President Donald Trump confirmed Sunday that the US military has killed one of the architects of the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole that left 17 American servicemen dead.
The military said Friday that Al-Qaeda operative Jamal al-Badawi was believed to have been killed in a precision strike in Yemen.
"Our GREAT MILITARY has delivered justice for the heroes lost and wounded in the cowardly attack on the USS Cole," Trump tweeted. "We have just killed the leader of that attack, Jamal al-Badawi.

Trump confirms key plotter in USS Cole attack has been killed

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Pakistani officials say two roadside bombs blasts have wounded eight people in the country's southwestern Baluchistan province.
Officer Shams Uddin of the Levies Force said Sunday that the convoy of the force's senior officer Abdul Malik was targeted in Pishin district with a roadside bomb planted in a motorcycle. He said the attack left Malik, his two subordinates and three civilians wounded.
In the second attack, a Frontier Corps paramilitary soldier and a civilian were wounded in Panjgur district when a remote-controlled bomb exploded as a paramilitary vehicle was driving by. Police officer Khurshid Dashti said the security vehicle was badly damaged.
No one claimed responsibility for either attack. Baluchistan has been a scene of low level insurgency by Baluch separatists who have claimed such attacks in the past.

Roadside bombs wounds 8 in southwest Pakistan

Australia's coach denied treating Jordan with "arrogance" on Sunday after the Asian Cup champions came unstuck 1-0 in a horror start to their title defence.
Graham Arnold had bullishly predicted victory for the Socceroos in their Group B opener, but he said his comments shouldn't be interpreted as lacking respect.
"That's a translation difference. It's not arrogance, it's belief," he told a press conference, when the issue was raised by Jordanian media.
"It's not arrogance at all. Those words are used a lot in Australia and in Australia it's not considered arrogant."
Anas Bani-Yaseen's first-half header proved the difference as Australia made their worst start in four visits to the Asian Cup, which they won for the first time in 2015.
It leaves Australia fighting to avoid an early exit at the Asian Cup. After their 2007 defeat in the quarter-finals -- in Arnold's first stint as coach -- the Socceroos have reached the last two finals.
Jordan's coach Vital Borkelmans, whose fit and well 

Aussie coach denies 'arrogance' after Asian Cup slip-up

Brazil's new far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, vowed Sunday that "good will beat evil" as he oversaw a troop crackdown on gangs rampaging in a northeast city and mourned the murder of a Rio policeman.
In a tweet, he sent condolences to the family of the officer who was shot and killed early Sunday when he confronted armed assailants robbing motorists in Rio de Janeiro.
Lamenting that security personnel and citizens targeted by criminals used to be treated as mere statistics, Bolsonaro said: "The legislative, executive and judicial (powers) together must, by law, give guarantees that good will beat evil."
He made the remark as 300 federal troops deployed to the northeast city of Fortaleza and surrounding towns in the state of Ceara over the weekend to counter a crime wave by rampaging gangs.
The soldiers were ordered in by Bolsonaro's justice minister, Sergio Moro, at the request of the state's governor, who belongs to the opposition leftwing Workers Party.
Eighty-six suspects have .

'Good will beat evil,' Bolsonaro says amid crime crackdown

Indian football's goal machine Sunil Chhetri struck a brace to help the country stunningly outplay Thailand 4-1 and record its first victory in the Asian Cup since 1964 on a historic night here Sunday.
Playing in his second Asian Cup and 105th match, Chhetri scored in the 27th (penalty) and 46th minutes for his 66th and 67th international goals. Midfielder Anirudha Thapa and second half substitute Jeje Lalpekhlua then struck in the 68th and 80th minutes to completely outclass Thailand at the Al Nahyan Stadium in front of a sizeable Indian supporters.
With his two strikes, the 34-year-old Chhetri went past Argentine superstar Lionel Messi, who has so far scored 65 goals from 128 matches. Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is the highest scorer with 85 from 154 matches.
Thailand captain and striker Teerasil Dangda pulled one back for his side in the 33rd minute of the Group A match.
A draw in either of the two coming matches against UAE and Bahrain could see India through to the ...

