British police say they have not ruled out terrorism as a motive in a hit-and-run collision that injured two men outside a mosque.
The West Midlands Police force says one man suffered a head injury and the other was "walking wounded" after they were struck by a car in Birmingham on Friday afternoon. Both victims are in their 20s.
Police in the central England city are trying to trace the driver of a silver car that fled the scene.
Detective Inspector Greg Evans said: "We have not ruled in or out the potential that this could be terror-related, but we're keeping an open mind until we have investigated further." Police are appealing for witnesses.

UK police seek motive after car hits 2 men outside mosque

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President Donald Trump claimed credit today for the historic meeting between the leaders of North Korea and South Korea and declared that peace on the divided peninsula could be achieved and its people could live in harmony.
Trump spoke hours after Kim Jong Un became the first North Korean leader to visit south of the demarcation line between the two Koreas, meeting with President Moon Jae-in.
They pledged in a joint statement to seek a formal end to the Korean War by year's end and to rid their peninsula of nuclear weapons, without specifying how it would be achieved.
"When I began, people were saying that was an impossibility," Trump said during an appearance with U.S. athletes who participated in this year's Winter Olympics in South Korea.
"They said there were two alternatives: Let them have what they have, or go to war. And now we have a much better alternative than anybody thought even possible." The Kim-Moon meeting was the culmination of a rapprochement that was inspired by ...

Trump takes credit for Koreas' summit, declares 'war to end'

The Vatican's financial watchdog has taken on responsibility for evaluating suspicious donations to Vatican-based charities and foundations, an assignment that marks a new phase of Pope Francis' financial reforms.
An annual report released by the Financial Information Authority today showed a progressive consolidation of efforts to bring the Vatican into compliance with international norms for fighting money laundering and terrorist financing.
For its dual job of supervising the Vatican bank and serving as the Holy See's financial intelligence unit, the AIF, as the agency is known, collects and evaluates reports of suspicious transactions.
In its annual report, the agency noted a law that took effect in November requiring all Vatican-registered charities and foundations to report suspicious transactions to AIF or face sanctions of up to 20,000 euros.

Vatican aims to keep charities, donations clean with new law

Fighting between Syrian troops and Islamic State group fighters in southern neighborhoods of the capital Damascus left dozens of people dead or wounded today, according to a war monitor and Syrian state media, as government forces pressed their offensive to capture last parts of the city out of state control.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said government bombardment killed 17 people, including seven children and two women in the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk mostly controlled by IS.
Syrian state media reported that IS shelling of the government-held neighborhood of Qadam in Damascus killed two children and wounded eight others.
State news agency SANA said government forces and their allies pushed deeper into the nearby Hajar al-Aswad neighbourhood that is controlled by IS.
SANA added that the army offensive aims to "completely eradicate the terrorists from south Damascus."
The weeklong fighting in Hajar al-Aswad and the nearby Yarmouk camp has killed ...

Reports: Fighting near Syrian capital kills, wounds dozens

Palestinians converged on the Gaza border with Israel for a fifth round of weekly protests today, some throwing stones and burning tires, as a top UN official urged Israel to refrain from using excessive force against them.
Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, the UN high commissioner for human rights, said Israeli troops have not heeded warnings by the United Nations and others, repeatedly using lethal force against unarmed protesters over the past month.
Since the Gaza marches began, 35 Palestinians have been killed and more than 1,500 wounded by Israeli soldiers firing from across the border fence, according to Gaza health officials. Among those killed were four minors, including a 14-year-old boy.
"The loss of life is deplorable, and the staggering number of injuries caused by live ammunition only confirms the sense that excessive force has been used against demonstrators - not once, not twice, but repeatedly," the commissioner said.
The marches, aimed in part at trying to break a decade-old ...

