Researchers say a pack of wild canines found frolicking near the beaches of the Texas Gulf Coast carries a substantial amount of red wolf genes, a surprising discovery because the animal was declared extinct in the wild nearly 40 years ago.
The finding has led wildlife biologists and others to develop a new understanding that the red wolf DNA is remarkably resilient after decades of human hunting, loss of habitat and other factors had led the animal to near decimation.
"Overall, it's incredibly rare to rediscover animals in a region where they were thought to be extinct and it's even more exciting to show that a piece of an endangered genome has been preserved in the wild," said Elizabeth Heppenheimer, a Princeton University biologist involved in the research on the pack found on Galveston Island in Texas. The work of the Princeton team was published in the scientific journal Genes.
The genetic analysis found that the Galveston canines appear to be a hybrid of red wolf and coyote, but 

DNA of wolf declared extinct in wild lives on in Texas pack

PTI Automatic

Canadian air traffic controllers are buying pizzas for their American counterparts as a show of support during the U.S. government's partial shutdown.
Nav Canada's national media manager Ron Singer said Sunday the initiative began when employees at Edmonton's control center took up a collection to buy pies for controllers in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Anchorage, Alaska.
All seven of Canada's control centers and many towers have since joined in and ordered pizzas for their U.S. counterparts working along the border, many of whom have taken to social media to express their gratitude.
Singer says there's a bond between Canadian and American air traffic controllers since the two work closely together to manage cross-border airspace.
Some 10,000 air traffic controllers in the United States have been working without pay.

Canada air traffic controllers buy pizza for US colleagues

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen on Sunday launched her party's campaign for the European Parliament elections, pledging to beat President Emmanuel Macron's centrist party in the vote.
Le Pen, leader of the National Rally (RN), formerly the National Front, presented the first 12 candidates on her list before a crowd of some 2,000 supporters in Paris.
"If Emmanuel Macron does not have the wisdom to change policies, if he does not have the wisdom to return to the people" by dissolving parliament for fresh elections, voters will express their discontent at the European elections, Le Pen said.
The European Parliament elections will be held May 23 to 26.
At the campaign launch, Le Pen slammed Macron over the "yellow vests" demonstrations, which have seen hundreds of thousands of people protest since November against the president's policies and leadership.
She accused Macron of "blindness" and "intransigence".
Macron scored an easy victory over Le Pen in the second round of France's ..

Far-right Le Pen launches European elections campaign

UN experts on Sunday urged Pakistan not to carry out the "arbitrary execution" of a former police officer who suffers from mental illness.
The execution of Khizar Hayat, sentenced to death in 2003 for killing a colleague, was suspended by Pakistan's Supreme Court on Saturday, his legal team said, just three days before the 55-year-old was due to be hanged.
"The imposition of capital punishment on individuals with psychosocial disabilities is a clear violation of Pakistan's international obligations," said Agnes Callamard, UN expert on extrajudicial executions and Catalina Devandas, the special rapporteur on disabled rights.
Pakistan's Supreme Court will on Monday hold a hearing into whether the execution can go ahead, according to a press release from Justice Project Pakistan, an NGO handling Hayat's case.
The group welcomed the "timely intervention by the highest seat of justice in the land to prevent a wrongful execution," and also gave Khayat's age as 60.
Hayat, who has spent more .

UN experts urge Pakistan not to execute mentally ill prisoner

Top Republican lawmakers on Sunday warned against Donald Trump declaring a national emergency to secure funds for a border wall, signaling doubts within the president's party as a government shutdown was set to enter a fourth workweek.
Senator Ron Johnson, chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, told CNN that he would "hate" to see Trump invoke emergency powers for a wall.
"If we do that, it's going to go to court and the wall won't get built," he said. And Representative Steve Scalise, the No. 2 House Republican, told ABC, "We don't want it to come down to a national emergency declaration," even if he believes Trump has the authority to do so.
Trump only recently backed away from talk of an emergency declaration, after pressing it for days as a way out of the continuing budget standoff.
Democrats have strongly opposed the idea. The No. 2 Senate Democrat, Dick Durbin, said Sunday on ABC that "if this president is going to turn to national emergencies every time he disagrees with .

