Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says the Palestinian Authority will no longer be committed to any signed agreements with Israel or the United States, following Israel's pledge to annex large parts of the occupied West Bank.
It was not immediately clear how the announcement, which was made at a Palestinian leadership meeting late on Tuesday, would be implemented.
The Oslo accords and other agreements in the 1990s created the Palestinian Authority and govern its political, economic and security relations with Israel.
The Palestinian Liberation Organization and the State of Palestine are no longer committed to all signed agreements and understandings with the Israeli government and the American government, including the security commitments," Abbas said.
He said Israel would now have to uphold responsibilities before the international community as the occupying power.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to annex the Jordan Valley and Jewish settlements in the West ...

Abbas says PA no longer to abide by accords with Israel, US

PTI Automatic

A crucial election has begun in the East African nation of Burundi, where President Pierre Nkurunziza is stepping aside after a divisive 15-year rule but will remain paramount leader in the country that continues to reject outside scrutiny.
The vote is one of the most important transfers of power in Burundi since independence in 1962.
Face masks and social distancing were observed as voting began after 6 am but Burundi's government has been criticized for not appearing to take the coronavirus pandemic seriously.
Nkurunziza himself attended crowded political rallies.
The country has 42 confirmed virus cases.  Regional observers are not present after being told that arriving foreigners would face a 14-day quarantine, and on Wednesday morning citizens and journalists said access to social media was not possible without a virtual private network.
Ahead of the vote, government agents were accused of harassing the main opposition party, the CNL, whose leader Agathon Rwasa is believed to be .

Burundi opens crucial presidential election amid pandemic

Twenty years after Hezbollah guerrillas pushed Israel's last troops from southern Lebanon, both sides are gearing up for a possible war that neither seems to want.
Israeli troops are striking Hezbollah targets in neighboring Syria and drilling for what could be an invasion of Lebanon. Hezbollah is beefing up its own forces and threatening to invade Israel. The bitter enemies routinely exchange warnings and threats.
We are preparing seriously for the next war. We're not taking any shortcuts because we understand we have to be extremely strong to defeat the enemy, said Col. Israel Friedler, an Israeli commander who has been overseeing a weeks-long exercise simulating war with Hezbollah at a base in northern Israel.
Hezbollah emerged as a ragtag guerrilla group in the 1980s, funded by Iran to battle Israeli troops occupying southern Lebanon. A protracted guerrilla war, characterized by roadside bombs and sniper attacks, eventually forced Israel to withdraw in May 2000. With the exception 

20 years after withdrawal, Israel, Hezbollah brace for war

They fly at speeds of a mile a second or faster and maneuver in ways that make them extra hard to detect and destroy in flight.
President Donald Trump calls them a super-duper missile," though they're better known as hypersonic weapons. And they are at the heart of Trump administration worries about China and Russia.
For decades the United States has searched for ways to get ultra-fast flight right. But it has done so in fits and starts.
Now, with China and Russia arguably ahead in this chase, the Trump administration is pouring billions of dollars a year into hypersonic offense and defense.
The Pentagon makes no bones about their purpose.
Our ultimate goal is, simply, we want to dominate future battlefields, Mark Lewis, the Pentagon's director of defense research and engineering for modernisation, told reporters in March.
Critics argue that hypersonic weapons would add little to the United States' ability to deter war. Some think they could ignite a new, destabilising arms race.
A ...

Quest for 'super-duper missile' pits US against key rivals

Gunmen killed 11 people in two separate attacks in Afghanistan, officials said on Wednesday, the latest in relentless violence that continues to plague the war-shattered nation.
According to Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian, in the first attack, an unknown number of gunmen stormed a mosque in Parwan province, north of the capital, Kabul, late on Tuesday, killing eight worshipers and wounding several others.
In the second attack, also late on Tuesday, gunmen in eastern Khost province attacked a family returning home from a nearby mosque, killing three brothers, Arian said. In both attacks, the gunmen fled the scene.
No one claimed responsibility for either attack but the Taliban promptly denied involvement. The Islamic State group, which has been increasingly active in Afghanistan after suffering battlefield losses to government and US forces, as well as its Taliban rivals, has carried out similar attacks in the past.
Washington blamed the IS for last week's horrific attack on a 