Israel asked to avoid lethal force as Gaza protest resumes

How tall is the London Eye? Who opened Britain's first Indian restaurant? Who was the fifth wife of Henry VIII? If Meghan Markle doesn't already know the answers, she needs to start studying.
All three are potential questions on a test given to those who  like Prince Harry's fiancee  want to become British citizens.
Kensington Palace says the California-born Markle intends to take UK citizenship after she marries Harry on May 19 at Windsor Castle.
But Markle will soon discover that it takes more than marrying a prince to become British. It also requires time, money, a good memory for obscure British trivia and the ability to untangle red tape.
Immigration lawyer Colin Yeo says the road to British citizenship is "insanely complex." "It's very easy to make mistakes because the requirements are so very precise," he said.
Britain's royal family has become a lot more welcoming to American divorcees since the last time one tried to join the clan.
When King Edward VIII wanted to marry ...

To get UK passport, Meghan needs time, money, a good memory

Romania's president today called on the prime minister to resign, saying she is unfit for the job.
President Klaus Iohannis said that Viorica Dancila "is not up for the job of Romanian prime minister," three months after she became Romania's first female premier this January.
Iohannis said that she "prefers to execute party orders" and represented "a vulnerability" for Romania. He was referring to her political dependence on the leader of the ruling Social Democrats, Liviu Dragnea, who effectively runs the government.
Iohannis also accused her of failing to inform him over a unilateral government proposal to relocate Romania's embassy to Jerusalem.
Iohannis is in charge of foreign policy and would make a final decision on the embassy. He doesn't have the authority to fire Dancila, but his request will put pressure on the government.
Calin Popescu Tariceanu, who heads the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats which is a junior partner in the government, said only Parliament could decide ..

Romania's president calls on prime minister to resign

Seoul says North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's wife will cross the border into South Korea to attend a dinner banquet after the Koreas' summit talks at a border village.
Kim crossed the border into South Korea this morning for talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the southern side of Panmunjom. Kim was accompanied by a group of top officials but his wife, Ri Sol Ju, was not present.
Moon's spokesman Yoon Young-chan says that Ri will cross the border and attend the banquet with Kim, Moon and Moon's wife Kim Jung-sook later today.
Ri is a former singer with the North's Unhasu Orchestra.

Kim's wife to cross border for dinner with South

China passed a law today making it a crime to attack revolutionary heroes and martyrs as the ruling Communist Party steps up efforts to police historical discussions and enforce ideology.
The new law bans criticism or questioning of the folklore surrounding the 1949 formation of the People's Republic by Communist revolutionaries, and also prohibits acts that glorify historical episodes considered unpatriotic, such as Japan's 20th century invasion of China.
The notice on the law's passage did not specify penalties but said violators would be pursued by the authorities.
Since taking power in 2012, President Xi Jinping has called for tighter ideological discipline across society and enhanced patriotic education. Academics who criticized Mao Zedong have been silenced or sacked, while propaganda authorities have rolled out a series of polished media campaigns reminding citizens of the party's historical accomplishments.
Dissident intellectuals say the measures further constrict the space ..

China law criminalizes attacks on revolutionary heroes

Authorities in Guatemala say that a riot has left seven dead and 25 injured at an overcrowded prison in the country's south.
A spokesman for the country's penitentiary system confirmed the death toll in yesterday's riot in the city of Escuintla, adding that the injured had been taken to health centers. Rudy Esquivel said the preliminary finding was that the riot was a fight among prisoners.
Esquivel said that police had control of the prison, which has 3,122 inmates despite having a capacity of only 600.

