Buddy Elias, the cousin of Anne Frank who committed his life to the memory of the victims of the Holocaust, has died in Basel, Switzerland, at age 89.
	A spokesman for the Anne Frank Fonds said today Elias died peacefully at home Monday, surrounded by his family.
	The organization said in a statement that Elias was born in Frankfurt, Germany, in 1925, where he spent his early childhood years with his cousin Anne.
	Anne Frank became famous for a diary she kept while her family went into hiding from the Nazis in Amsterdam when she was 13. The Jewish teenager died in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in March 1945.
	As president of the Anne Frank Fonds, Elias oversaw the continuing publication of Frank's diary and helped preserve her legacy.

Anne Frank's cousin Buddy Elias dies at 89

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A US citizen who was recently a senior executive at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia pleaded not guilty in a Sydney court today to charges that he accepted bribes to award a contract to a US information technology firm.
	Keith Robert Hunter, 61, formerly of San Francisco, and his alleged accomplice another Sydney-based American who has not been named were allegedly paid USD 2.19 million for awarding a bank contract to ServiceMesh without a tender, according to court documents.
	The contract was worth "tens of millions of dollars" and would have contributed to ServiceMesh's sale price when it was bought by Virginia-based global giant Computer Sciences Corp. in 2013, the documents stated.
	The bank, one of Australia's largest, fired Hunter and his alleged accomplice late last year. The accomplice returned to the United States after Australian police froze more than USD 1.5 million in a bank account.
	When Hunter was confronted last year by bank investigators about suspicious money ...

US citizen charged in Sydney with bribery over bank contract

The US Army could begin destroying the nation's largest remaining stockpile of chemical weapons as early as today.
	The Defense Department has given the go-ahead to start eliminating 780,000 shells containing 2,600 tons of mustard agent at the Army's Pueblo Chemical Depot in southern Colorado.
	Work could begin Wednesday if the weather is favorable for moving the material from a storage bunker to an airtight structure where the first destruction will take place, depot spokesman Thomas Schultz said. Managers don't want to expose crews or the containers to storms, Schultz said.
	Today's forecast called for a slight chance of showers in the afternoon.
	Mustard agent can maim or kill by damaging skin, the eyes and airways. It's being destroyed under a 1997 international treaty banning all chemical weapons. It will take four years to destroy the Pueblo stockpile.
	Another 523 tons of mustard and deadly nerve agents are stored at Blue Grass Army Depot in Kentucky. Blue Grass isn't expected .

Chemical-arms destruction could start Wednesday in Colorado

An Afghan official says a massive car bomb has killed seven people and wounded 20 in an attack on the governor's compound in Helmand province.
	Provincial police chief Nabi Jan Mullahkheil says the blast in the volatile southern city of Lashkar Gah today happened when a suicide bomber detonated a car full of explosives at the back wall of the governor's compound and the adjacent residence of the head of the provincial council.
	He says the governor's spokesman, Omar Zwak, was wounded. Zwak was in his office at the time and has been hospitalized.
	No one has claimed responsibility yet for the blast.
	Taliban insurgents have been under pressure from an army offensive in northern Helmand and appear to be retaliating with attacks on Lashkar Gah.

Afghan official says at least 7 dead in suicide blast

Police in Northern California say at least two people are dead and five are wounded in a shooting at a grocery store.
	Stockton police say one person was killed yesterday night at the store in Stockton and another died at a hospital.
	The Stockton Record reports the victim who died at the store was a woman. She was found on a sidewalk outside. Some of the wounded victims were found inside the market.
	Dozens of people gathered in the area after the shooting, and additional police had to be called to help control the crowd.

2 killed, 5 wounded in shooting at California grocery store

West Indies opening batsman Chris Gayle has undergone scans on his injured back and should be ready to play in the team's World Cup quarterfinal against New Zealand on Saturday, allrounder Darren Sammy said today.
     Gayle missed the West Indies' final pool match against the United Arab Emirates on Sunday, but Sammy said he believes Gayle will take his place in the lineup for the quarterfinal. The injured batsman has received a cortisone injection to help with the pain.
     "Chris is not missing this quarterfinal for anybody," Sammy said. "He is more pumped up than we are. He's been writing down the path for us and the different scenarios."
     The two-time champion West Indies will start as considerable underdogs in Saturday's match. New Zealand was unbeaten in pool play, while the West Indies had to win their final match and lift their net run rate to scrape into the knockout rounds with a 3-3 record.
     Sammy said the teams' records don't count for anything in the knockout ...

