The US has urged its citizens to reconsider their travel to Pakistan mainly due to terrorism and risks to civil aviation operating within or near the country.
The Federal Aviation Administration, in a notice issued on Wednesday, said that terrorist groups continue plotting possible attacks in Pakistan.
"Reconsider travel to Pakistan due to terrorism," the State Department said in a latest travel advisory.
It asked Americans not to travel to Balochistan province and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province, including the former Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), due to terrorism, and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir area due to terrorism and the potential for armed conflict.
Terrorist groups continue plotting possible attacks in Pakistan, it said, adding that terrorists may attack with little or no warning, targeting transportation hubs, markets, shopping malls, military installations, airports, universities, tourist locations, schools, hospitals, places of worship and government ...

US urges its citizens to reconsider travelling to Pak due to terrorism

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The IAAF is to argue that Olympic women's 800m champion Caster Semenya should be classified as a "biological male" and forced to take testosterone suppressants if she is to compete in women's competition, according to reports.
Ahead of a landmark hearing at the Court of Arbitration (CAS) next week, The Times said that the IAAF will contest Semenya and other athletes with "differences of sexual development" (DSD) should only be able to compete with lower testosterone levels to ensure a level playing field.
However, the IAAF hit back at the "biological male" claims on Wednesday.
"The IAAF is not classifying any DSD athlete as male. To the contrary, we accept their legal sex without question, and permit them to compete in the female category," the IAAF said in a statement.
"However if a DSD athlete has testes and male levels of testosterone, they get the same increases in bone and muscle size and strength and increases in haemoglobin that a male gets when they go through puberty, which ..

IAAF hits back at Semenya to be classed as 'biological male' reports

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp faces a touchline ban or a fine after being charged by the Football Association for comments he made about referee Kevin Friend after his side's Premier League clash at West Ham on February 4.
Klopp intimated after the 1-1 draw that Friend's second half performance had been affected by an assistant referee's mistake for Sadio Mane's opening goal.
Mane's goal stood at the London Stadium despite James Milner being clearly offside in the build-up before Michail Antonio's equaliser cost Liverpool two points in the title race.
"As a human being, if I know I have made a big mistake in the first half, I don't want to open the gap any more," Klopp said after the game.
"Referees are obviously human beings, and I understand that, but I didn't during the game because I had no clue that our goal was offside."
The FA confirmed Klopp had been charged for questioning "the integrity" of the match official.
"Jurgen Klopp has today been charged with a breach of FA Rule ...

Klopp faces sanction from FA charge

Thousands took to the streets in 50 Argentine cities and towns Wednesday demanding that the government declare a "food emergency" and put an end to suffocating price increases.
"We are losing work, food, education, housing... it's desperation that is emerging among our people," said Osvaldo Ulacio, 60, as he marched in the capital Buenos Aires.
"They have left us no other tool than to come out in the streets to fight for our rights," added 29-year-old Diego Quintero.
Since President Mauricio Macri came to power in 2015, electricity bills have gone up 2.1 percent and gas 3 percent. The government blamed the increase on the removal of significant subsidies in place under the previous administration.
"In the neighborhoods, hunger has come back... it's the worst since the crisis in 2001," said Daniel Menendez, one of the protest leaders in Buenos Aires, referring to the year of a major financial crash.
"The crisis is dramatic with falling wages, factories and businesses closing, and soup .

Argentines protest in push for 'food emergency' declaration

A bipartisan group of powerful US lawmakers Wednesday sought a congressional briefing on contaminated drugs from India and China for the treatment of high blood pressure.
Since July last year, at least 15 recalls have been issued for a class of drugs known as angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARB), which are generally used to treat high blood pressure.
The recalls appear to be connected to at least two foreign drug manufacturing facilities -- Zhejiang Huahai Pharmaceutical in China and Hetero Labs in India.
Both facilities have a history of troubling FDA inspection reports prior to the detection of trace amounts of carcinogens, the bipartisan energy and commerce Congressmen said in a letter to the US' Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb.
Expressing concern over such a development, the lawmakers requested a briefing on the drugs manufactured overseas that may have been contaminated with trace amounts of known carcinogens, which could lead to a shortage of ...

