Fuel is being shipped illegally from Iran to Houthi Shiite rebels in Yemen to finance their war against the government, and both sides are violating international law with their military campaigns and arbitrary detention of rivals, UN experts said in a new report.
The experts painted a grim picture of a "deeply fractured" country sliding toward "humanitarian and economic catastrophe" with no sign of victory by either side in a conflict that many view as a proxy war between regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran.
In the 85-page report to the Security Council seen Friday by The Associated Press, the experts said the government and its coalition partners led by Saudi Arabia made "significant progress" on the ground against the Houthis in 2018  but their aim of restoring the government's authority throughout the country "is far from being realised."
At the same time, the panel of experts monitoring UN sanctions against Yemen said "the Houthi leadership has continued to consolidate its hold 

UN experts: Fuel from Iran is financing Yemen rebels' war

PTI Automatic

The white Chicago officer who gunned down a black teenager in 2014 was sentenced Friday to nearly seven years in prison, ending an explosive case that arose from one of the nation's most graphic dashcam videos and added fuel to debates about race and policing and law enforcement's "code of silence."
Jason Van Dyke was convicted last year of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery  one for each bullet fired at Laquan McDonald.
Attorneys on both sides agreed that if he behaves in prison, the 40-year-old could be released in less than three and a half years.
McDonald's family lamented that the penalty was too light. His great uncle said the sentence reduced Laquan McDonald's life to that of "a second-class citizen" and "suggests to us that there are no laws on the books for a black man that a white man is bound to honour."
Moments earlier, Van Dyke acknowledged the teen's death, telling the judge that "as a God-fearing man and father, I will have to live with this the ...

Officer who shot black teen sentenced to nearly 7 years

Special counsel Robert Mueller's office on Friday issued a rare public statement disputing the accuracy of BuzzFeed News' report that said President Donald Trump's attorney told Mueller that the president directed him to lie to Congress.
BuzzFeed, citing two unidentified law enforcement officials, reported that Trump directed Michael Cohen to lie to Congress about a Moscow real estate project and that Cohen told Mueller that Trump personally instructed him to lie about the timing of the project.
The report said Mueller's investigators learned about Trump's directive "through interviews with multiple witnesses from the Trump Organization and internal company emails, text messages, and a cache of other documents."
The report said Cohen then acknowledged Trump's instructions when he was interviewed by the Mueller team.
The statement by Mueller's office on Friday night doesn't cite any specific errors. In it, the special counsel's spokesman, Peter Carr, said, "BuzzFeed's description of ...

Mueller disputes accuracy of BuzzFeed report on Trump, Cohen Mueller

Canada's public safety minister said Friday that the country won't be deterred by Chinese pressure after China threatened reprisals if Huawei was banned from supplying equipment for 5G networks, highlighting the growing rift between America's neighbor and the emerging superpower.
There are accusations that the telecom giant is controlled by China's ruling Communist Party or is required to facilitate Chinese spying. The U.S., Australia, Japan and other governments have imposed curbs on use of its technology.
Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale said Canada has been abundantly clear it will not compromise national security.
"It's a difficult challenge but we'll not be deterred by what we believe to be right and what we believe to be in the interests of Canada," Goodale said.  Lu Shaye, China's ambassador to Canada, warned Thursday of repercussions if Canada bars the firm from its new 5G network.
"One of the things that is of concern in this situation is the blending of Chinese ...

Canada says it won't be deterred by Chinese pressure

Here comes a total lunar eclipse and supermoon, all wrapped into one.
The moon, Earth and sun will line up this weekend for the only total lunar eclipse this year and next. At the same time, the moon will be ever so closer to Earth and appear slightly bigger and brighter than usual  a supermoon.
"This one is particularly good," said Rice University astrophysicist Patrick Hartigan. "It not only is a supermoon and it's a total eclipse, but the total eclipse also lasts pretty long. It's about an hour." The whole eclipse starts Sunday night or early Monday, depending on location , and will take about three hours.
It begins with the partial phase around 10:34 pm EST Sunday. That's when Earth's shadow will begin to nip at the moon. Totality  when Earth's shadow completely blankets the moon  will last 62 minutes, beginning at 11:41 p.m. EST Sunday.
If the skies are clear, the entire eclipse will be visible in North and South America, as well as Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, Great Britain, ...