Guatemalan prison riot leaves 7 dead, 25 injured

Hundreds of Japanese police searched today for a convicted thief who escaped from prison and was believed to be on a small island with abundant hide-outs  about 1,000 houses made vacant by an aging and shrinking population.
Tatsuma Hirao, 27, has been at large since Sunday, when he fled from a low-security prison in Ehime prefecture while serving a 5  year sentence for theft.  Police suspect he drove a stolen car along a 70-kilometer bridge and highway system connecting several islands near Ehime and got off on the island of Mukaishima, near Hiroshima, which has a population of about 16,000.
TV reports showed police visiting every home and searching empty houses and huts. Vehicles were stopped at checkpoints, causing rare traffic jams on the usually quiet island.
Several cases of theft have been reported to police since the jailbreak, and Hirano's fingerprints have been detected. The car which police believe he used for his getaway was found on the island.
Police released Hirao's ...

Hundreds of Japanese police on manhunt for escaped thief

Uber will start doing annual criminal background checks on U.S. drivers and hire a company that constantly monitors criminal arrests as it tries to do a better job of keeping riders safe.
The move announced today is one of several actions taken by the ride-hailing company under new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi (Cause-row-SHA-hee). He says the changes aren't being done just to polish the company's image, which has been tarnished by driver misbehavior and a long string of other embarrassing missteps.
Other safety features include buttons in the Uber app that allow riders to call 911 in an emergency, as well as app refinements that make it easier for riders to share their whereabouts with friends or loved ones.

Uber to up its background checks for drivers

Police say a woman and her child have died after being stabbed by her ex-husband at a busy subway station in central Hamburg.
The knife attack happened this morning at the Jungfernstieg station in Germany's second-biggest city. Parts of the train lines were temporarily shut down as police responded.
The assailant, who was the child's father, was arrested. None of those involved was identified, and it wasn't clear what triggered the attack.

2 dead in stabbing at Hamburg subway station

Defence ministry officials in Greece say an air force fighter jet has crashed into the eastern Aegean Sea after returning from a patrol, and it is unclear whether the pilot survived.
The officials told state-run television that the Mirage 2000-5 crashed Thursday north of the island of Skyros. They gave no information about the possible cause of the crash.
Patrolling has intensified in recent weeks amid a spike in tensions between Greece and Turkey and near-daily mock dogfights in disputed airspace.
Greek navy ships and army helicopters are searching for the missing pilot.

Greek fighter jet crashes in sea after patrol, pilot missing

The US Embassy in Cambodia has issued a security alert over an alleged plot to set off a bomb during the country's traditional New Year holiday, which runs from Thursday through Monday.
The alert says US government personnel have been advised to exercise caution around Wat Phnom, a temple in Phnom Penh said to be the target of an alleged plot by the overseas anti-government group Khmer National Liberation Front.
The alert, described as based on media reports, was posted on the embassy's website and social media outlets.
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday publicly warned of the alleged plot, saying strengthened security measures would ensure safety. He has repeatedly said ahead of a general election in July that political opponents seek to cause unrest.

US Embassy in Cambodian warns of alleged bomb plot

Egypt and Russia resumed direct flights today, more than two years after they were suspended in the wake of a bombing that brought down a Russian passenger plane over the Sinai Peninsula.
EgyptAir said a Moscow-bound flight took off from Cairo today, and that it will operate three such flights a week. An Aeroflot flight from Moscow carrying 124 passengers arrived in Cairo early Thursday.
"Even though air service between Russia and Egypt has been interrupted for such a long time, the load factor on upcoming flights is more than 85 percent," Aeroflot said in a statement, adding that both airlines would offer daily flights from June 12 to July 2 to cope with heavy demand.
Moscow suspended flights after the 2015 attack, which killed all 224 people on board and was claimed by the extremist Islamic State group. Russian officials said a homemade explosive device was detonated on board the plane, which had taken off from the main Sinai resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Direct flights between ...