Injured Gayle a likely starter for World Cup quarterfinal

Syrian activists and the Western- backed opposition have accused the government of carrying out a chlorine gas attack against a rebel-held town that killed at least six people and left dozens, including children, choking and gasping for breath.
	The purported use of poison gas on the town of Sarmin in northwestern Idlib province is the first alleged chemical attack since the UN Security Council approved a US-drafted resolution this month that condemns the use of toxic chemicals such as chlorine in Syria.
	That measure also threatens military action in case of further violations.
	But any such action would require the consent of the Security Council, which remains deeply divided over Syria's civil war.
	The US and its allies support the opposition, while Russia backs Syrian President Bashar Assad and Moscow has used its veto on several occasions to shield its ally.
	The attack on Sarmin, located some eight kilometres (five miles) east of Idlib city, took place late Monday, according to 

Activists accuse Syrian military of deadly poison gas attack

A lawmaker from Canada's governing Conservative party has apologised for saying women who wish to wear a face veil while swearing the oath of citizenship should stay where they came from.
	Parliamentary member Larry Miller made the comments on a radio show Monday. He said he was baffled about a Federal Court ruling overturning a ban on the wearing of niqabs during citizenship ceremonies.
	He added that women who want to wear the veil should "stay the hell where you came from."
	Yesterday, Miller said in a statement that he stands by his view that anyone taking the oath must uncover their face. But he added, "I apologise for and retract my comments that went beyond this."
	A spokeswoman for Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Miller's remarks were inappropriate and went beyond "our clear position."
	"We believe most Canadians, including new Canadians, would find it offensive that someone would cover their face at the very moment they want to join the Canadian family," Anna ...

Canadian lawmaker apologises for veil statement

Four more American aid workers arrived back in the United States today from West Africa to be monitored for Ebola, health officials said.
	The latest arrivals bring to 16 the number of aid workers who have returned in the last week from Sierra Leone. None of them have been diagnosed with Ebola, but they will be isolated and monitored during the next three weeks for signs of the disease.
	Officials have released few details, citing patient privacy. But all 16 are connected to or had direct physical contact with another American who came down with Ebola last week in Africa.
	He works with Partners in Health, a Boston-based international aid organization that has been treating patients in Liberia and Sierra Leone since November.
	The unidentified man is in critical condition at a National Institutes of Health hospital in Bethesda, Maryland.
	The other aid workers are staying near the Maryland hospital or hospitals in Atlanta and Omaha with special isolation units in case they become ...

4 more aid workers flown back to US for Ebola monitoring

President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will meet at the White House next month.
	The date was not immediately announced.
	Susan Rice, Obama's national security adviser, had previously announced that Abe is one of two Asian leaders who will make a state visit to the US this year.
	Rice today met with the secretary-general of Japan's National Security Secretariat, the White House says she noted that Obama is looking forward to hosting Abe in April.
	The president visited Abe in Tokyo last April.
	Obama has placed a premium on deepening US relations with Asia's fast-growing and populous countries.
	Chinese President Xi Jinping will also make a state visit to the US this year.

Japanese Prime Minister Abe to visit US next month

A 21-year-old British woman suspected of trying to travel to Islamic State group territory in Syria has been detained in Turkey, government officials said today.
	The woman, identified as J N H, was detained at a bus terminal in Ankara late yesterday and is being held pending deportation hearings. One of the Turkish officials said authorities apprehended her based on Turkish intelligence and weren't tipped off by British authorities.
	The officials say that correspondence and images on the woman's cellphone indicate that she was planning to head to IS territory.
	The two officials spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of government rules against speaking to the media without prior authorisation. Turkish authorities began deportation proceedings following an interrogation of the woman.
	Authorities provided the AP with a copy of the woman's passport and a photograph of her in detention with details obscured. The photograph shows the woman seated and dressed ...