Afghan officials say gunmen kill 11 in separate attacks

South Korean students began returning to schools Wednesday as their country prepares for a new normal amid the coronavirus pandemic.
In a reminder that returning to normalcy won't be easy, students in some schools near Seoul were quickly asked to leave and return home after two students were found to have contracted the virus.
South Korean health authorities on Wednesday reported 32 new cases over a 24-hour period, the first time the daily jump has been above 30 in more than a week.
Hundreds of thousands of high school seniors entered their schools after having their temperatures checked and rubbing their hands with sanitizers on Wednesday morning.
Students and teachers are required to wear masks in classrooms, and some schools installed plastic partitions at each student's desk, according to the Education Ministry.
Lower-level students were set to return to school in phased steps by June 8.
South Korea's new school year was supposed to start in early March, but it was delayed several 

South Koreans return to school amid virus outbreak

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen called for stability in relations with China in her inaugural address Wednesday but said she would not accept Beijing's political terms that would downgrade Taiwan and undermine the cross-strait status quo.
Reelected by a landslide late last year, Tsai said relations with Beijing had reached a historical turning point and that peace, parity, democracy, and dialogue should form the basis for contacts between the sides as a means to prevent intensifying antagonisms and differences.
Tsai said Taiwan would also work to increase its participation in international society, even as Beijing seeks to shut it out and poach allies away from the self-governing island democracy it claims as its own territory.
We will not accept the Beijing authorities' use of 'one country, two systems' to downgrade Taiwan and undermine the cross-strait status quo," Tsai told an audience at the baroque Taipei Guest House in the center of the capital.
Those in attendance were ...

Taiwan President Tsai calls for stability in China relations

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Wednesday that the coronavirus pandemic threatens Africa's progress and could push millions into extreme poverty.
The UN chief said in a video message launching a policy report on The Impact of COVID-19 in Africa that countries on the continent have responded swiftly to the crisis, and as of now reported cases are lower than feared with more than 2,500 deaths.
The virus is present in all African countries with most recording fewer than 1,000 cases, the 28-page UN report said.
The relatively low numbers of COVID-19 cases confirmed thus far have raised hopes that African countries may be spared the worst of the pandemic, the report said.
"Caution is warranted, however, as these are early days in the life cycle of a disease that is still not fully understood and where we have seen repeated patterns of first slow, then exponential growth in the number of cases."
The UN said the low numbers could be linked to minimal testing and reporting, ...

UN chief: Virus could push millions of Africans into poverty

The popular "scramble" intersection in Tokyo's downtown Shibuya district looks uncrowded, but eateries and pubs on backstreets are busy.
Meanwhile, narrow suburban shopping streets are jammed on weekends, with families strolling and heading to lunch. Some bars and restaurants are open past a requested 8 p.m. closing time.
While Tokyo is still under a coronavirus state of emergency, the pandemic is pitting those willing to follow requests for self-restraint against a sizable minority resisting the calls to stay home.
With signs of the infections slowing, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe lifted the state of emergency in all but eight of the 47 Japanese prefectures on May 14, two weeks ahead of schedule. Restrictions are still in place in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Hokkaido and four other prefectures where experts say risks remain.
But as stores begin to reopen, people are more apt to shrug off the stay-at-home request.
The state of emergency gives local leaders the legal bases to request ...

Business almost as usual amid Japan virus actions

Whenever Joey Logano doesn't cross the finish line first at a NASCAR Cup Series race, he says he tends to have the same thought: Golly, I wish I could do that again.
The 2018 NASCAR champion and rest of the field will get to do it again: They will run the Toyota 500 (that's kilometers, not miles) on Wednesday night at Darlington Raceway just three days after the sport got back to racing after 10 weeks away due to the coronavirus pandemic.
NASCAR teams are creatures of habit with a well-worn routine of mechanical sessions, strategy meetings and track breakdowns and tendencies for wherever they're headed.
While each season typically sees a Monday race due to bad weather, the pandemic has forced NASCAR to add a couple of weeknights into its schedule as it tries to make up the eight races it missed.
This will be NASCAR's first Cup Series race on a Wednesday night in 36 years  and that one was pretty historic as Richard Petty won his 200th career Cup race at Daytona International ...