Top Republicans oppose border 'emergency' as shutdown drags on

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif met with his Iraqi counterpart in Baghdad on Sunday for wide-ranging talks, including on US sanctions against Tehran.
The visit came just days after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made a surprise stop on his regional tour to urge Iraq to stop relying on Iran for gas and electricity imports.
Washington has granted Baghdad a waiver until late March to keep buying Iranian gas and power, despite reimposing tough sanctions on Tehran in November.
After a two-hour meeting on Sunday, Iraq's top diplomat Mohammed Ali al-Hakim said he had talked through the restrictions with his counterpart.
"We discussed the unilateral economic measures taken by the US and are working with our neighbour (Iran) on them," Hakim said.
He said the two talked through various political and economic issues, including Syria and Yemen, in a "long and interesting meeting".
Hakim said Iraq was in favour of the Arab League reinstating Syria's membership, eight years after ..

Iran foreign minister in Baghdad for talks

Sudanese police fired tear gas Sunday at crowds of anti-government protesters in Khartoum and war-torn Darfur as organisers called for more nationwide rallies against President Omar al-Bashir this week.
The demonstrations in Darfur were the first of their kind since unrest erupted on December 19 over a government decision to triple the price of bread.
The protests have since swiftly escalated into nationwide rallies widely seen as the biggest threat to Bashir's rule in his three decades in power.
Protesters who took to the streets in the capital's Bahari district chanting "peace, peace" and "revolution is the people's choice" were quickly confronted by riot police, witnesses told AFP.
Authorities say the protests have left 24 people dead so far, while Human Rights Watch has put the death toll at 40, including children and medical staff.
The European Union said on Friday that security forces have used "live ammunition" against protesters causing casualties, although Sudanese officials .

Sudan police fire tear gas as protesters press on with demos

The death toll from a powerful gas explosion in central Paris has risen to four after rescue workers found a woman's body in the rubble, investigators said Sunday.
Two firefighters and a Spanish tourist were also killed in the Saturday morning blast that injured dozens and badly damaged nearby apartments.
Rescue workers with sniffer dogs had earlier searched for a missing woman who lived above the explosion site and who was believed to be in the rubble.
A source close to the investigation said the body could be that of the missing woman.
The blast gutted the lower part of the building which housed a bakery and a restaurant, and also overturned cars, leaving glass and rubble strewn across large swathes of the street.
Around 50 people were injured, nine of them seriously, including several foreign tourists who were in the area to visit local attractions like the Musee Grevin wax museum and the popular Rue des Martyrs.
A fire service spokesman said 40 firefighters were clearing the ...

Paris gas blast toll rises to 4 as body found in rubble

It was a Saudi wedding like any other -- clutching a decorative sword, the groom bobbed and swayed in a traditional dance. But there was one striking difference -- a tiny guest list.
Weddings in the oil-rich kingdom are typically lavish affairs, with a bulging guest list which is seen both as a social obligation and a symbol of affluence.
Such expectations are often a source of economic strain for grooms, who foot most of the bill which includes renting out exorbitantly-priced marriage halls where nuptial celebrations are usually held.
But millennials like Basil Albani are increasingly hosting weddings at home, defying family traditions and social pressure and making huge savings instead.
Fewer than two dozen close relatives and friends were invited to the 26-year-old insurance executive's recent wedding feast comprising kabsa -- a traditional rice and meat dish -- at his ancestral home in western Jeddah city.  It was a microscopic figure by Saudi standards.
"People go all crazy with .

In Saudi weddings, small is the new beautiful

Israel's Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz arrived in Cairo on Sunday to attend a natural gas conference in a rare visit to Egypt by an Israeli official, airport sources said.
Jordan and Egypt are the only two Arab states to have full diplomatic ties with Israel, but the relations remain limited and taboo among the general populations.
Egyptians, like most Arabs, are largely opposed to the normalisation of ties with Israel in the absence of any resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Steinitz's visit came at the invitation of the Egyptian government, Israel's energy ministry said.
The Israeli minister was set to attend a regional forum on natural gas, which has become a major economic and strategic issue in the eastern Mediterranean.
The "development of gas fields has geopolitical and geostrategic value," Steinitz told Israeli army radio ahead of the trip.
"Here you have for the first time real economic cooperation between the axis-of-peace states Israel, Egypt and Jordan, along .

Israeli energy minister on rare visit to Egypt

The head of Iran's nuclear program said the Islamic Republic has begun "preliminary activities for designing" a modern process for 20-percent uranium enrichment for its 50-year-old research reactor in Tehran, signalling new danger for the nuclear deal.
The comment on state television Sunday from Ali Akbar Salehi increases the pressure on the international community as 20-percent enrichment would mean Iran has abandoned the terms of the 2015 atomic accord.
President Donald Trump already pulled America out of the accord in May and resumed sanctions on Tehran. So far, United Nations inspectors say Iran continues to comply with the deal's terms, which limits enrichment to 3.5 percent.
Salehi said "we are at the verge" of being ready, without elaborating in his remarks.
The US donated the reactor to Iran in 1967.

