Belgian chemicals giant Solvay, facing difficulties linked to the coronavirus and the Boeing 737 MAX scandal, on Wednesday announced plans to cut 350 jobs around the world by the end of 2021.
The company said in a statement it would axe 500 posts including some in senior management, but create 150 in the advanced materials sector, which supplies compounds to the aviation industry.
Turning to its 2019 results, Solvay announced a 1.0-percent percent decline in bottom-line net profit to 1.075 billion euros ($1.2 billion) last year, while revenues stagnated at 10.244 billion euros.
And the group warned of challenges in the months to come.  Results for the first three months of 2020 were "expected to be down by high single digit as a combined result of the 737MAX production halt, the impact of the COVID-19 virus, and the increasingly challenging oil and gas market," Solvay said.
The chemicals giant has ramped up its target for reducing costs by 2024, aiming to cut more than 350 million ...

Belgium's Solvay to cut 350 jobs worldwide

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Singer Lady Gaga is set to release her first pop single in three years, "Stupid Love", on Friday.
The singer, who won her first best original song Oscar for "Shallow" from her debut movie "A Star Is Born" in 2019, made the announcement on Twitter.
"'Stupid Love'. The new single by Lady Gaga out Firday," Gaga posted alongside a picture of a billboard featuring song's title splashed across a picture of bright pink lips.
Gaga, 33, dropped her last solo LP, "Joanne", in October 2016 and supported the studio set with a world tour and a Super Bowl halftime show performance.
The singer had told Entertainment Weekly in 2017 that she had begun work on a new album.
The title of Gaga's sixth album has not been announced yet.

Lady Gaga announces first solo pop single in three years

Germany's highest court on Wednesday ruled that a 2015 law banning professional assisted suicide was unconstitutional, as it robbed terminally ill patients of "the right to a self-determined death".
Judge Andreas Vosskuhle said the right included "the freedom to take one's life and seek help doing so".
The ruling is a major victory for the terminally ill patients, doctors and assisted suicide organisations who brought the case, complaining that the existing law went too far.
Known as Paragraph 217, the 2015 legislation penalised anyone offering assisted suicide as a professional service, whether they accepted payment or not.
It was mainly aimed at barring associations dedicated to supporting patients wanting to end their lives, but also meant medical personnel faced prosecution for prescribing life-terminating drugs.
The legal uncertainty worsened when a 2017 lower court ruled that officials could not refuse lethal medication in extreme cases, creating confusion among doctors.
The ...

German court scraps ban on professional assisted suicide

Consumption of at least two servings of walnuts every week may be associated with healthy ageing among women, a study claims.
"Healthy aging" was defined as longevity with sound mental health and no major chronic diseases, cognitive issues or physical impairments following the age of 65.
Researchers, including those from Bordeaux Population Health Research Center in France, found that women in their late 50s and early 60s who consumed at least two servings of walnuts per week had a greater likelihood of healthy ageing compared to those who did not eat walnuts.
After accounting for various factors that could impact health in older adults, such as education and physical activity, walnuts were the only nut associated with significantly better odds of healthy ageing, according to the study published in the Journal of Aging Research.
Previous research from Francine Grodstein, formerly of Brigham and Women's Hospital in the US, found that eating walnuts may have a positive impact on ...

Walnut intake linked to healthy ageing in women: Study

Israel's foreign minister denounced Democratic front-runner Bernie Sanders on Wednesday for what he called his horrifying comment" about Jerusalem, saying that those who support Israel would not back Sanders' presidential candidacy after such remarks.
At a contentious Democratic debate on Tuesday night in South Carolina, Sanders labeled Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a "reactionary racist" and said he'd consider reversing President Donald Trump's historic move of the US Embassy to Jerusalem and return it to Tel Aviv.
In a daring foray into American domestic politics, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said there was a not a Jew in the world who hasn't dreamed of Jerusalem and Sanders words were so severe that he had no choice but to retort.
We don't intervene in the internal American electoral process, which is splendid, Katz told Israel's Army Radio, before noting that Sanders had a long history of attacking Israel and the things most sacred to its identity and national .