Turkey holds suspected Syria-bound UK woman

Venezuela has placed a full page ad in the New York Times to reject what it says are "tyrannical" attempts by the US to interfere in the socialist country's affairs.
	The ad comes amid mounting tensions between the two countries after President Nicolas Maduro accused the US of plotting to oust him and ordered the American Embassy in Caracas to slash staffing levels.
	The US has denied the accusations and in turn applied sanctions on seven Venezuelan officials it accuses of violating human rights during anti-government protests last year.
	Declaring that "Venezuela is not a threat," the government advertisement calls on the Obama administration to immediately cease all hostile actions.
	Also today, US senators grilled officials on how to respond to Venezuela's deepening crisis.

Venezuela blasts US in New York Times ad

A US Air Force veteran who was recently fired from his job as an airplane mechanic plotted to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State group and was arrested on terrorism charges, federal prosecutors said.
	Tairod Nathan Webster Pugh, of New Jersey, was indicted yesterday on charges of attempting to provide material support to a terrorist group and obstruction of justice.
	He was in custody and will appear Wednesday in federal court in New York City. His lawyer did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
	The 47-year-old Pugh served in the Air Force as an avionics instrument system specialist from 1986 to 1990, and received training in the installation and maintenance of aircraft engines and navigation and weapons systems, according to federal prosecutors.
	After leaving the Air Force, he worked for a number of companies in the United States and Middle East as an avionics specialist and airplane mechanic, and was living abroad for at least a year before he was charged, .

Feds: US Air Force vet tried to join Islamic State group

Government troops in South Sudan killed up to 130 rebels in the latest fighting following the collapse of peace talks between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy, a military official said today.
	Government troops and rebel forces engaged in serious fighting in the oil-producing Upper Nile state yesterday, military spokesman Brig Philip Aguer told The Associated Press.
	Fourteen government soldiers were killed and 17 others wounded in fighting in Manyo County, he said.
	After the rebels were dislodged from their positions, some fled toward Sudanese territory, he said.
	"Following heavy fighting there, the (South Sudanese military) is now in control of Manyo County in Upper Nile state, particularly the area of Gabat, where the rebels used to approach and shell the town of Renk from the western side of the Nile River," he said.
	"The rebels have run toward the Republic of Sudan and are possibly hiding in a place called Kuek."
	It was not immediately possible to get a comment from 

South Sudan: 130 rebels said to be killed in fresh fighting

Major drugmakers, the British government and a top Alzheimer's research charity are pooling more than USD 100 million to create a global fund to accelerate efforts to find a treatment or even a cure for the mind-robbing disease within a decade.
	The new Dementia Discovery Fund will function like a venture capital fund. It will identify promising laboratory discoveries in Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia, then distribute money to cover costs for the steps needed to prepare for and then begin the first tests in patients -- what's called translational research.
	Jeremy Hunt, the UK health secretary, was to announce the new fund today in Geneva at the World Health Organisation's first conference on dementia.
	The event follows a commitment made at the Dementia G8 Summit in December 2013 to increase investment in such research.
	Dementia is one of the world's top health challenges, affecting about 47 million people. That number is expected to double by 2030 and more than ...

UK, drugmakers establish USD 100 mn Alzheimer's venture fund

Nepal is adding more medical staff at Mount Everest's base camp and working to speed up rescue efforts, officials said today, in steps to boost safety after 16 local guides were killed by an avalanche last year in the deadliest disaster ever on the world's highest peak.
	Four doctors, up from two or three in the past, will be stationed at the base camp's emergency room tent, which will be equipped to handle almost any medical need, said Devi Bahadur Koirala of the Himalayan Rescue Association Nepal.
	Authorities have also arranged for rescue helicopters to airlift sick or injured climbers from base camp within 90 minutes, Koirala said.
	Previously, each team would arrange their own rescue, which would often take hours.
	Sick or injured climbers would be first treated at the base camp and airlifted to their lower attitude clinic at Pheriche, located at an elevation of 4,370 metres and if necessary to the capital, Kathmandu.
	During the spring climbing season that runs from March 1 to ..

