International investigators say the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons production facilities has begun.
	The latest report by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) says the destruction of the 12 facilities is expected to be complete by the end of June.
	The destruction is a key part of the elimination of Syria's chemical weapons stockpile as ordered by the U.N. Security Council in September 2013.
	The OPCW has already reported that all of Syria's declared chemical weapons have been removed from the country for their destruction, though concerns remain that Syria didn't declare everything it had.
	The OPCW continues to look into allegations of the use of chlorine "for hostile purposes" in Syria.
	The United Nations circulated the watchdog's latest report today.

UN: Destruction of Syria chemical weapons facilities begins

PTI Automatic

Myanmar has officially opened a deep sea port off its western coast, part of a USD 2.45 billion port and pipeline project that will carry crude oil from the Middle East to China.
	The port and 770-kilometer pipeline are a joint venture between the China National Petroleum Corp. And Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise. Both are state companies.
	Myanmar's Kyemon daily reported today that the port has 12 storage tanks with a combined capacity of 22 million gallons of oil.
	CNOC said in a statement on its website that a recently completed pipeline from Kyaukphyu district in Myanmar's Rakhine state to China's Yunnan province will be able to transport an estimated 190 million gallons of oil per day. The refineries to receive the oil are not yet completed, but trial operations at the port began on Wednesday.
	Myanmar Vice President Nyan Tun said yesterday that the pipeline will generate revenues for his country and supply crude oil for domestic consumption, though he did not specify any ...

Myanmar opens deep sea port for Chinese oil pipeline

US President Barack Obama is calling for an investment to move away from one-size-fits-all- medicine, toward an approach that tailors treatment to a patient's genes.
	The White House said today that Obama will ask Congress for USD 215 million for what he's calling a precision medicine initiative. The ambitious goal: Scientists will assemble databases of about a million volunteers to study their genetics and other factors such as their environments and the microbes that live in their bodies to learn how to individualize care.
	As Obama put it in his State of the Union address, he wants the US "to lead a new era of medicine, one that delivers the right treatment at the right time."
	Also called personalized medicine, this is a hot but challenging field in medical research. It's yielded some early results.
	For example, it's becoming more common for patients with certain cancers to undergo molecular testing in choosing which drug is their best match. People with a rare form of cystic ...

Obama proposes 'precision medicine' to end one-size-fits-all

Tens of thousands of Pakistanis have sought shelter at a sprawling refugee camp in a volatile region of Afghanistan after crossing the mountainous border to escape a military onslaught against insurgents.
	For decades Afghans have fled into Pakistan to escape war and upheaval, but in recent months the tide has reversed, with some 60,000 Pakistanis more than half of them children taking refuge in the Gulan camp, some 20 kilometers from the border in the restive Khost province.
	"We knew the military operations would last a long time once they started," said Malik Omardin, a tribal elder who came from the Pakistani town of Datta Khel. "It's a mountainous area and the insurgents are very strong on their own territory, so the government will have a hard time finding and destroying the Taliban."
	More than 210,000 Pakistanis have crossed into Afghanistan from the neighboring North Waziristan province since the Pakistani military launched a long-awaited offensive in June against Taliban and 

Pakistanis fleeing offensive find new dangers in Afghanistan

Vietnam's military announced today it has temporarily grounded Vietnam War-era US-built helicopters after a crash killed four personnel.
	The UH-1 "Huey" chopper crashed in farmland on Wednesday soon after taking off from Ho Chi Minh City on a training flight.
	Army Deputy Chief of Staff Lt Gen Vo Van Tuan said all UH-1 helicopters would be grounded for maintenance checks. He said an investigation discovered that crew members had found a problem with the control system of the doomed aircraft and had tried unsuccessfully to fix it.
	Tuan said the chopper, one of some 50 Hueys originally belonging to American forces but seized by the victorious communists when the war ended in 1975, was overhauled in the United States in 2012. He said had been decommissioned for failing to meet safety standards, but declined to say how many are still in service.
	Last July, a Russian-made helicopter on a training mission crashed near Hanoi, killing 20 people aboard. One soldier survived with severe ...