Primetime: NASCAR set for first Wednesday start since 1984

Major League Soccer's All-Star Game has been canceled for the first time in its quarter-century history because of the coronavirus pandemic.
MLS All-Stars had been scheduled to play counterparts from Mexico's Liga MX on July 29 at Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles. MLS said Tuesday that the 2021 game will take place at Banc of California Stadium, most likely against All-Stars from Liga MX.
The third Campeones Cup between the MLS and Liga MX champions also was canceled, along with the second edition of the Leagues Cup between teams from those two leagues.
MLS was stopped two games into its season in mid-March because of the pandemic. The league is considering having all 26 teams resume play with a tournament at Walt Disney World outside Orlando, Florida.
The league and the MLS Players Association have exchanged proposals on how to resume play. The union estimates the league's offer would cost players USD 220 million over time and that its proposal would cut USD 100 million from 

MLS All-Star Game in LA canceled due to pandemic

Former World Wrestling Entertainment pro Shad Gaspard was still missing after he was swept out to sea in Southern California last weekend while swimming with his young son.
Gaspard's 10-year-old son, Aryeh, was rescued and several other swimmers made it out of the water safely after they were caught in a rip current Sunday afternoon at Venice Beach in Los Angeles.
"When last seen by the lifeguard, a wave had crashed over Mr. Shad Gaspard and he was swept out to sea," Los Angeles police said in a statement Monday.
Gaspard, 39, was about 50 yards (46 meters) from shore when he was last spotted, police said.
His wife, Siliana Gaspard, issued a statement Tuesday thanking authorities and fans.
"We would like to express our gratitude to the first responders who rescued Aryeh and to the lifeguards, coast guard, divers, fire and police departments for their continued efforts to help find our beloved Shad," the statement said.
The statement added: "Shad is a fighter, a warrior and a magical ...

WWE pro Shad Gaspard missing in ocean off California

Former men's basketball coach Dan Majerle has filed a lawsuit for breach of contract after being fired by Grand Canyon earlier this year.
In the lawsuit filed in Superior Court on Monday, Majerle seeks the full amount of a contract that ran through 2022-23 before he was fired after seven seasons on March 12.
The lawsuit claims GCU breached the employment agreement with Majerle by not honoring the contract's severance provision after firing him without written grounds for dismissal.
"Dan is disappointed that GCU has decided not to honor their contract," Majerle's attorney Dana Hooper said in an email.
"He simply wants what is fair and proper under the contract and the law."
Majerle was a fan favorite during seven seasons with the NBA's Phoenix Suns and was hired by Grand Canyon in 2013 on the recommendation of former Suns owner Jerry Colangelo.
Majerle was brought in to guide the Antelopes in their transition to Division I. Grand Canyon won at least 20 games its first two Division I ...

Fired coach Majerle sues GCU for breach of contract

Joe Biden on Tuesday night deflected questions about President Donald Trump's allegations of improper behaviour during the Obama administration and other conspiracy theories pushed by his top allies, saying, I don't want to get down in the mud with these guys.
Speaking at a Yahoo News virtual town hall, Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, said Trump is trying to distract voters from his inadequate response to the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 90,000 Americans.
Trump has said the virus will disappear like a miracle.
Broadly dubbing his allegations Obamagate, Trump has pointed to the legal case of his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, suggesting that the unmasking of Flynn's name as part of legal US surveillance of foreign targets was criminal and motivated by partisan politics.
There is no evidence of that, and Trump's accusations misrepresent the facts of the case.
Unmasking of people in surveillance reports is a routine, legal ...

Biden on Trump hits: 'I don't want to get down in the mud'

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen has been inaugurated for a second term amid increasing pressure from China on the self-governing island democracy it claims as its own territory.
Tsai represents the ruling Democratic Progressive Party which advocates Taiwan's formal independence, something Beijing says it will use force to prevent.
She won in a landslide last year after the repression of pro-democracy protests in the nearby Chinese semi-autonomous region of Hong Kong solidified public opinion in Taiwan against moves toward accepting rule by Beijing.
The sides split amid civil war in 1949 and Beijing has cut off ties with Tsai's government over her refusal to accept its demand that she recognize the island as a part of China.
Beijing's diplomats have shut Taiwan out of international gatherings such as the World Health Assembly and poached away its diplomatic allies while its military has boosted patrols and exercises aimed at intimidating the island's population.
Following Wednesday ...

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen inaugurated for a second term

A document released Tuesday in a Canadian court details warning signs of paranoid behaviour and the stockpiling of guns and gasoline by the man who went on a rampage that killed 22 people in Nova Scotia last month.
In the document made public following an application by media organisations, seven witnesses who had encountered Gabriel Wortman told of his personality issues or recounted seeing some of his weapons at his clinic in Dartmouth and a property in Portapique that he dubbed the warehouse.
One witness described the now dead gunman as an abusive sociopath who kept a rifle by the fireplace that was described as "like a machine gun".
A former colleague told officers that Wortman was "paranoid" about the COVID-19 pandemic and added that he had experienced a mental breakdown while discussing a deed for a property in Portapique.
That witness was among those who said the killer talked about various types of guns, assault rifles and handguns.
The 40 pages offer glimpses of Wortman's ...

