Michael Cohen, Donald Trump's former attorney, denied Thursday that he had ever visited Prague, shooting down a report that he had a meeting with Russian officials there during the 2016 presidential election campaign.
"I hear #Prague #CzechRepublic is beautiful in the summertime," Cohen tweeted. "I wouldn't know as I have never been."
"#Mueller knows everything!" he added in a reference to Special Counsel Robert Mueller, the former FBI director who is investigating whether Trump's campaign colluded with Russia to get him elected to the White House.
Cohen's tweet came several hours after the McClatchy news service reported that cell phone records showed that Cohen was near Prague in the summer of 2016, supporting claims that he met there with Russian officials.
Cohen, who was sentenced to three years in prison this month after pleading guilty to tax evasion and other crimes, has denied ever visiting Prague.
Since then, however, Cohen has turned on his former boss and has been ...

Cohen dismisses report of Prague meeting with Russians

PTI Automatic

Tom Latham produced his eighth Test century as New Zealand continued to forge a huge lead over Sri Lanka in the second Test here on Friday.
At lunch on day three, New Zealand were 327 for three giving them a 401-run lead on the second innings.
Latham was 118 with Henry Nicholls on 35.
Left-hander Latham, whose unbeaten 264 in the drawn first Test is the top score in all Test cricket this year -- reached his latest milestone with a boundary off Suranga Lakmal late in the morning session.
He added 44 in the session to his overnight 74, with one nervous moment when he was rapped on the pads after the new ball was taken on the second over of the day.
Latham did not play a shot at the Lakmal delivery which nipped back at him but despite a vociferous appeal from the Sri Lankans the umpire's not out decision stood.
Latham moved into the nineties with a fortuitous five off Dushmantha Chameera when a single to fine leg was followed by four overthrows with no one backing up at the bowler's ...

Ton for Latham as New Zealand post daunting target

Horrified at the assassination of former member of parliament Ali Raza Abidi, a group of dissident Pakistanis living in self-exile in the US on Thursday demanded that his killers be brought to account.
"We are shocked and horrified, and condemn in the strongest possible terms the heinous murder of former parliamentarian and senior leader of the MQM, Syed Ali Raza Abidi," members of the Steering Committee of South Asians Against Terrorism and for Human Rights (SAATH) said in a statement on the assassination of Abidi.
Abidi was killed on Sunday in Karachi, a Mohajir majority city, by two gunmen riding on a motorbike outside his doorstep when he was returning from his office.
"This murder comes amid false claims by Pakistan's establishment and its artificially selected civilian government about restoring peace and security to Karachi," said SAATH, which recently held a conference in Washington DC on the shrinking space for civil rights and dissidence inside Pakistan.
"We demand his ...

Dissident Pak leaders demand action against killers of former MP Ali Raza Abidi

The brother of Australian Test cricketer Usman Khawaja has been charged with trying to influence a witness over a case where he allegedly framed a love rival with a fake terror plot, police said Friday.
Arsalan Khawaja was released on bail in early December after appearing in a Sydney court on charges of forgery and attempting to pervert justice.
He was re-arrested on Thursday "after allegedly attempting to influence a witness" in the counter-terror investigation, a New South Wales state police spokeswoman told AFP.
The 39-year-old was charged with breaching his bail conditions and influencing a witness in judicial procedures. He was refused bail ahead of his court appearance in Sydney later Friday.
Sri Lankan Mohamed Nizamdeen was arrested in August over a "hit list" written in a notebook, which outlined plans to kill then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull.
But police released Nizamdeen in September and later dropped the charges after investigators could not link the handwriting in the 

Australia Test cricketer Khawaja's brother re-arrested

A 71-year-old Frenchman has departed on a journey across the Atlantic in a specially designed barrel capsule, which will use ocean currents alone to propel him across the sea.
Jean-Jacques Savin set off from El Hierro in Spain's Canary Islands on Wednesday and is aiming to complete his 4,500-kilometre (2,800-mile) journey to the Caribbean in about three months.
Savin will drop markers from his three-metre (10-foot) long, 2.1-metre (seven-foot) wide resin-coated plywood capsule along the trip to assist oceanographers in their study of currents in the Atlantic Ocean.
The barrel is equipped with a kitchen area, and a mattress with straps to keep him from being thrown about by rough seas.