Nuclear chief says Iran exploring new uranium enrichment

The minority Sikh community in Pakistan celebrated the 352nd birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh in the country's restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province amid tight security.
A three-day event to celebrate Prakash Parv at Gurudwara Bhai Joga Singh here concluded Sunday.
The event was organised by Department of Hajj, Auqaf, Religious and Minority Affairs of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to show the signs of harmony and inclusiveness.
Over 5,000 Sikh devotees took out a procession and converged at a programme to mark the occasion.
Adequate security measures were put in place to ensure a smooth and hassle-free event.
The major attraction of the procession was the display of 'Gatka', a famous Sikh martial art and other famous sword exercises.
On the occasion, member of the provincial assembly Ravi Kumar paid tributes to Soran Singh, the provincial minister for minority affairs who was shot dead in 2016, saying his services will always be remembered.
Kumar said the three-day event will build ...

Sikhs in Pak celebrate Guru Gobind Singh's 352nd birth anniversary

Several disabled people in Nepal were provided free Indian-made prosthesis 'Jaipur Foot' during an artificial limb fitment camp inaugurated here on Sunday.
The Bhagwan Mahavir Vikalang Sahayata Samiti (BMVSS) has started an artificial limb camp at Norvic International Hospital in Kathmandu in association with Chaudhary Foundation, a charity organisation belonging to Binod Chaudhary, the first billionaire of Nepal.
During the three-day camp, 50 people from Kathmandu will get artificial limbs free of cost. Another camp will be held in Nawalparasi district in western Nepal where more than 400 disabled people are expected to receive artificial limbs.
Nepal's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Health Upendra Yadav, Indian Ambassador to Nepal Manjeev Singh Puri, Chairman of Chaudhary Foundation Binod Chaudhary and D R Mehta, chairman of Jaipur Foot jointly inaugurated the camp on Sunday.
The BMVSS has so far provided 1.7 million artificial limbs to people from 30 countries around the ...

Disabled people in Nepal get 'Jaipur Foot' prosthesis

Asian Football Confederation General Secretary Dato Windsor John Sunday commended the Indian team for its impressive performance in the Asian Cup so far, saying that the country has made a "remarkable" progress in the game in recent years.
India secured a stunning 4-1 win over Thailand before going down 0-2 to hosts United Arab Emirates in a group match in which Sunil Chhetri and Co. had more clear chances than their opponents.
"India has performed commendably in the Asian Cup 2019 and the opening victory against Thailand, which was their first in 55 years in the competition's history, is testament to the development of Indian football and the continued dedication of the AIFF," Windsor said.
"Despite their narrow defeat against UAE, they showed great character and resilience to compete against one of the tournament's heavyweights on home soil and anyone who was there will feel India were a little unfortunate. I believe India can take great pride with their performances," he was quoted 

AFC lauds Indian football team for its commendable show in Asian Cup

Thousands of Bangladeshi garment workers churning out clothes for top global brands walked off the job Sunday and clashed with police as protests over low wages entered a second week.
Police said water cannons and tear gas were fired to disperse huge crowds of striking factory workers in Savar, a garment hub just outside the capital Dhaka.
Bangladesh is dependant on garments stitched by millions of low-paid tailors on factory floors across the emerging South Asia economy of 165 million people.
Roughly 80 per cent of its export earnings come from clothing sales abroad, with global retailers H&M, Primark, Walmart, Tesco and Aldi among the main buyers.
The protests are the first major test for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina since winning a fourth term in December 30 elections marred by violence, thousands of arrests and allegations of vote rigging and intimidation.
Garment workers have been demanding a wage rise, closing factories in the past seven days and taking to the streets in ...

Bangladesh garment workers clash with police as strikes roll on

Antoine Griezmann came to the rescue again as Atletico Madrid kept the pressure on Barcelona at the top of La Liga on Sunday by edging past Levante.
Griezmann has now scored all of Atletico's last six goals and this latest one, from the penalty spot, proved the difference in a cagey contest at the Wanda Metropolitano.
A 1-0 victory for Diego Simeone's side cuts the gap from five points to two behind Barca, who will restore their advantage with a win over Eibar later on Sunday.
Levante, who have not won in the league since December 3, stay 11th.  Atletico had 19 shots and, unusually for them, dominated possession but they continue to rely on Griezmann's excellent scoring run for points.
"We all pull the cart in difficult moments," Griezmann said.
"I cannot do anything without my team-mates." But, in their last five games, it is the Frenchman's goals that have earned wins over Levante, Real Valladolid and Espanyol, while sparing them defeats away to Sevilla and Girona.
Griezmann was ...