Egypt, Russia resume flights halted after 2015 attack

An international crackdown on illegal logging in tropical forests has ensnared the makers of some guitars and other musical instruments, whose top-end products require small amounts of rosewood, a material prized for its rich, multicolored grain and resonant sound.
Since new trade rules took effect in 2017, guitar makers have complained about long delays in getting permits to import rosewood and export finished instruments that contain it.
Warehouses have filled with unsold instruments, and a bagpipe maker in New Hampshire went so far as to ask the governor to intervene after a permit application was lost.
"I'm so annoyed. I'm so distraught by this," said Chris Martin, chairman and CEO of CF Martin and Co., which uses rosewood in 200 models of acoustic guitar, some played by Eric Clapton, Ed Sheeran, Sting and other stars. The company's logistics staff estimates it spends 40 percent of its time dealing with the new regulations.
Fearful that Africa and Asia were losing rosewood ...

Guitar makers hit hard by new regulations on prized rosewood

Canadian fashion designer Bojana Sentaler stared at her television on Christmas Day to see if Meghan Markle had a gift for her.
She did. As Prince Harry's future bride left a church service on the grounds of Queen Elizabeth II's private country estate, Sentaler spotted a cuff detail on Markle's camel alpaca coat that told her customers would be flocking to her website.
"I was looking for the ribbed sleeves, hoping it was a Sentaler coat," said the designer, who met Markle when she was a mere TV star. "And as soon as I saw that, I was so happy and so excited and it was the best Christmas present I could ever wish for."
The Meghan magic was almost instantaneous; Markle's coat sold out, as Sentaler expected, and the publicity fueled sales of other designs. Now part of an elite circle of entrepreneurs tapped with the monarchy's golden touch, the designer plans a boutique in London, though no firm dates are set.
Markle's marriage to Harry isn't just a trans-Atlantic love story linking the .

As royal wedding nears, brands benefit from 'Meghan effect'

California Gov Jerry Brown accepted President Donald Trump's call to send the National Guard to the Mexican border, but rejected the White House's portrait of a burgeoning border crisis and insisted that his troops will have nothing to do with immigration enforcement.
The Democratic governor broke a week of silence yesterday by agreeing to contribute 400 troops, though not all will be on the border. Brown's commitment brought pledges from the four states that border Mexico just shy of the low end of the president's target to marshal 2,000 to 4,000 troops.
Brown cast his decision as a welcome infusion of federal support to fight transnational criminal gangs and drug and firearms smugglers.
"Combating these criminal threats are priorities for all Americans - Republicans and Democrats," Brown wrote in a letter to Defense Secretary James Mattis and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.
Federal law, notably the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, sharply limits military involvement in ...

California to join Guard border mission, but with conditions

Seven people were killed and 13 injured when a truck carrying more than 5 tons of explosives blew up in northern China, the local government reported today.
The blast struck just before midnight on Tuesday outside an explosives warehouse, according to a statement from the Zhen'an county government in Shaanxi province posted on its official website.
The warehouse operator works in using explosives for mining and construction purposes. The government statement said the cause of the explosion remains under investigation.
The official Xinhua News Agency said victims included truck drivers, warehouse staff and security guards.
China has made major strides in industrial safety in recent years, although large-scale accidents still occur.
Some are linked to corruption and lax enforcement, such as a 2015 blast at a chemical warehouse in the port city of Tianjin that killed 173 people and was found to have flouted multiple safety regulations.

Blast on truck carrying explosives in northern China kills 7

The U.S. Open will have 25-second serve clocks on all of its courts during main draw matches this year to enforce time limits between points.
The Grand Slam tournament, which begins in New York on Aug. 27, will also have a strict 7-minute period from when players enter a court until action starts after the warmup.
Both the serve clocks and strict timing for the warmup were tested during qualifying matches at Flushing Meadows in 2017.
"We would like to keep the pace of play moving," U.S. Tennis Association spokesman Chris Widmaier said in a telephone interview Wednesday, confirming the main-draw changes that were first reported by The New York Times.
"That's our goal." One other element that the USTA tried out during qualifying matches at last year's tournament that will not make it into the main draw this time around is allowing coaches to communicate with their players during matches.
"We certainly will not see coaching in the main draw this year," Widmaier said.
The amount of time ..

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