria.
The Israeli army said it had struck Islamic Jihad targets on the outskirts of Damascus, including a base "used as a hub" for the group's activities in the country.
Islamic Jihad, which is allied with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, confirmed 

Israeli strikes kill six in Syria after Palestinian rocket barrage

Canada's Teck Resources said Sunday it had withdrawn its application to develop a giant oil sands mine in western Alberta, a controversial project which the federal government had been set to vote on this week.
The Frontier project would have cost about Can$20 billion (USD 15 billion) and had been expected to produce 260,000 barrels of oil per day.
But its impact on the environment had been denounced by environmentalists and the region's indigenous population: mine production would have generated 4.1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, according to a study by the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada.
The Vancouver-based natural resources company said in a press release it had sent a letter to the environment minister explaining its decision.
"We are disappointed to have arrived at this point," said Teck CEO Don Lindsay in his letter to the government.
"Teck put forward a socially and environmentally responsible project that was industry leading and had the potential to create ...

Canada's Teck withdraws controversial oil sands project

Four more people have died of coronavirus in Iran, a spokesman for Parliament said on Monday, bringing the country's overall death toll to 12 -- by far the most outside China.
"The minister of health announced the deaths of 12 people and 47 cases of infection in the country," Assadollah Abbassi was quoted as saying by semi-official news agency ISNA after a closed session of Parliament.
Abbassi gave the same death toll in reports by Fars news agency and the Young Journalists Club, a branch of state television, but they quoted him as saying there were "around" 47 infections.
Quoting Abbassi, ISNA added that "according to the health minister... the cause of coronavirus infections in Iran are people who have entered the country illegally from Pakistan, Afghanistan and China".
On Sunday, Health Minister Said Namaki said one person who died of coronavirus in Qom, south of Tehran, was a businessman who had made several trips to China.
Namaki had unsuccessfully pleaded in January for Iran's ..

Iran coronavirus death toll jumps to 12: report

European stock markets sank at the start of trade on Monday, with the heaviest falls in Italy as alarm spread over the growing coronavirus outbreak, dealers said.
In Italy, which on Monday confirmed its fourth fatality from the COVID-19 epidemic, Milan's FTSE MIB benchmark shares index tumbled 4.2 per cent to 23,740.11 points.
London's FTSE 100 index sank 2.2 per cent to 7,239.47, Frankfurt's DAX 30 slumped 2.9 per cent to 13,187.62 and the Paris CAC 40 shed 2.9 per cent to 5,854.11 compared with Friday's closing levels.

European stocks fall sharply at open on virus alarm

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad resigned on Monday in a move analysts said appeared to be an effort to form a new coalition and block the succession of leader-in-waiting Anwar Ibrahim.
The shock move followed weekend political drama that saw an attempt by Anwar's rivals within his own "Pact of Hope" coalition -- which stormed to a historic election victory in 2018 -- and opposition politicians to form a new government.
That coalition would reportedly have excluded Anwar, Mahathir's presumptive successor and a former opposition icon who was jailed for years on questionable sodomy charges, blocking his ascent to the premiership.
Anwar and Mahathir -- the world's oldest leader, aged 94 -- have a notoriously stormy relationship but joined forces to oust a corruption-plagued government at the 2018 polls.
Mahathir, who previously served as premier from 1981 to 2003, had made a pre-election pledge to hand power to Anwar but has repeatedly refused to fix a date.
The weekend push to .

Turmoil in Malaysia as PM Mahathir resigns

Italy reported on Monday its fourth death from the new coronavirus, an 84-year old man in the northern Lombardy region, as the number of people contracting the virus continued to mount.
It was the third death in Lombardy, where villages have been put in lockdown and security measures enforced in a bid to stem the spread opf the disease, the region's health department said.

AFP

AFP

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