US Congressmen seek briefing on contaminated drugs from India, China

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort intentionally lied to investigators and a federal grand jury in the special counsel's Russia probe, a judge ruled Wednesday.
US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson's decision was another loss for Manafort, a once-wealthy political consultant who rose to lead Donald Trump's 2016 campaign and now faces years in prison in two criminal cases brought in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.
The four-page ruling hurts Manafort's chance of receiving a reduced sentence, though Jackson said she would decide the exact impact during his sentencing next month.
It also resolves a dispute that had provided new insight into how Mueller views Manafort's actions as part of the broader probe of Russian election interference and any possible coordination with Trump associates.
Prosecutors have made clear that they remain deeply interested in Manafort's interactions with a man the FBI says has ties to Russian intelligence.
But it's unclear exactly what 

Judge finds Manafort lied to investigators in Russia probe

A New York Times report says seven women have claimed singer-songwriter Ryan Adams offered to help them with their music careers but then turned things sexual, and he sometimes became emotional and verbally abusive.
In the story published Wednesday, a 20-year-old female musician said Adams, 44, had inappropriate conversations with her while she was 15 and 16. Identified by her middle name Ava, she said that Adams exposed himself during a video call.
Adams' ex-wife, actress and singer Mandy Moore, said Adams was psychologically abusive toward her throughout their marriage. Their divorce was official in 2016.
The Times said the accounts have been corroborated by family members or friends who were present at the time. Adams' lawyer denied the claims to the Times.
After the article was published, Adams tweeted Wednesday that "I am not a perfect man and I have made many mistakes."
"To anyone I have ever hurt, however unintentionally, I apologize deeply and unreservedly," he wrote.
"But the 

Report: 7 women claim singer Ryan Adams was inappropriate

Thirteen same-sex couples are filing Japan's first lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the country's rejection of same-sex marriage.
The Valentine Day lawsuits to be filed in Tokyo and in other courts around the country on Thursday argue that the law violates same-sex couples' constitutional rights to equality.
They want the government to follow the example of many other nations in guaranteeing marital freedom.
Ten Japanese municipalities have enacted "partnership" ordinances for same-sex couples to make it easier for them to rent apartments together, among other things, but they are not legally binding. Many LGBT people hide their sexuality, fearing prejudice at home, school or work.
The obstacles are worse for transgender people, who face extra difficulties including a requirement they be sterilized to marry someone of the same birth sex.

Japanese same-sex couples sue for equal marital rights

Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido Wednesday announced the appointment of a new board for Citgo, the US-based arm of state oil firm PDVSA that until recently was a major source of revenue for President Nicolas Maduro's embattled regime.
Guaido -- who has been recognized as acting president by more than 50 countries and also heads the opposition-controlled National Assembly legislature, which appointed the new board -- is locked in a battle with Maduro for control of the crisis-hit country.
The United States, which is leading the push to topple Maduro, has sanctioned key regime financial assets including the Citgo subsidiary, and on Wednesday President Donald Trump once more refused to rule out military action against the leftist leader.
Announcing the new six-member board on Twitter, Guaido said it "will be made up of qualified Venezuelans, who are free of corruption and without any partisan affiliation."
"With this decision, we are not only protecting our assets, we are ...

Venezuela's Guaido announces new board for key US-based oil subsidiary

Israel has told the UN Security Council that it opposes a planned visit by the top UN body to the Palestinian territories for a close-up look at the situation, Kuwait's ambassador said Wednesday.
Kuwait and other council members proposed the visit to the occupied territories during a meeting last week on Israel's decision to end the international observer force in the West Bank city of Hebron.
During a closed-door meeting on Wednesday, the council president briefed members on talks held with Israel and the Palestinians on the proposal for a visit.
"He said Israel categorically refused the council visit," Kuwait's Ambassador Mansour al-Otaibi told reporters after the meeting.
"They don't want to receive a visit by the Security Council" even though they are prepared to welcome delegations from countries on the council, he added.
"We expressed our regret that this visit will not take place because it has been raised many times by the council."
The Israeli mission did not immediately ...