Chhetri strikes twice in India's first Asian Cup win since 1964, goes past Messi

Spain's maritime rescue service says it has saved 549 migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea.
The service says its craft intercepted six small smuggling boats carrying a total of 350 migrants on Saturday in waters east of the Strait of Gibraltar.
On Sunday another 199 migrants were pulled from five different boats, including two tiny inflatable boats meant for small bodies of water or near the beach. One of those tiny recreational boats was carrying four children. The other was packed with 10 adults.
The United Nations refugee agency estimates that 2,262 migrants died while crossing the Mediterranean in 2018.
The European Union's border agency says that 57,000 migrants reached Spain last year, double the figure for 2017. That is partially due to the fact that Italy, Malta and other EU nations have been refusing to let aid boats full of rescued migrants dock at their ports.
Overall, however, unauthorised border crossings into Europe hit a five-year low in 2018.

Spain rescues 549 migrants from boats in the Mediterranean

Spanish police said Sunday they have arrested four men suspected of a New Year's Eve sexual assault reminiscent of a 2016 Pamplona bull-running rape case which caused national outrage.
All four suspects are from Ecuador, the civil guard in the eastern city of Alicante said.
They were picked up on New Years Day after the 19-year-old woman was found partially clothed in a basement in the village of de Callosa d'Ensarria.
She was drunk and unable to say where she lived, according to police, adding the quartet had spent the evening with her.
Police said one suspect, aged 22, had a record for sexual assault and had been the subject of a complaint by another woman in October.
Spanish media said the four men filmed the assault of the 19-year-old, and drew parallels with the 2016 Pamplona "Wolf pack" case that sparked a storm last year when five men were convicted of sexually abusing, rather than raping, a teenager.
Their nine-year jail terms caused outrage across Spain after the five bragged 

Four arrested over Spainish New Year sex assault

A second round of negotiations between Yemen's government and Huthi rebels could be hosted "soon" in Jordanian capital Amman, a rebel leader said Sunday after meeting the UN envoy.
Talks on Yemen's failed economy "could take place soon in Amman or by video conference, which I discussed with the UN envoy", Mohammed Ali al-Huthi, head of the rebel Higher Revolutionary Committee, told AFP in Sanaa.
One month after hard-won peace talks on the Yemen conflict, the United Nations faces an uphill battle as it pushes to ensure the warring parties make good on a shaky truce deal.
UN envoy Martin Griffiths, who brokered the breakthrough last month in Sweden, returned to Yemen Saturday with a plan to expedite measures agreed between the government and Huthi rebels.
Key among them is the redeployment of rival forces from Hodeida, the Red Sea port city crucial for aid and food imports.
Griffiths, scheduled to see Yemeni government officials in Saudi capital Riyadh after meeting the rebels, hopes to 

Next round of Yemen talks could be in Amman: Rebels

President Donald Trump stood firm Sunday on his demand for billions of dollars to fund a border wall with Mexico, which has forced a shutdown of the US government now entering its third week.
"We have to build the wall," Trump told reporters as he left the  White House for the Camp David presidential retreat, while  conceding that the barrier could be "steel instead of concrete".
"It's about safety, it's about security for our country," he said. "We have no choice."
An impasse with lawmakers over funding for the border wall has partially shut down the federal government since December 22.
Talks aimed at ending the shutdown were to continue Sunday, after discussions a day earlier between Vice President Mike Pence and representatives of Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, the top two Democrats in Congress, made little headway.
Democrats, who now control the House of Representatives, seem in no mood to make concessions to the president on a border wall Pelosi has described as an ...

Trump on ending shutdown: 'We have to build the wall'

Banned Australian cricketers David Warner and Steve Smith made a low-scoring debut in the Bangladesh Premier League on Sunday, amassing just 30 runs between them as newly-minted skippers in the Twenty20 league.
The duo, who are serving international bans for ball tampering, faced off in the BPL opener in Dhaka, with Smith's Comilla Victorians edging Warner's Sylhet Sixers by four wickets.
Their debut as foreign stars in the lucrative T20 franchise came as Australia's Test cricketers in Sydney stared down defeat against a ruthless India.
Warner hit off-spinner Mahedi Hasan for three sixes in one over at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium before a mix-up saw him run out for 14 off 13 balls.
Warner ran for a single after his partner Towhid Hridoy pushed Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik towards square leg.
But Hridoy did not respond and both batsmen were caught at the same end as Malik dismantled the stumps.
The third umpire declared Warner out but replays indicated the Australian reached 