Israeli foreign minister slams Sanders 'horrifying comment'

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday warned that anyone targeting minorities in the country would be dealt with strictly, as he condemned the ongoing violence in India.
At least 20 people have been killed since Sunday in violence in Northeast Delhi, triggered after clashes between pro and anti-protestors over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
"I want to warn our people that anyone in Pakistan targeting our non-Muslim citizens or their places of worship will be dealt with strictly. Our minorities are equal citizens of this country," he said.
Khan also condemned the violence in India and said the world community "must act" now.
"Now 200 million Muslims in India are being targeted. The world community must act now," he tweeted.
"Whenever a racist ideology based on hatred takes over, it leads to bloodshed," he said.
Khan also referred to his address to the UN General Assembly last year in which he warned the international community against ignoring the situation in Kashmir ..

Anyone targeting minorities in Pak would be dealt with strictly: Imran Khan

Prince Harry was back in Britain on Wednesday for the first of a final round of public appearances before he and his wife Meghan step back from their royal duties.
The Duke of Sussex, who has moved his family to Canada, was pictured arriving in Edinburgh late Tuesday ahead of a meeting of businesses involved in his sustainable tourism project.
On Friday, he will be in London to meet US rock singer Jon Bon Jovi, who is recording a special song for the prince's Invictus Game Foundation for military veterans.
He and Meghan will then join Queen Elizabeth II on March 9 for a Commonwealth Day service at Westminster Abbey, which is expected to be their last official appearance as working royals.
The prince -- the queen's grandson who is sixth in line to the throne -- rocked the monarchy with the bombshell announcement in January that he and his wife wanted to step back from their roles.
They revealed plans to split their time between Britain and Canada, after complaining about media ...

Harry back in UK as exit from royal life looms

US National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien has thanked the people of India who came out in support of President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania during their maiden visit to the country, underlining that they have friends in America and the White House.
The president was accompanied by a high-powered delegation comprising senior Trump administration officials including NSA O'Brien during his maiden official visit to India from February 24 to 25. They visited Ahmedabad, Agra and New Delhi before leaving for Washington on Tuesday.
O'Brien, on his way back to the US, thanked the people of India for their support to President Trump, his wife and the American delegation.
"Thanks to all the people of India that came out to support President Trump and the First Lady, Melania Trump, and the US delegation, affirming their friendship and partnership far into the future," O'Brien said in a tweet.
"You have friends in the USA and in the White House," the NSA said.
Separately, the White House .

NSA Robert O'Brien says Indians have friends in America and White House

A Russian news channel is broadcasting the names of more than 12 million Soviet soldiers killed during World War II, ahead of the 75th anniversary of the end of the war in May.
The unprecedented move by the state-controlled Rossiya 24 news channel reflects the Kremlin's efforts to use the conflict to stir national pride.
The initiative was launched on "Defender of the Fatherland Day" -- February 23 -- and is timed to end May 8.
The next day is Victory Day in Russia when tanks roll and infantry march through Red Square to mark the end of the war in Europe.
Russia is set to hold large-scale celebrations this year, 75 years after the Allied victory over the Nazis.
The USSR suffered particularly heavy losses of some 27 million people, according to official figures.
Rossiya 24 said its aim was to commemorate Soviet heroes "regardless of rank".
It said the project would "create a factual basis to counter attempts to falsify the history of the war".
Russia has frequently accused Western ...

Russian TV airs names of millions of WWII dead ahead of anniversary

Germany's highest court on Wednesday ruled that a 2015 law banning commercial assisted suicide was unconstitutional, as it robbed terminally ill patients of "the right to a self-determined death".
"This right includes the freedom to take one's life and seek help doing so," said Andreas Vosskuhle, presiding judge at the Karlsruhe-based Federal Constitutional Court in a groundbreaking ruling.

German court says ban on commercial assisted suicide is unconstitutional

Egypt was preparing to hold a full-honours military funeral on Wednesday for the country's former autocratic President Hosni Mubarak, who for decades was the face of stability in the Middle East but who was ousted from power in the 2011 Arab Spring uprising that swept much of the region.
A few dozen Mubarak supporters, clad in black and carrying posters of the former president, gathered in the morning at a mosque complex in a the eastern New Cairo neighbourhood, where Mubarak's body was to be brought for the funeral service later in the day.
The 91-year-old Mubarak died on Tuesday at a Cairo military hospital from heart and kidney complications, according to medical documents obtained by The Associated Press. He was admitted to hospital in January 21 with intestinal obstruction and underwent surgery, after which he was treated in intensive care.
To the outside world, Mubarak the strongman symbolised so much of Egypt's modern history, but his rule of nearly 30 years ended after ...