Israel opposes UN council visit to Palestinian territories

A former boxer who became a hero to some of France's "yellow vest" protesters after beating up police officers during a demonstration was convicted on Wednesday and given a one-year prison term.
Ignoring prosecution calls for a significantly heavier sentence, the judge said that Christophe Dettinger, a former national light-heavyweight champion, would have easy open prison terms which would allow him to work during the day.
Dettinger, 37,has been held in custody since turning himself in after the attack last month. He appeared before a packed courtroom looking tired, with a thin moustache and his hair cut short.
He was caught on camera on January 5 throwing a flurry of punches at an officer during clashes on a footbridge over the river Seine in Paris.
Footage of the incident, which has been played repeatedly on TV and social media, was shown again in court on Wednesday with Dettinger, who is 1.9 metres tall (6 foot 3 inches) seen punching one policeman then kicking another on the ...

French 'yellow vest' boxer receives one-year sentence

The US House voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to end American involvement in Saudi Arabia's war effort in neighbouring Yemen, dealing a rebuke to President Donald Trump and his alliance with Riyadh.
The chamber voted 248 to 177 to approve historic legislation that would direct the president within 30 days to "remove United States armed forces from hostilities in or affecting the Republic of Yemen", where a years-old conflict has killed thousands of civilians.
Eighteen Republicans joined all voting Democrats in supporting the measure, a striking curtailment of presidential war powers.
The vote puts pressure on the Senate to act.
The Senate easily passed a similar measure late last year condemning the administration's defense of the Saudi kingdom, but it died as the last Congress ended with the then Republican-controlled House not bringing it to a vote.
Today the House is under Democratic control, and the measure moved swiftly on the floor.
"With my resolution passing the House, we are ...

Rebuking Trump, House votes to end US help in Saudi's Yemen war

A huge snowstorm blanketed eastern Canada on Wednesday, closing schools, grounding hundreds of flights and forcing many workers to stay home as tens of thousands of plows toiled to clear roads.
Big fluffy snowflakes began falling Tuesday afternoon, with more than 30 centimeters (12 inches) accumulated on the ground by the next morning and more on the way, according to weather forecasts.
Wind gusts up to 70 kilometers (44 miles) per hour were also expected in the evening, blowing snow and severely reducing visibility from Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal to the Atlantic coast provinces.
A winter storm warning was in place for much of the region and travel was not advised.
Nearly 250 flights have been canceled in Montreal since Tuesday, while travelers described disruptions at the country's biggest airport in Toronto -- where flight cancelations topped 400 -- as a nightmare.
In Ottawa, residents sweated under knit hats and heavy parkas trying to dig out. The odd commuter on skis was spotted 

Eastern Canada digs out from major snow storm

Banking officials are urging Congress to fully open the doors of the US bank system to the legal marijuana industry.
Most Americans live in states where marijuana is legal in some form. But most banks don't want anything to do with pot money for fear it could expose them to legal trouble from the federal government, which still considers marijuana illegal.
That conflict forces many businesses to operate only in cash, making them targets for crime and creating problems with paying taxes.
A proposal in Congress would allow pot businesses to access banking services, while sheltering banks from prosecution for handling pot money.
Some banking officials urged lawmakers at a House committee hearing Wednesday to pass the measure. Others say it wouldn't work because pot remains illegal at the federal level.

Congress urged to fully open banks to marijuana industry

Police in northern California are conducting a probe following outrage over the fatal shooting of a 21-year-old rapper who was found sleeping in his car outside a Taco Bell.
According to the Vallejo Police Department, the February 6 shooting took place after employees at the fast-food outlet late that evening called to report a Mercedes parked in the drive-thru line with a man slumped over in the driver's seat.
In a statement, police said officers responded to the call and as they approached the locked vehicle, they noticed that the driver was unresponsive and had a gun on his lap. They added that the car's transmission was in drive.
As police assessed the situation and tried to prevent the vehicle from moving forward, the statement said, things turned deadly.
"The driver ... suddenly began to move," the police report said. "The officers told the driver to keep his hands visible, however the driver quickly reached for the handgun on his lap.
"In fear for their own safety, the officers 

US police under scrutiny after rapper shot dead in car

A suicide car bombing on a Revolutionary Guards bus in southeastern Iran killed 27 troops on Wednesday, in one of the deadliest attacks on the elite forces in years.
The assault came as the troops were returning from a border patrol mission, the Guards said in a statement.
"In this terrorist attack 27 of Islam's brave warriors were killed and 13 were wounded," the statement read, accusing "world domination and Zionist intelligence agencies" of supporting the attackers.
Earlier the official IRNA news agency said, "The suicide attack on an Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps personnel bus happened on the Khash-Zahedan road."
A picture released by the semi-official Fars news agency showed a hulk of twisted metal lying by the side of a road, unrecognisable as a bus.
The attack happened when "a car filled with explosives blew up besides a bus", the Guards said.
"Mercenaries of intelligence agencies of world arrogance and domination," carried out the attack to counteract "the victory of the .