Frenchman trying to cross Atlantic in barrel capsule

Indian bowlers made early inroads and struck four blows
in the morning session to reduce Australia to 89 for four at lunch on day three of the third cricket Test here on Friday.
At the break, Travis Head was unbeaten on 18 but Australia lost Shaun Marsh (19) at the stroke of lunch, with India leading by 354 runs.
Starting at the overnight score of 8 for no loss, Australia were under the pump early on as Ishant Sharma (1/32) and Jasprit Bumrah (2/28) made life difficult for the batsmen with their immaculate line and length.
Trying to break the shackles and dominate the opposition bowlers, Australian openers adopted an attacking approach which worked in India's favour.
Ishant struck in the fifth over of the morning when Mayank Agarwal latched on to a sharp catch at short mid-wicket to send back Aaron Finch (8). The fielder was stationed there for any aerial shot and the plan worked perfectly.
Four overs later, Marcus Harris (22) went for an uncontrolled pull and found the fine leg ...

Australia in trouble, struggle to 89/4 at lunch on Day 3

Scoreboard at lunch on day three of the third cricket Test between India and Australia here on Friday.
India 1st Innings: 443 for 7 decl in 169.4 overs
Australia 1st Innings:
Marcus Harris c I Sharma b Bumrah 22
Aaron Finch c Agarwal b I Sharma 8
Usman Khawaja c Agarwal b Jadeja 21
Shaun Marsh lbw b Bumrah 19
Travis Head not out 18
Extras: (NB-1) 1
Total: (for 4 wickets in 33 overs) 89
Fall of wickets: 1-24, 2-36, 3-53, 4-89
Bowling: Ishant Sharma 9-1-32-1, Jasprit Bumrah 11-4-28-2, Ravindra Jadeja
9-2-19-1, Mohammed Shami 4-1-10-0.

 Scoreboard at lunch on day three of the third cricket Test between India and Australia ...

Australia were 89 for four at lunch on day three in response to India's 443 for seven declared in the third cricket Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) here on Friday.
Brief Scores:
India 1st innings: 443/7 declared in 169.4 overs (Cheteshwar Pujara 106, Virat Kohli 82, Mayan Agarwal 76, Rohit Sharma not out 63; Pat Cummins 3/72)
Australia 1st innings: 89 for four in 33 overs (Marcus Harris 22; Jasprit Bumrah 2/28).

Australia struggle to 89/4 at lunch on Day 3

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will meet next week in Brazil with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as Washington prepares to withdraw troops from Syria, the State Department said Thursday.
Pompeo and Netanyahu will meet in Brasilia where both will be attending the New Year's Day inauguration of president-elect Jair Bolsonaro, a right-wing firebrand who has vowed to move Brazil closer to Israel and US President Donald Trump.
Netanyahu has met frequently with Pompeo and enjoys a warm relationship with Trump, happy about his withdrawal from a denuclearization deal with Iran and his landmark shift of the US embassy to Jerusalem.
But Netanyahu has for the first time found himself at odds with Trump after the US leader's sudden announcement last week that he will bring home all 2,000 American troops from war-ravaged Syria, where Israel saw Washington's presence as a bulwark against Iran and counterweight to the influence of Russia.
Israel has been measured in its public ...

Pompeo to meet Netanyahu in Brazil after Syria decision

The European Union on Thursday lashed out at DR Congo's decision to expel its ambassador, calling the move "completely unjustified", just three days before crucial elections in the vast central African country.
DR Congo Foreign Minister Leonard She Okitundu earlier told the EU it had 48 hours to withdraw its representative in retaliation for sanctions against 14 officials, including President Joseph Kabila's handpicked candidate for the long-delayed vote.
An EU spokesman told AFP the bloc "regrets this decision and considers it as completely unjustified".
"On the eve of very challenging elections in DRC, such a decision can only be considered counterproductive."
On December 10, EU foreign ministers extended a travel ban and asset freeze on 14 figures over "the obstruction of the electoral process and the related human rights violations".
That included Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, a hardline former interior minister chosen by Kabila to be the candidate for his succession in Sunday's ...