Vietnam grounds decades-old Huey choppers after fatal crash

The South African government today granted parole to Eugene de Kock, the head of a covert unit for the apartheid state responsible for dozens of deaths, saying it is in the interest of national reconciliation. But those who knew de Kock's victims are struggling to accept his release.
	Eddie Makue, who worked for the South African Council of Churches when de Kock bombed its headquarters in 1988 injuring 19 people, is ambivalent about the announcement that de Kock has been granted parole.
	"It's mixed feelings, which is something we've gotten used to as South Africans," Makue told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
	Makue, now a member of South Africa's parliament, said he accepted Justice Minister Michael Masutha's reasons for granting de Kock parole but struggled to accept the harm de Kock and his unit had inflicted on their prisoners.
	"We have seen what devastation it has caused to them and we find it difficult to understand that he got off," he said, adding that his ...

South Africa grants parole to apartheid death squad leader

A Chadian warplane and ground troops drove Boko Haram fighters from a Nigerian border town, leaving it strewn with the bodies of the Islamic extremists, witnesses said today.
	The African Union moved to send ground forces to Nigeria and the US said it would assist yesterday's fighting marked the first such action by foreign troops on Nigerian soil to fight the Islamic extremists.
	The African Union chairwoman, at an AU summit in Ethiopia, called for deployment of 7,500 African troops to fight the spreading Islamic uprising by Nigeria's home-grown extremists.
	A senior US official told reporters that the United States government will take a role in the fight against Boko Haram.
	"We are prepared to provide technical support, training and equipment to fight the Boko Haram group. The group's activity in the region has clearly affected our attention in Africa away from development," said Linda Thomas-Greenfield, US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa.
	Abari Modu said he witnessed the 

Chad air force bombs Boko Haram out of Nigerian border town

A Thai court has sentenced two top police officers embroiled in a high-profile corruption scandal to six years in prison on charges of insulting the monarchy and running a gambling den.
	The Criminal Court today found former Central Investigation Bureau chief Pongpat Chayapan and his ex-deputy guilty of citing the monarchy for personal benefit while operating a gambling den in Bangkok.
	At least seven people were arrested in November on serious charges ranging from bribery to defaming the monarchy by invoking claims of links to the palace. Pongpat and his five subordinates were subsequently fired from service and stripped off their titles.
	Investigators found that Pongpat and his aide, Kowit Wongrungroj, kept an illicit fortune that included antique paintings, golden postage stamps, illegal ivory and tens of millions of dollars in cash hidden in secret vaults at a dozen private residences. Prosecutors said they collected the money from the gambling den and misled others to believe ...

2 senior officers sentenced to jail in Thai police scandal

Zhelyu Zhelev, a philosopher and communist-era dissident who became Bulgaria's first democratically elected president died today, his family said.
	He was 79.
	A dissident under communism, Zhelev was the founder and first leader of the pro-democracy Union of Democratic Forces after the demise of the country's Stalinist regime in 1989.
	As in other East European countries abandoning Stalinism, Bulgarians chose for the presidency an intellectual untainted by a Communist past.
	In 1990, the parliament picked Zhelev to become president. He then won in a nationwide presidential vote in 1992, and served until 1997.
	His successor, Petar Stoyanov, praised Zhelev's contribution to "bringing back Bulgaria to the family of free and democratic European nations."
	The slightly built Zhelev was a man of letters rather than politics, though in his academic work he clashed with the communist authorities. Despite the lack of charisma and political experience at the outset, Zhelev became a respected ..

Former Bulgarian president dies at 79

Families of a Japanese journalist and Jordanian military pilot remained in limbo today, a day after the latest purported deadline for a possible prisoner swap passed with no further word from the Islamic State group holding them captive.
	Japanese officials had no progress to report after a late night that ended with the Jordanian government saying it would only release an al-Qaida prisoner from death row if it got proof the airman was alive.
	"There is nothing I can tell you," government spokesman Yoshihide Suga told reporters. He reiterated Japan's "strong trust" in the Jordanians to help save the Japanese hostage, freelance journalist Kenji Goto.
	Suga said the government had been in close contact with Goto's wife, Rinko Jogo, who released a statement overnight pleading for her husband's life.
	"I fear that this is the last chance for my husband, and we now have only a few hours left," Jogo said in a statement released through the Rory Peck Trust, a London-based organisation for ...