Total lunar eclipse meets supermoon Sunday night

The partial government shutdown is hitting home for President Donald Trump in a very personal way. He lives in government-run housing, after all.
Just 21 of the roughly 80 people who help care for the White House  from butlers to electricians to chefs  are reporting to work. The rest have been furloughed.
Even so, the shutdown doesn't mean Trump is making his own bed or emptying the trash on the second floor of the White House, where he and the first lady live with their 12-year-old son, Barron.  The pared-down White House residence staff typically still includes a butler and a chef. Basic housekeeping continues.
But forget fresh flower arrangements from the White House florist  that's hardly considered an essential service.
Trump joked this week that because of the skeletal staff, Melania Trump might have had to make salads for members of the championship Clemson football team when they visited the White House on Monday.
Instead, he shelled out for a mega fast food order of burgers, .

Shutdown hits home for Trump; he lives in government housin

The US and North Korea began highly anticipated talks Friday aimed at resuming stalled efforts to end the North's nuclear weapons program by arranging a second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and North Korea's former spy chief, Kim Yong Chol, did not respond to reporters' questions before their meeting at a Washington hotel.
Pompeo, Kim and Steve Biegun, the special U.S. envoy for North Korea negotiations, stood silently as photographers took photos. Pompeo and Kim had plans to go to the White House later for a possible meeting with Trump.
Trump has spoken several times of having a second summit early this year and has exchanged multiple letters with Kim Jong Un despite little tangible progress on a vague denuclearization agreement reached at their historic first meeting in Singapore last June.
Since then, several private analysts have published reports detailing continuing North Korean development of nuclear ...

US, North Korea start talks aimed at 2nd Trump-Kim summit

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Friday cancelled her plans to travel by commercial plane to visit US troops in Afghanistan, saying President Donald Trump had caused a security risk by talking about the trip.
It was the latest twist in what has become a Washington game of brinkmanship between Pelosi and Trump, playing out against the stalled negotiations over how to end the partial government shutdown.
Earlier in the week, Pelosi had asked Trump to reschedule his State of the Union address, citing security issues at a time when the Homeland Security Department and other agencies remain unfunded.
Trump responded by cancelling the military plane that was to have carried Pelosi and a congressional delegation to Afghanistan on the previously undisclosed troop visit. Trump suggested she travel by commercial plane instead.
Trump had belittled the trip as a "public relations event"  even though he had just made a similar warzone stop  and said it would be best if Pelosi remained in Washington ..

Pelosi cancels Afghanistan trip, cites Trump 'leak'

President Donald Trump is accusing his former personal attorney of "lying to reduce his jail time!" after BuzzFeed News published a report saying Trump had asked his ex-fixer, Michael Cohen, to lie to Congress in 2017.
BuzzFeed said Trump directed Cohen to lie about negotiations over a real estate project in Moscow during the 2016 election.
Trump tweeted that Cohen is "Lying to reduce his jail time!" even though he's already been sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to tax crimes, bank fraud and campaign violations.
On Fox News Channel, White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said that the BuzzFeed story was "absolutely ludicrous," but he repeatedly refused to deny the central allegation: that Trump directed Cohen to lie.
One of Gidley's interviewers noted at one point: "That was not a denial of my question." The Democratic chairmen of two House committees pledged Friday to investigate the report, which cites two unnamed law enforcement officials.
The Associated Press ..

Trump claims Cohen 'lying to reduce' jail time

Iran's foreign minister has mocked the US national security adviser's calls for a strike on Iran, in a play on the viral 10-year challenge meme on social media.
In a tweet Friday, Mohammad Javad Zarif posted the titles of two separate articles by John Bolton from 2009 and 2019, both calling for strikes on Iran.  "Same bull. Same bully. Same delusion," Zarif wrote.
Earlier this week, reports surfaced that Bolton asked the Pentagon in September to prepare military options for attacking Iran after attacks on U.S. diplomatic sites in Iraq.
Social media users taking the 10-year challenge are comparing their profile photos from 2009 and 2019.
Tensions between Iran and the US have been heightened after President Donald Trump withdrew America from the nuclear deal and re-imposed sanctions on Iran.