Suicide attack on bus kills 27 Iran Revolutionary Guards

"So many children have been abused," sighs Vincent Moba, a Zambian Catholic priest who has just graduated from Rome's Pontifical Gregorian University with a diploma in safeguarding children.
Moba, 47, has completed the five-month curriculum at the Centre for the Protection of Minors to join a worldwide network of experts fighting sexual abuse at all levels of society.
Jesuit priest Hans Zollner, a German psychologist and psychotherapist abuse specialist, is in charge of the study programme, which has awarded diplomas to around 80 students, priests, nuns and lay people over the last four years.
On Wednesday, the latest group graduated from 13 countries including South Africa, Kenya, India and Thailand having completed studies in psychology, psychiatry, law, sociology and theology.

Sex abuse crusaders graduate from Vatican university

Google said Wednesday it will invest $13 billion in US data centers and offices this year as the internet giant continues to expand across the country.
The spending will build on more than $9 billion in US investments in the past year and should create the potential for tens of thousands of new jobs, according to chief executive Sundar Pichai.
"This growth will allow us to invest in the communities where we operate, while we improve the products and services that help billions of people and businesses globally," Pichai said in an online post.
"Our new data center investments, in particular, will enhance our ability to provide the fastest and most reliable services for all our users and customers." Investments this year will focus outside of Silicon Valley where Google has its home, and give the company outposts in 24 states.
This will be the second year in a row that Google will "be growing faster outside the (San Francisco) Bay Area than in it," Pichai said.  Google last year hired ..

Google investing billions in US operations

US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross had to cancel his India visit for the India-US Commercial Dialogue and the CEO Forum on Thursday due to inclement weather that led to the cancellation of his flight.
Ross will now participate in both the meetings via video conference.
"Due to inclement weather, technical problems that led to the cancellation of his flight, and other logistical issues, Secretary Ross regrets he is no longer able to attend the CEO Forum and Commercial Dialogue in person," a US Commerce Department spokesperson said.
"He intends to participate in most of the sessions remotely and thanks our private sector and Government of India hosts for their continued partnership as we further strengthen the ties between our two countries," the spokesperson said.

Ross cancels India visit due to bad weather

An international court Wednesday ruled Iran can proceed with a bid to unfreeze assets in the United States, rejecting Washington's claims the case must be halted because of Tehran's alleged support for international terrorism.
Washington had argued that Iran's "unclean hands" - a reference to Tehran's suspected backing of terror groups -- should disqualify its lawsuit to recover USD 2 billion in assets frozen by the US Supreme Court in 2016.
But the International Court of Justice in The Hague threw out the US challenges, and said that it had the right to hold full hearings at a later date as to whether Tehran will get the money back.
Chief judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf said the UN's top court "unanimously rejects the preliminary objections to admissibility raised by the United States of America".
The court also "finds that it has jurisdiction" in the case, Yusuf said at the end of an hour-long reading of the decision.
Tehran said the United States had illegally seized Iranian financial .

US fails to halt Iran bid to free frozen billions

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Venezuela's leftist leader Nicolas Maduro is "making a terrible mistake" by blocking US humanitarian aid.
Trump said it was "sad" that the oil-rich Latin American country is in "turmoil" and said Washington has still not ruled out sending troops to the region.
"We look at all options," he said.
"You'll see," he said when asked if thousands of US troops could deploy.
Trump was meeting with Colombian President Ivan Duque at the White House to discuss the crisis in Venezuela.
Maduro accuses the United States of using the blocked aid shipments as part of a plot to overthrow his government.
But Duque, whose country has taken in large numbers of Venezuelan refugees, said "obstructing the access of humanitarian aid is a crime against humanity.

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