Banned Australians Warner and Smith make BPL debut

South Africa captain Faf du Plessis was on Sunday suspended for one Test because of his team's slow over rate as they beat Pakistan in Cape Town.
The ICC announced the punishment in a statement after South Africa won the second Test by nine wickets to take a 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Du Plessis and his players were also fined a percentage of their match fees.  South Africa picked an all-pace attack for the match. Their four bowlers shared just under 122 overs as they twice bowled Pakistan out. Half an hour was added to play the first three days because of the slow over rate.
After the three umpires charged the home team, match referee David Boon, the former Australia batsman, ruled South Africa were one over short of the minimum target and imposed the punishments.
Under ICC rules, players are fined 10 percent of their match fees for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time, with the captain fined double.
Du Plessis had previously been found guilty of what the 

South Africa skipper Du Plessis suspended for third Test

Iran's semi-official Fars news agency says a 5.9-magnitude earthquake has jolted the country's western province of Kermanshah, with no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
Fars said Sunday's temblor rocked the Kurdish town of Gilan-e-Gharb, which was one of the Kurdish areas that suffered extensive damage from a 7.2-magnitude earthquake in November that killed 600 people in western Iran.
Iran sits on major fault lines and is prone to near-daily earthquakes. In 2003, a 6.6-magnitude quake flattened the historic city of Bam, killing 26,000 people.

Report: Moderate quake rattles western Iran, no casualties

British Prime Minister Theresa May said Sunday that a delayed vote in Parliament on her Brexit deal will "definitely" go ahead later this month, as she promised to set out measures to win over skeptical lawmakers.
May told the BBC that in the coming days she will give more details about measures addressing Northern Ireland and concern over the Irish border.
She also promised a greater role for Parliament in negotiations over future trade relations with the European Union as a sweetener, and added that "we are still working on" getting extra assurances from Brussels to secure domestic support for her deal.
May struck a withdrawal agreement with the EU in November, but that deal needs Parliament's approval. In December, May decided to postpone a parliamentary vote intended to ratify the agreement at the last minute after it became clear that it would be overwhelmingly defeated in the House of Commons.
Lawmakers are resuming debate on the deal Wednesday, before a vote expected to be held 

UK PM May: Brexit critics risk damaging UK democracy

A Bangladesh court on Sunday scrapped the bail former minister Nazmul Huda and sent him to jail after he surrendered before it in Taka 2.4 crore graft case, in which he was sentenced to four years imprisonment.
Huda, who is Chairman of the Bangladesh National Alliance (BNA) -- an ally of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ruling Awami League, was sentenced to seven-year jail term by a lower court in the case but the High Court last year, reduced his sentence to four years.
"He (Huda) surrendered before the Special Judge's Court seeking renewal of his bail but judge Ruhul Imran declined his prayer and ordered him to be sent to jail which was complied with immediately," a prosecution lawyer said.
The anti-corruption commission in March 2007 accused Huda, who had served as the communication minster in the jailed ex-premier and BNP chief Khaleda Zia's cabinet between 2001 and 2006, of receiving Taka 2.40 crore as bribe from a businessman, at different times in exchange for awarding him ...

Former minister sent to jail on graft charges

Malaysia's king abdicated Sunday in a historic first for the country that ended weeks of speculation about his future after he took medical leave and reportedly married a Russian ex-beauty queen.
Sultan Muhammad V's decision marks the first time a king has stepped aside during his five-year term in the Muslim-majority country.
The national palace confirmed the resignation with immediate effect of the 49-year-old, who had been on the throne for two years and was known for his fondness for four-wheel driving and other extreme sports.
"His majesty tells the people of Malaysia to continue to be united to maintain unity, tolerance, and work together," said a statement from the Comptroller of the Royal Household, Wan Ahmad Dahlan Abdul Aziz.
Malaysia's Islamic rulers will now meet to decide on the next king.
Malaysia is a constitutional monarchy, with a unique arrangement where the throne changes hands every five years between rulers of the nine Malaysian states headed by centuries-old ...

Malaysian king abdicates in historic first

Nepal's Prime Minister KP Oli who on Sunday was expected to apprise the Parliament about issues relating to alleged misuse of funds to purchase two aircrafts for the national flag carrier, Nepal Airlines, remained tight-lipped despite criticism from the opposition.
A parliamentary sub-committee revealed last week that Rs 4.37 billion has been misappropriated while purchasing two airbuses for Nepal Airlines. The committee also recommended action against Tourism Minister Ravindra Adhikary, Tourism Secretary and Managing Director of the airlines Sugat Ratna Kansakar and two former ministers.
During his one hour address to the Parliament, Oli sidestepped queries on the aircraft deal posed by the opposition and instead briefed the House on his government's work in the first five months of the current fiscal and the present scenario of economic indicators.
He said revenue collection has gone up by 32 per cent, while capital expenditure grew by 25.3 per cent with inflation standing at 3.7 ...