Islamic State group silent as deadline passes with no swap

Searching fervently for a missing 6-year-old boy named Etan Patz, police jotted a teenage shop worker's name among those of many people they met, never expecting the clerk would become their suspect more than three decades later.
	But after 35 years, Pedro Hernandez is going on trial in a murder and kidnapping case that shaped the nation's approach to missing children. Opening statements are set for today.
	Hernandez emerged as a suspect in 2012, based on a tip and a videotaped confession that prosecutors say was foreshadowed by remarks he made to friends and relatives in the 1980s.
	His defence hinges on convincing jurors that the confession is false, along with suggesting that the real killer may be a convicted Pennsylvania child molester who was a prime suspect for years.
	"It will be, I think, an extremely interesting case," state Supreme Court Justice Maxwell Wiley told prospective jurors earlier this month, adding that those chosen would be in for "an experience they'll never ...

35 years after boy Etan Patz vanished, murder trial to open

Injured and bleeding, mothers grasping infants in their arms fled from a maternity hospital shattered by a powerful gas explosion and rescuers began smashing sledgehammers through fallen concrete hunting for others who might be trapped.
	A nurse and a baby died in the blast and a second infant died yesterday night, Mexico City authorities said. More than 70 people were injured in the blast that collapsed about three-fourths of the hospital, but by late in the day rescuers determined no one was left trapped in the rubble.
	Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera said some of the injured were about to be released from area hospitals, including some mothers who suffered injuries while using their bodies to shield their children.
	A 25-year-old nurse and a newborn between 2 and 3 weeks old died at the scene and another infant died several hours later at another pediatric hospital, said Armando Ahued, the city's health secretary. He had said earlier that 21 babies in all had been injured, and nine of ..

Gas blast wrecks Mexico children's hospital, killing 3

Bombings and a shooting killed at least 19 people around the Iraqi capital Baghdad today, including soldiers and Shiite militiamen, officials said.
	Police officials say the deadliest attack took place this afternoon when two suicide bombers set off their explosive belts inside a Shiite militia headquarters in the town of Mishada, 30 kilometers north of Baghdad, killing seven Shiite militiamen and wounding 20 others.
	Shiite militias have been fighting alongside government forces against the Islamic State, a Sunni extremist group that seized vast swaths of northern and western Iraq last year.
	In a separate attack, gunmen in a speeding car opened fire on soldiers manning a checkpoint in Baghdad's western suburb of Abu Ghraib, killing three soldiers and wounding eight others, police officials said.
	A bomb blast at an outdoor market killed four people and wounded 12 in the town of Youssifiyah, just south of Baghdad. Another bomb exploded on a commercial street in the nearby town of ...

Attacks kill 19 people in Iraq

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has ordered an investigation into violence during a demonstration this week outside a UN peacekeeping base in northern Mali that killed at least three protesters and injured several others.
	UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that Ban "deplores the incidents" during Tuesday's protest in Gao and ordered the inquiry to determine the facts. He said the UN will cooperate with all parties in the probe.
	Olivier Salgado, the spokesman for the UN mission in Mali, said protesters marched on the peacekeepers' base and began throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails. When they wounded two UN police officers, UN forces responded to disperse the crowd, Salgado said.
	David Gressly, the UN deputy special representative in Mali, said the peacekeepers fired tear gas and warning shots to disperse the protest involving about 2,000 people, but two witnesses told AP they saw UN troops fire live rounds into the crowd.
	Northern Mali fell under control of Tuareg separatists and ..

UN orders probe of deadly protest at UN base in north Mali

Beating the entry deadline by hours on Thursday, Sepp Blatter formally joined a FIFA presidential contest he is widely expected to win.
     Blatter published a low-key message on Twitter confirming an expected bid to extend his scandal-scarred, 17-year leadership of football's wealthy governing body by four more years.
     "Today is a key date in the electoral calendar. I've made my submission, now the electoral committee follow a process," wrote Blatter, who is headed to the Asian Cup final in Sydney on Saturday.
     Blatter could travel with confidence, knowing Asia is home to some of his most loyal supporters. A majority of FIFA's 209 member federations seem content to overlook allegations of tainted elections and World Cup hosting bids while FIFA pays increasing bonuses from tournament profits with $1.5 billion in reserve.
     Still, Blatter could be seated for the Australia vs. South Korea final close to two FIFA vice presidents plotting against him.
     Prince Ali bin ...