Iran's FM mocks John Bolton with '10-year challenge'

Syrian opposition activists say an explosion outside an office belonging to an al-Qaida-linked group in the country's northwestern has killed at least 11 people.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Smart news agency, an activist collective, said the blast occurred Friday on the southern edge of the rebel-held city of Idlib.
The blast comes a week after members of the al-Qaida-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Arabic for Levant Liberation Committee, or HTS, took over control of Idlib province and the surrounding countryside after forcing rival insurgents to accept a deal for a civil administration run by HTS in their areas.
The Observatory said 11 people were killed in the blast, including seven HTS members. Smart said 12 people were killed, many of them militants.

Explosion in north Syria targets al-Qaida gunmen, kills 11

A North Korean diplomat has arrived in Sweden to take part in an unannounced meeting in Stockholm, officials said Friday.
Swedish Foreign Ministry spokesman Vilhelm Rundquist said Deputy Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui has landed in Sweden "to take part in talks in a minor format where international experts take part."
He declined to give further details. Sweden's TT news agency said Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom would also attend the event.
It is possible that US special envoy for North Korea Stephen Biegun would join the meeting later, a US official said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
"I have nothing to say presently. It's up to the parties and the countries whether there will be a result," Wallstrom told the TT news agency. "We are proud if we can contribute. If they want us to contribute, we do it."
The location for the talks wasn't immediately disclosed. Swedish officials have declined to confirm any further details about the meeting, 

Talks between US, NKorea take place in Sweden

The US Navy's top officer said he urged China to follow international rules at sea to avoid confrontations and insisted Friday that ships should be able to pass safely though disputed areas of the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait.
Chief of US Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson told reporters in Tokyo that U.S. Navy ships will continue to operate freely in international waters, including the possibility of an aircraft carrier navigating through the Taiwan Strait.
Richardson, who held meetings in China earlier this week, said he told Chinese officials that the U.S. is committed to a one-China policy and is opposed to any unilateral action "from either side of the strait" to change the status quo.
Richardson said the US considers the Taiwan Strait as international waters. "We don't see any kind of limitation on whatever type of ship could pass through those waters," he said.
His comment follows new tensions between the U.S. and China over Taiwan that have already been frayed over ...

Top US Navy officer urges China to avoid confrontations

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is to meet former North Korean spy chief Kim Yong Chol on Friday for talks aimed at finalizing a second summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The State Department announced the late-morning meeting, and other administration officials indicated it likely will be followed by Kim Yong Chol's visit to the White House, where he could meet with Trump. Those officials were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, talks in Stockholm included North Korea's Deputy Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui, said Swedish Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Diana Kudhaib, who declined to give further details. Sweden's TT news agency said also attending were US special envoy for North Korea Stephen Biegun and Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom, who was influential in securing the first Trump-Kim summit.
Sweden has had diplomatic relations with Pyongyang since 1973 and is one of only a ...

Pompeo, NKorean official to meet about possible Kim summit

The World Health Organization said Friday that it's seeing increasing reports of misconduct reported by staffers within the UN health agency, describing the trend as "a positive thing."
WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic said at a press briefing in Geneva the agency has been investigating misbehavior for "years and decades" and would continue to do so.
The comments came after an Associated Press story Thursday which reported that WHO's director-general had ordered an internal probe into claims the agency is rife with racism, sexism and corruption.
The AP obtained three anonymous emails addressed to senior WHO managers charging that there were numerous problems at the agency, including "systematic" racism against African staffers and allegations that some money intended to fight Ebola in Congo was misspent.
Last month, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus instructed the agency's internal office of oversight to investigate the allegations, announcing his decision at a staff meeting in ...

UN health agency: Rising misconduct reports are 'positive'

Australian police arrested a man Friday for questioning over the death of an Israeli student in Melbourne, while the victim's tearful father visited the flower-strewn crime scene where her body was found.
Aiia Maasarwe was slain at 12:10 am on Wednesday shortly after she got off a tram in the Melbourne suburb of Bundoora.
A 20-year-old was taken into custody on Friday morning in the neighbouring suburb of Greensborough, a police statement said.
Police did not say if any charges have been filed.
The 21-year-old victim was studying at La Trobe University in Melbourne as an exchange student from Shanghai University in China.
Her father Saeed Maasarwe arrived in Melbourne on Thursday to bring her body home.
He cried Friday when he saw an impromptu floral memorial arranged by members of the public at the site where her body was found behind a hedge not far from the tram stop.
"This is the last place my daughter  was here," the father told reporters.
"I had many dreams to be with her."
The .