Nepal boosts doctors, rescue efforts at Everest base camp

One of Africa's leading universities is in tumult over a statue.
	Last week, protesters at South Africa's University of Cape Town tossed excrement on a campus statue of British colonialist Cecil John Rhodes, calling the monument a tribute to the white domination of the past.
	Since then, student demonstrators have demanded removal of the statue and organised a "Rhodes must fall" campaign on social media.
	Memories of racial conflict are fresh in South Africa, which shed white racist rule in 1994 after all-race elections.
	Rhodes, who died in 1902, was the namesake of Rhodesia, which became Zimbabwe after independence in 1980. He bequeathed land on which the University of Cape Town was built.
	Student leader Ramabina Mahapa criticised the university as "Eurocentric" yesterday during a campus meeting chaired by Crain Soudien, a deputy vice-chancellor of the university.
	"We, as black students, as African students, need to be able to identify with the institution," Mahapa said. "Whose ...

South African students protest British colonialist statue

Russia plans to station state-of-the art missiles in its westernmost Baltic exclave and deploy nuclear-capable bombers to Crimea as part of massive war games to showcase its resurgent military power amid bitter tensions with the West over Ukraine.
	The Russian military exercises this week range from the Arctic to the Pacific Ocean and involve tens of thousands of troops, the Defense Ministry said today.
	The Iskander missiles will be sent to the Kaliningrad region that borders NATO members Poland and Lithuania as part of the maneuvers, said a Defense Ministry official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to comment publicly.
	The official also said Russia will deploy long-range, nuclear-capable Tu-22M3 bombers to Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that Russia annexed from Ukraine a year ago.
	In a statement, the Defense Ministry said the Baltic Fleet, the Southern Military District and the Airborne Forces have been brought to the highest stage of combat ...

Russia to send new missiles to Baltic exclave on maneuvers

Russia's foreign minister says the leader of North Korea is among 26 world leaders who have accepted invitations to Moscow to take part in celebrations marking the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany.
	A highlight of the May 9 celebrations will be the annual military parade on Red Square, where tradition calls for President Vladimir Putin to speak.
	Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said today that in addition to North Korea's Kim Jong Un, the leaders of China, Cuba, India, Mongolia, South Africa and Vietnam had confirmed their attendance.
	North Korea hasn't officially commented. It would be Kim's first trip abroad since taking power three years ago.
	Some Western leaders have decided not to attend the military parade because of Russia's role in the Ukraine conflict.

Russia: North Korean leader to visit Moscow for Victory Day

The European Union police agency launched a new team today to crack down on the organized crime gangs that smuggle tens of thousands of migrants across the Mediterranean from North Africa to Europe.
	The new team based at Europol's headquarters in The Hague will analyze and share intelligence gathered by the EU border agency Frontex, Interpol and EU member police forces to identify and track smuggling networks.
	In an example of the work the team will do, Europol announced it had helped Greek authorities who arrested 16 suspected human traffickers last week.
	The suspects are accused of arranging travel for 350 migrants, mostly Syrians, who paid up to 9,000 euros (USD 9,500) each to get from Turkey to the Greek islands and then onward to mainland Europe using forged travel documents.
	"By establishing a permanent network of operational officers ... I expect that we'll be doing those kinds of operations more often on a bigger scale so we can have a bigger overall impact on reducing ...

EU police group launches team to tackle migrant smugglers

Officials say separate attacks in and outside the capital, Baghdad, have killed at least nine people.
	Police say the deadliest of today's attacks took place in the town of Tarmiyah when three suicide bombers tried to attack a military headquarters, killing at least four soldiers and wounding 14 others.
	The town is about 50 kilometers north of Baghdad.
	They added that a bomb went off in an outdoor market in Baghdad's northern Shaab neighborhood, killing three civilians and wounding 11 others.
	And two policemen were killed and five wounded when a bomb struck their patrol in Youssifiyah, 20 kilometers south of Baghdad.
	Medical officials confirmed causality figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to release the information.

AP

AP

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