Griezmann the saviour for Atletico again

Qatar's Almoez Ali scored four goals in a 6-0 Asian Cup rout of North Korea on Sunday in the eery atmosphere of a near-empty Khalifa Bin Zayed Stadium in the United Arab Emirates.
Ali hit two in the first half and two more in the second to go top of the goalscorers' charts with five altogether, as the 2022 World Cup hosts safely reached the round of 16.
However, there was little excitement at any of Qatar's goals as a long-running Gulf blockade of the resource-rich state prevented any fans from attending the game in Al Ain.
The tiny attendance of roughly 300 in the 16,000-capacity venue was dominated by two small groups of North Korean fans who sporadically cheered and waved flags.
In the unusual conditions, North Korea were guilty of ball-watching twice early on as Qatar went 2-0 up within 11 minutes thanks to Ali's sharp finishing.
Ali had time to control Akram Afif's cross from the left and bury his shot on nine minutes, and he then clipped in Hasan Al-Haydos's ball from the right .

Sound of silence as Qatar hit North Korea for six

A century by Quinton de Kock ensured Pakistan would face a huge task in their quest for a consolation win in the third and final Test against South Africa at the Wanderers Stadium on Sunday.
Needing 381 runs to win, Pakistan were 34 for no wicket at tea on the third day.
De Kock equalled his Test-best score of 129 before South Africa were bowled out for 303.
It was De Kock's fourth Test century and his first in two years.
De Kock went to the wicket with his side in some trouble at 93 for five, at which stage their lead was a modest 170.
De Kock shared a sixth wicket stand of 102 with Hashim Amla, who made 71, before adding 79 for the eighth wicket with Kagiso Rabada (21).
In an innings studded with flowing strokes, De Kock reached his fifty off 49 balls and his century off 121 deliveries.
He was finally caught in the deep, trying for a second successive six off leg-spinner Shadab Khan, after facing 138 balls and hitting 18 fours and a six.  Shadab finished with three for 41 while ...

De Kock sets Pakistan huge task

Pope Francis is offering new parents a bit of advice, telling them it's perfectly normal to fight but just not in front of their children because of the "anguish" it causes.
Francis asked permission Sunday to give his counsel during a ceremony to baptise 27 newborns, an annual tradition that fills the frescoed Sistine Chapel with newborns, their parents and godparents.
Amid coos and wails, Francis told parents that they had taken on an important new job of transmitting the faith to their children  a job he said begins at home.
Francis then offered some off-the-cuff advice.
He says "it's normal for spouses to fight ... it'd be strange if they didn't. Do it, but so that the children don't hear it or see it.

Pope to parents: It's OK to fight, just not in front of kids

Yemeni rebels on Sunday boycotted a meeting chaired by the head of a UN-led ceasefire monitoring team in the flashpoint city of Hodeida, accusing him of pursuing "other agendas".
Retired Dutch general Patrick Cammaert is leading a joint committee, which includes both government and rebel representatives, tasked with overseeing a truce in the Red Sea port city and the withdrawal of both parties.
Huthi rebel negotiator Mohammed Abdelsalam said Cammaert "steered from the course of the agreement by implementing other agendas".
"If (UN envoy to Yemen Martin) Griffiths does not address the issue, it is going to be difficult to discuss any other matter," he said on Twitter without elaborating.
An AFP photographer said that the Huthi representatives did not take part in the committee meeting in Hodeida on Sunday. The UN declined to comment.
Clashes erupted between Huthi rebels and government forces in Hodeida on Saturday, dealing a new blow to the fragile truce.
The rebel-held port city, ...

Yemen rebels boycott meeting with UN-led truce monitors

Six Swiss nationals were killed in a road accident in Sweden's far north when the minibus they were in collided with a truck, Swedish police and Swiss officials said Sunday.
The cause of the accident, which occurred in the early hours of Saturday near the town of Kiruna, was not yet known, Swedish police said.
Switzerland's foreign ministry confirmed the six dead were Swiss nationals, and that a seventh Swiss person in the minibus was injured.
All of them were born in the 1990s, Swedish police said.
According to Swedish media reports, the minibus crossed over into oncoming traffic in a curve and collided head-on with a heavy truck carrying a load of iron ore.
The truck driver was not injured.
The Kiruna region in the Arctic Circle, which lies some 1,200 kilometres north of Stockholm, is popular with tourists seeking out pristine wilderness, the Northern Lights, and a nearby ice hotel.

Page 3617 - PTI Stories National