Australian police arrest man over Israeli student's death

A former national security adviser has registered as a candidate for president of Afghanistan and called on the Taliban to engage in peace negotiations to end the country's 17-year war.
Mohammad Hanif Atmar, of the Peace and Moderation party, announced his candidacy Friday in an address to hundreds of supporters at a hotel in Kabul.
Afghans go to the polls to elect a new president on July 20.
Current Afghan president Mohammad Ashraf Ghani says he will register to run for re-election in the coming two days.
The Taliban have been steadfast in their refusal to enter peace talks with the Afghan government and have also threatened to halt talks with the United States.

Former Afghan national security adviser announces candidacy

Two Russian fighter jets have collided in midair in the Far East, the Defense Ministry said Friday.
The Russian military said in a statement that two Su-34 jets were performing training flights when they came into contact about 35 kilometers (22 miles) from the shore in the Sea of Japan.
Both crews ejected from their aircraft, and one pilot has been located on an inflatable raft in the sea as he was flashing the emergency light. The Russian military said strong winds are hampering the rescue operation but they expect to reach the pilot soon.
It was not immediately clear where the other pilots were, and there was no immediate information about the fate of the jets.
The military said the fighter jets were not carrying missiles.

Russian fighter jets collide over Sea of Japan; crews eject

Malaysia's Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said Friday that an apology by Goldman Sachs for its role in the alleged multibillion-dollar ransacking of state investment fund 1MDB was insufficient and that it must pay $7.5 billion as compensation.
Goldman CEO David Solomon apologized Wednesday to the Malaysian people for former banker Tim Leissner's role in arranging bond sales for 1MDB. They provided a means for associates of former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak to allegedly steal billions over several years from the fund.
Solomon has said the investment bank conducted due diligence but was misled by Leissner and former Malaysian government officials.
"That's insufficient, necessary but not sufficient," said Lim. "Apology with $7.5 billion is what matters ... there has to be accountability." The 1MDB fund was set up for economic development by Najib when he took office in 2009. It instead accumulated billions in debt and is being investigated in the U.S. and several other ...

Malaysia says Goldman Sachs must pay, apology not enough

Police in a Phoenix suburb say a burglary suspect shot to death by an officer was a 14-year-old boy carrying a replica gun.
Authorities say officers in the city of Tempe reported a suspect burglarising a car Tuesday and that he ran away holding what appeared to be a handgun.
During the chase, police say he turned toward the officers.
One officer perceived that as a threat and shot the suspect, who died at a hospital.
Police said Wednesday that the teen had a replica 1911 airsoft gun in his possession, which they determined he had taken from vehicle along with some other items.
They say the shooting was captured on the officer's body camera.
The police department did not immediately respond to a request by The Associated Press for access to the video.
The name of the teen and the officer who opened fire haven't been released.
But the ABC15 Arizona station interviewed a man and a woman identified as the boy's brother and mother, who said they wanted police to explain what happened.
The .

Police: Arizona officer kills teen boy with replica gun

Britain has put military reservists on standby for permanent service in the event the country leaves the European Union without a divorce agreement to smooth the way.
A cliff-edge "no-deal" Brexit on March 29 could bring gridlock at ports and disruption to the supply of goods because of the sudden need for customs checks and other measures.
Armed Forces Minister Mark Lancaster says an order has been made allowing reservists to be called up for a year of permanent service as part of "contingency planning for a no-deal EU exit scenario." The Ministry of Defense has said 3,500 soldiers will be available to help if needed after a no-deal Brexit.
Opposition politicians condemned the move. Labour lawmaker Ian Murray said it was "staggering that soldiers are being put on standby because of the risk of a constitutional crisis of the government's own making."
Germany's parliament has approved legislation regulating a putative transition period following Britain's departure from the European ...

AP

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