EU slams 'unjustified' DR Congo decision to expel envoy

Ten police officers were killed and three wounded in an ambush in northwestern Burkina Faso on Thursday, the west African country's security ministry said.
"The toll is 10 officers who have lost their lives and three wounded," the ministry said in a statement, adding that a police convoy from the Toeni region and reinforcements from the Dedougou area had been ambushed.
The officers were attacked while heading to the village of Loroni, near the border with Mali, after a school there had been attacked and textbooks torched by armed assailants, a security source told AFP.
The wounded, including two in serious condition, were taken to a hospital in Dedougou, the source added.
Burkina Faso has been increasingly hit by deadly attacks over the last three years.
They began in the north of the country but have since spread to the east, near the border with Togo and Benin.
On Wednesday, a police officer died during an attack on his station in the northern town of Solan.
Most attacks are ...

Ten Burkina Faso police officers killed in ambush

Costa Rican authorities on Thursday seized a boat carrying 500 kilograms (1,100 pounds) of cocaine and arrested five suspected traffickers, the government said.
They moved on the vessel, 81 kilometres (50 miles) from Golfito on the southern Pacific coast, after a tipoff from US authorities who carried out a joint patrol with the Central American nation.
Two Colombians, an Ecuadoran, a Nicaraguan and a Costa Rican were detained.
The Public Safety Ministry said authorities found the drugs in individual packets of about one kilogram each.
Colombia is the world's largest producer of cocaine, and the main supplier to the United States market.
Minister of Public Safety Michael Soto said the Pacific Ocean region is "very much used to move drugs from the South.

Costa Rica seizes boat with half-ton of cocaine

Respected Israeli former military chief of staff Benny Gantz on Thursday launched a political party ahead of snap April elections, with polls suggesting his new group could claim a number of seats.
The newly founded Israel Resilience party aims at "strengthening the Jewish and democratic character of the state of Israel", according to official registration documents seen by AFP.
Polls have shown that if Gantz -- who headed the military from 2011 to 2015 -- were to run with a party then the entity could claim 13 to 20 seats of the 120 up for grabs in Israel's Knesset.
Israeli lawmakers on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly to dissolve parliament and hold snap elections on April 9 after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government agreed on early polls.
The premier's coalition was left with a one-seat majority after defence minister Avigdor Lieberman stepped down in November over a controversial ceasefire deal in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.
Polls say Netanyahu looks set to extend his long ..

Former Israel military chief launches party ahead of polls

Clashes between Sudanese anti-riot police and protesters in demonstrations against a rise in bread prices have killed 19 people, including two security force personnel, the government said Thursday.
"Nineteen people lost their lives in the incidents including two from security forces," government spokesman Boshara Juma said on state television, adding that 219 people were wounded.
Sudanese authorities had previously said that eight people have been killed in clashes in Khartoum and several other cities since the protests began on December 19.

19 killed, 219 wounded in Sudan protests: Government

Defeated Madagascar presidential candidate Marc Ravalomana has appealed the election's result to the country's top court, his campaign director said Thursday.
Anisoa Tseheno Rabenja told media that he and Ravalomana filed papers with the Constitutional Court just hours after the electoral commission announced complete results from a run-off vote held last week.
The commission named Andry Rajoelina as the winner.
"We have filed several petitions today ...which concern anomalies and flaws at the level of the CENI (the electoral commission) during this election," Rabenja said.
The court has nine days to formally name the new president after it has reviewed the petitions.
Rabenja accused the electoral commission of a "premeditated act" in helping Rajoelina commit "massive fraud".
"The electoral commission facilitated the fraud committed by candidate 13, Andry Rajoelina," he said after results showed that Rajoelina had won 55.66 per cent of the vote against 44.34 per cent for ...

Ravalomanana contests Madagascar vote result

Police in the southern United States have discovered the bodies of two teenagers buried in the garden of their father, who worked as a Santa Claus in a local supermarket.
Elwyn Crocker, 49, and three other family members were arrested and charged with "concealing the death of another and cruelty to children in the first degree," according to a statement by the Effingham County sheriff's office near Savannah, Georgia.
Forensic tests were being carried out on the two bodies, believed to be 14-year-old Mary Crocker and her brother Elwyn Crocker Jr, who would have been 16.
Police said further charges could be brought after the identities, as well as the manner and time of death, are confirmed.
Police had visited the Crocker household on December 20 after a neighbour reported that Mary had been missing for weeks and feared for the girl's safety.
The adults in the house said the girl had gone to live with her mother in South Carolina, but their stories did not match and police decided to ...