Document details Canada mass shooter's paranoia, weapons

The recent seizure by Cuban police of hundreds of sacks of onions was a big news item on state television, a warning to suspected hoarders and speculators who seek to benefit from harsher economic conditions during the pandemic.
The broadcast was also highly unusual because government-controlled media in Cuba rarely report on police raids and other operations.
Instead, in the last two weeks, state media have embarked on a campaign to show that there is zero tolerance for anyone attempting to cash in on the fallout from the spread of the new coronavirus.
The publicity campaign has also drawn criticism that suspects are not given due process, and highlighted problems with Cuba's state production of essential goods and mixed messaging on private enterprise.
It comes as the pandemic imposes even more distress and hardship on Cubans who were already used to shortages and long lines in their efforts to find basic necessities.
The onions were confiscated in Mayabeque province, and police ...

Cuba highlights campaign against hoarders during pandemic

The top UN official in Libya warned Tuesday that the war in the north African country will intensify, broaden and deepen because of increasing foreign intervention and the massive influx of weapons, military equipment and mercenaries to both sides.
Acting UN special envoy Stephanie Williams said the escalation will have devastating consequences for the Libyan people who are getting lost in the mix, their voices crowded out.
She urged the UN Security Council to apply consistent and credible pressure on those regional and international actors that are fuelling the conflict.
Williams' video briefing to the council came a day after forces allied with Libya's UN-supported government wrested control of a key military base on the outskirts of the capital Tripoli from eastern-based forces under commander Khalifa Hifter who have been trying to capture the city of two million since April 2019.
Loss of the al-Waitya airbase in Tripoli's southwestern desert reaches was a heavy setback for ...

UN official warns of escalating Libyan war citing foreigners

US births continued to fall last year, leading to the fewest number of newborns in 35 years.
The decline is the latest sign of a prolonged national baby bust that's been going on for more than a decade. And some experts believe the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the economy will suppress the numbers further.
"This unpredictable environment, and anxiety about the future, is going to make women think twice about having children, said Dr Denise Jamieson, chair of obstetrics and gynaecology at Emory University.
The latest numbers were released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The report, which is considered preliminary, is based on a review of more than 99% of birth certificates issued last year.
The CDC found the number of births fell about 1% from 2018, to about 3.7 million. Birth rates continued to fall for teen moms and for women in their 20s.
Aside from a one-year uptick in 2014, U.S. births have been falling every year since 2007, when a recession 

US births fall, and virus could drive them down more

One of Syria's wealthiest businessmen who is a cousin of President Bashar Assad said Tuesday the government has ordered the seizure of his assets and barred him from doing business with the state for five years, escalating a dispute that has been deeply mixed in family affairs.
The latest decisions against Rami Makhlouf come after weeks of highly publicized and unusual disputes over outstanding payments that the government is seeking from the country's largest telecommunication company, which he heads.
In an unprecedented move, Makhlouf took his grievances to social media early this month, challenging claims he owes the state any money and asking Assad to be the arbiter to prevent his business from collapsing.
Makhlouf, who was once a close Assad aide, posted several videos and statements on his Facebook page indicating that he has been isolated from the president and can only address him through social media.
Makhlouf said the government decree to confiscate his assets and those of ..

Cousin of Syria's Assad says state confiscates his assets

A Virginia family out for a ride to get a change of scenery after being holed up due to the coronavirus found nearly USD 1 million in two bags lying in the road.
David and Emily Schantz left their Caroline County home with their children last Saturday and drove their pickup truck over what they thought was a bag of trash, then stopped and picked it up as well as another bag nearby, news sources reported Tuesday.
The Schantzes tossed the bags in the back of their pickup truck and kept riding, according to Emily Schantz.
Only when the Schantzes returned home did they discover the bags contained money, she said.
Inside of the bag, there were plastic baggies and they were addressed with something that said 'cash vault,' Schantz told WTVR.
They contacted the Caroline County Sheriff's Office, which sent deputies to the home. The deputies took inventory and determined the money totalled nearly USD 1 million.
Caroline Sheriff's Maj. Scott Moser said authorities have since determined where the 

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