Egypt to hold full-honours military funeral for Mubarak

A Pakistan journalist whose relatives were members of an anti-Taliban group has been gunned down, police confirmed on Wednesday, the latest attack targeting media in the restive northwest of the country.
Javedullah Khan, 36, was shot dead late Tuesday in Matta, a former militant stronghold some 40-kilometres (24 miles) northwest of Pakistan's picturesque Swat valley.
He worked as a bureau chief for the Urdu language newspaper Ausaf.
"Javed was travelling with a police guard when two gunmen opened fire on his vehicle. He died on the spot," senior police official Muhammad Ijaz Khan told AFP.
Ali Muhammad a local police official, also confirmed the incident.
"It was a targeted attack," Muhammad added.
"Many of his relatives, including a brother, uncles and cousins were killed due to their involvement in anti-Taliban peace committees."
For years, Pakistan has encouraged tribal vigilante forces, known locally as peace committees, to defend their villages against militants.
Most have been ..

Gunmen kill journalist in northwestern Pakistan

Bangladesh has yet again shelved a controversial plan to relocate some 100,000 Rohingya refugees to a flood-prone island in the Bay of Bengal, a minister said Wednesday.
Authorities have long sought to relocate some of the country's million-plus Rohingya population to Bhashan Char, despite warnings the silty strip of land was prone to violent and potentially deadly monsoon storms.
The move would take some pressure off the overcrowded border camps home to huge numbers of the persecuted and stateless Muslim minority, most of whom fled neighbouring Myanmar in 2017 after a brutal military crackdown.
But rights groups say that some refugees had been coerced into agreeing to relocation and the plan has been staunchly opposed by the Rohingya community at large.
Junior disaster management minister Enamur Rahman said Bangladesh would increase its focus on diplomatic talks aimed at returning the refugees home.
"The relocation plan has been postponed," he told AFP, adding that there had been ...

Bangladesh again postpones Rohingya refugee island relocation

British drinks group Diageo, the maker of Guinness stout and Smirnoff vodka, on Wednesday said the coronavirus would slash annual sales by up to 325 million pounds ($422 million, 388 million euros).
Diageo, which produces also Baileys liqueur and Johnnie Walker whisky, said sales for the group's financial year ending June 30 would be impacted by between 225 million pounds and 325 million pounds owing to the spreading virus.  Operating profit would be hit by between 140 million pounds and 200 million pounds, it added in a statement.
Diageo said "significant disruption since the end of January" to its business in China was expected "to last at least into" next month.
"Thereafter, we expect a gradual improvement with consumption returning to normal levels towards the end of fiscal 2020."
Diageo added that in other Asian countries affected by the outbreak, notably Japan, South Korea and Thailand, it expects a gradual improvement in trade throughout the group's final quarter of ...

Coronavirus to cut Diageo drink sales by up to 325 mn pounds

Pakistan's former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has been declared an "absconder" by the government for violating the bail requirements by not presenting his medical report from his doctors in London, according to a media report on Wednesday.
Sharif, 70, left for London in November last for treatment after the Lahore High Court allowed him to go abroad on medical grounds for four weeks.
According to Sharif's physician, the three-time prime minister is suffering from complex multi-vessel coronary artery disease and substantial ischemic and threatened myocardium for which he is due to undergo surgery.
The government on Tuesday decided not to extend the bail of Sharif and declared him an absconder for violating the bail requirements by not presenting his medical report before a board formed on the order of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), Dawn Newspaper reported.
The decisions were taken at a meeting of the federal Cabinet presided by Prime Minister Imran Khan.
"After Nawaz Sharif failed to .

Nawaz Sharif declared absconder' by Pakistan govt for violating bail terms: Report

President Hassan Rouhani accused the United States on Wednesday of trying to spread "fear" in Iran over a coronavirus outbreak that has killed 15 people in the Islamic republic.
"We shouldn't let America mount a new virus on top of coronavirus that is called... extreme fear," Rouhani told a weekly cabinet meeting, a day after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Iran of suppressing information about the outbreak.