Blatter joins FIFA election race without naming nominees

The CIA officer credited with saving former President Hamid Karzai's life during the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 has been named director of the National Clandestine Service, the agency's spying arm.
	The officer, a former Marine who is under cover and whose first name is Greg, was recently the head of the Special Activities Division, the CIA's elite paramilitary force.
	He has twice been station chief in Afghanistan, where in December 2001 he jumped to shield Karzai when the US military accidentally bombed the position of the man who would become Afghanistan's president.
	He earned Karzai's trust, and the Obama administration asked him to troubleshoot the fraught relationship with the Afghan leader in 2012, when he again served as station chief in Kabul.
	The Central Intelligence Agency confirmed that a new top spy had been chosen but declined to name him. Current and former officials identified him on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to disclose his ...

New chief of CIA Clandestine Service is spying veteran

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today blamed Iran for a deadly flare-up along the Lebanese border, the deadliest escalation on the disputed frontier since the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel.
	"It is Iran that is responsible for yesterday's attack against us from Lebanon," Netanyahu said. "We will continue to defend ourselves against all threats, near and far alike." There was no immediate comment from Tehran.
	Iran backs Hezbollah, which declared its attack an act of retaliation for an airstrike, attributed to Israel, that targeted Hezbollah fighters inside neighboring Syria earlier this month.
	The strike killed six Hezbollah fighters and an Iranian general. Both Iran and Hezbollah are allies of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
	"This is the same Iran that is now trying to achieve an agreement, via the major powers, that would leave it with the ability to develop nuclear weapons, and we strongly oppose this agreement," Netanyahu said, referring to the negotiations over 

Netanyahu blasts Iran for Hezbollah attack on Lebanon border

A 19-year-old gunman who stormed into the headquarters of Dutch national broadcaster NOS demanding airtime claimed to be from a "hackers' collective," according to a reporter who spoke to the man.
	NOS was off-air for around an hour yesterday. When it came back, it showed recorded footage of the young man, wearing a black suit, white shirt and black tie, and carrying a pistol.
	Speaking calmly to someone off-camera, the man said, "We are hired in by intelligence agencies." Shortly after, police arrived with their guns drawn and ordered the man to drop his weapon and put his hands up. At least five police officers then ordered him to turn around and lie down, which he did and he was arrested without a struggle.
	Police said in a statement the man demanded airtime and threatened that bombs would go off at several locations around the Netherlands if his demand wasn't met. Special police units were searching the building.
	Prosecutor Johan Bac, who spoke at a news conference in Hilversum, 

Gunman who stormed Dutch broadcaster claimed to be hacker

US defense officials say three American contractors were shot to death by a gunman in the Afghan capital of Kabul.
	One official said the shooting happened today at the North Kabul International Airport complex in the early evening hours. Officials said a local Afghan national was also killed.
	It was not immediately clear who did the shooting or whether the shooter was a member of the Afghan security forces.
	The US defense officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the incident was in the early stages of investigation.

US officials: 3 US contractors killed in Afghan shooting

Representatives of the Syrian government and the opposition wrapped up four days of consultations in Moscow on Thursday with a general statement avoiding any of the difficult issues surrounding the country's nearly four-year civil war.
	Vitaly Naumkin, the head of the Moscow-based Institute for Eastern Studies who moderated the discussions, said Thursday they focused on a platform for future talks and made no attempt to tackle the disputed issues. He said the fate of Syrian President Bashar Assad wasn't on the agenda.
	Russia, which has staunchly backed Assad throughout the war that has killed more than 220,0000 people and has turned nearly 4 million Syrians into refugees, hoped that hosting the consultations could help raise its international profile amid tensions with the West over Ukraine.
	But top opposition groups, including the main Western-backed Syrian National Coalition, have refused to attend the consultations amid deep distrust of Moscow. Some of the Damascus-based groups ..

Syria talks in Moscow end without visible results

Lawmakers failed to elect a new Italian president today in balloting that tests Premier Matteo Renzi's ability to rally his fractured party behind a candidate that is also acceptable to opposition leader Silvio Berlusconi, whose support he has courted for the government's ambitious reform agenda.
	Even as the names on the hand-written ballots from the 1,009 electors were still being read aloud, it was clear that, as expected, no candidate had come remotely close to the two-thirds majority needed to elect a new head of state in the first three rounds.
	Electors will have another crack at it Friday. The biggest "vote-getter" was "blank ballot," a sign that broad consensus for a figure who is supposed to be above the political fray was still elusive despite days of political maneuvering by Renzi to secure backing for his choice.
	Starting Saturday, the threshold for victory drops to a simple majority, enhancing the probability that sufficient agreement could be found among Italy's myriad 

AP

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