Bodies of two US kids found in garden of father, who worked as Santa

A Canadian is to appear before a court in northeastern China on Saturday for drugs charges, a government-run news portal said, amid frosty relations between Beijing and Ottawa.
The Liaoning People's High Court identified the man as Robert Lloyd Schellenberg.
In a brief statement published Wednesday, the court said he is appealing a drug smuggling case at 2:00pm (0600 GMT) on Saturday but gave no further details.
A government news portal, runsky.com, said Schellenberg is Canadian and had smuggled an "enormous amount" of drugs.
It mockingly admired the Canadian's gall for "actually daring to smuggle drugs into China," which still has the death penalty for drug trafficking.
The Global Times, which is close to the Chinese authorities, said that under Chinese law, the penalty for smuggling or manufacturing at least a kilo of opium, 50 grams of heroine or methylaniline is 15 years to life in jail, or in extreme cases, the death penalty.
It noted that in 2009, China executed Briton Amal ...

Canadian to face drug charges in China court

Russia touted Thursday a new hypersonic missile said to hit speeds of more than 30,000 kilometres per hour, amid heightened tension with the US over arms control.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday tracked final tests of a hypersonic missile dubbed "Avangard," which he says would defeat all existing missile defence systems.
When Putin unveiled the new weapon during his state of the nation address in March, he said the missile was highly manoeuvrable and flew at 20 times the speed of sound.
Senior officials now say the intercontinental projectile is considerably faster.
"During tests, Avangard reached the speed of Mach 27," or roughly 33,000 kilometres (20,500 miles) per hour, Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov said in televised remarks.
Mach 1 is a unit of measurement equivalent to the speed of sound.
"At this speed not a single intercepter missile can shoot it down," Borisov said.
He also claimed it was impossible to predict the missile's movements, which meant "missile ...

Russia touts hypersonic missile speed

Israel has vowed to work with the United States to block a bid by the Palestinians for full membership in the United Nations, a move that would confer international recognition of Palestinian statehood.
Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said Wednesday that he will submit a request next month to the Security Council for full UN membership, according to the official Wafa Palestinian news agency.
"We are preparing to stop the initiative," said Israel's UN ambassador Danny Danon in a statement.
"The Palestinians pay terrorists and encourage violence yet seek to become a member state of the United Nations."
Danon accused Palestinian leaders of engaging in "destructive policies that have encouraged recent terror attacks" and said he was gearing up to block the initiative "in cooperation with the United States delegation."
Any move by the Palestinians to seek full UN membership will face a veto from the United States at the Security Council, diplomats said.
Under UN ...

Israel vows to block Palestinian bid to become full UN member

Climate change-induced disasters cost nations at least USD 100 billion in 2018, a watchdog said Thursday, warning the spate of deadly wildfires, floods and superstorms was "a shadow" of things to come if greenhouse gas emissions aren't slashed.
This year is set to be the fourth hottest on record and as planet-warming carbon and methane levels in the atmosphere continue to rise, extreme weather events such as the devastating blazes that destroyed swathes of California are likely to become far more common.
"2018 showed the catastrophic threat that climate change presents the world. And this was just a shadow of what would come if temperatures continue to rise," said Kat Kramer, global climate lead for the Christian Aid group.
Her team compiled a list of 10 climate-linked disasters and used open source data, official estimates and assessments from insurance firms to determine the cost of each.
Topping the list were hurricanes Florence and Michael, which caused an estimated USD 17 billion 

Nations count cost of 2018 climate disasters

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will meet Colombian President Ivan Duque in the resort city of Cartagena next week, as tensions flare with neighbouring Venezuela.
Duque and Pompeo will seek to "continue strengthening the bilateral relationship and discuss the crisis provoked by the dictatorship in Venezuela," a statement from the Colombia president's office said Thursday.
The meeting, scheduled for next Wednesday, comes after Duque asked countries "that defend democracy" not to recognise the new government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, due to be seated on January 10.
The socialist leader, who has overseen Venezuela's descent into the worst economic crisis of its history, will start a second mandate after winning an election earlier this year that was branded a fraud by the US, European Union, opposition groups and the Organisation of American States.
Colombia, a strategic ally of the United States, is leading the regional opposition to Venezuela, with which it has ...

Page 3713 - PTI Stories National