Nepal PM remains tight-lipped on aircraft deal despite criticism from opposition

Pakistan on Sunday said the UAE has "almost finalised" investment plan for the setting up of an oil refinery in the country as the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi met Prime Minister Imran Khan and discussed economic assistance to the cash-strapped country to bolster its foreign exchange reserves.
Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al-Nahyan, who was on a day-long visit to the country after nearly 12 years, was received by Khan upon his arrival at Nur Khan airbase in Rawalpindi and the Prime Minister personally drove him to his residency for a welcome ceremony.
He was given a guard of honour and a fly-past during the red carpet welcome.
The Prince and the Prime Minister held a one-on-one meeting, followed by delegation-level talks between the top officials of the two sides as Pakistan seeks economic assistance to bolster its foreign exchange reserves and the government's fiscal policies.
Both delegations discussed bilateral relations and matters of mutual, regional and ...

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince holds talks with Khan, discusses oil refinery in Pak

Nepal's Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli on Sunday rapped the opposition for criticising the president, saying such an action was an attack on the republic system of the country.
President Bidhya Devi Bhandari and the ruling party have come under criticism from the opposition parties after the government procured a luxurious motorcade worth Rs 180 million for the president and also decided to expand her office premises by acquiring the Nepal Police Academy and relocating the vice president's office.
Oli said every decision regarding the president's office in Sheetal Niwas is taken by the government and not by the president.
"President cannot ask for or oppose any decisions. How can the attack on an institution which doesn't speak be justified?" he questioned.
Criticising the president by the opposition is an attack on the republic system, Oli said.

Criticism of president attack on republic system: Nepal PM

During the Cold War, US eyes were riveted on the Soviet Union's rockets and satellites. But in recent years, it has been China's space programs that have most worried US strategists.
China, whose space effort is run by the People's Liberation Army, today launches more rockets into space than any other country -- 39 last year, compared to 31 by the United States, 20 by Russia and eight by Europe.
On Thursday it landed a space rover on the dark side of the Moon -- a first by any country -- and plans to build an orbiting space station in the coming decade. In the decade after that, it hopes to put a Chinese "taikonaut" on the Moon to make the first moonwalk since 1972.
China now spends more on its civil and military space programs than do Russia and Japan. Although opaque, its 2017 budget was estimated at USD 8.4 billion by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
That's far less than the USD 48 billion the United States spends on its military and civilian space ...

In space, the US sees a rival in China

Taiwan's ruling party elected a new chairman on Sunday, choosing a moderate to replace the post vacated by President Tsai Ing-wen after a recent electoral mauling, in a vote closely watched by China and the United States.
Tsai and her Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won a 2016 landslide poll, sweeping away a government that had built much closer ties to China over the previous decade.
The result rattled Beijing because Tsai refuses to acknowledge that the self-ruled island is part of "one China".
Beijing cut communication with her administration, stepped up military drills, poached several of Taiwan's dwindling diplomatic allies and started economically pressuring the island.
But in November, Tsai's DPP suffered a string of defeats in local elections, fuelled by a backlash over her domestic reforms and deteriorating economic ties with China, Taiwan's largest market.
Tsai resigned the party chairmanship but stayed on as president, staying above the fray in the vote to replace ...

Taiwan's China-sceptic ruling party opts for moderate new leader

A Saudi woman held at Bangkok airport said she would be killed if she was repatriated by Thai immigration officials, who confirmed the 18-year-old was denied entry to the country Sunday.
Rahaf Mohammed M Alqunun told AFP she was stopped by Saudi and Kuwaiti officials when she arrived in Suvarnabhumi airport and her travel document was forcibly taken from her, a claim backed by Human Rights Watch.
"They took my passport," she told AFP, adding that her male guardian had reported her for travelling "without his permission".
Rahaf said she was trying to flee her family, who subjected her to physical and psychological abuse.
"My family is strict and locked me in a room for six months just for cutting my hair," she said, adding that she is certain she will be imprisoned if she is sent back.
"I'm sure 100 per cent they will kill me as soon as I get out of the Saudi jail," she said, adding that she was "scared" and "losing hope".
Rahaf was stopped from entering Thailand when she flew in from .

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