Iran president slams US for spreading 'fear' over virus

German airline Lufthansa on Wednesday said it would freeze new hires and use unpaid leave and additional short-time work to cut costs to help cushion the economic impact of the novel coronavirus.
"To counteract the economic impact of the coronavirus of the early stage," the group, which also owns carriers Austrian and Swiss, said in a statement that "all new hires... will be reassessed, suspended or deferred".
Employees would be offered unpaid leave and more part-time work and the group would also seek to cut administrative costs, it said.
Lufthansa shares were showing a loss of three percent at 0845 GMT on the Frankfurt stock exchange, while the overall DAX index of blue-chip shares was down 1.6 per cent.
The stock has plunged around 13 percent this week alone.
"It is not yet possible to estimate the expected impact... on earnings," the group said, adding that it would provide more details at its annual results press conference on March 19.
The Frankfurt-based group said 13 of its ...

Lufthansa says to freeze hiring, cut costs over coronavirus

"Luke Cage" scribe Charles Murray has come on board to write Paramount Pictures' biopic of famed performer Sammy Davis Jr.
The film will be partially based on Davis' memoir "Yes I Can: The Story of Sammy Davis Jr".
According to Deadline, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, Mike Menchel and musician Lionel Richie are producing the project.
Davis began his career in vaudeville and established himself as a multihyphenate performer with various Billboard Top 100 hits and roles in films like "Ocean's 11", "Robin and the 7 Hoods" and "Gone with the West" among others.
"I would see movies like 'Ocean's 11'and Sammy just stood out. Singing with Frank, dancing like Fred and Gene, with none of those cats looked at him any different in those movies because he was black. I think I made the proclamation to my parents around eight that I wanted to make movies when I grew up.
"They're from the South and knew all about what racial tension was and they said, good luck.' There weren't a lot of actors on TV who ...

'Luke Cage' writer Charles Murray to pen Sammy Davis Jr biopic

A specialist batsman during his formative years before shifting to fast bowling, New Zealand's imposing pacer Kyle Jamieson wants to transform into an all-rounder going forward.
The 25-year-old, who made a dream debut against India in the first Test, played as a batsman in his younger days, and it wasn't until he met the then New Zealand U-19 coach Dayle Hadlee that he was asked to seriously consider focusing on fast bowling as a primary skill.
"I was pretty much a batter all through high school and then made the New Zealand U-19s, and Dayle Hadlee got a hold of me and told me to run in, which kind of shifted me towards becoming more of a bowler," Jamieson was quoted as saying by the ICC's official website.
"I always liked batting, it was probably what I grew up admiring the most - whilst I did bowl, I did not think of that as my career option growing up. Now I'm a bowler who can bat, trying to get to the all-rounder stage, that's where I ideally want to be," the 6-ft-8-inch tall fast 

After dream debut against India, Jamieson wants to establish himself as all-rounder

Spending as little as 10 minutes in a natural setting may help college students feel happier, and reduce the effects of physical and mental stress, according to a review of studies.
The research, published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, aims to provide an easily-achievable dosage that physicians can prescribe as a preventative measure against high levels of stress, anxiety, depression and other mental health issues.
"It does not take much time for the positive benefits to kick in -- we are talking 10 minutes outside in a space with nature," said Gen Meredith from Cornell University in the US.
"We firmly believe that every student, no matter what subject or how high their workload, has that much discretionary time each day, or at least a few times per week," Meredith said.
The researchers performed a review of studies that examined the effects of nature on college students aged 15-30.
The aim of the research was to discover the right amount of time students should be spending .

Spending time in nature may lower stress, anxiety: Study

Russia's security service on Wednesday said it had detained two teenagers on suspicion of plotting a deadly attack on a school with weapons and homemade explosives.
The pair -- both born in 2005 and Russian citizens -- had been active on websites where they propagated an ideology of mass murder and suicide, the FSB security service said in a statement.
It said they had been planning an attack on an "educational institution" in the Volga River city of Saratov.
They were arrested in a hideout where they were keeping a sawn-off shotgun and had also planned to use homemade explosives, the instructions for which they had found on the internet, it said.
Investigators have opened a criminal probe against them into belonging to a group planning to cause multiple fatalities.
According to Russian news agencies, since 2018 the FSB has uncovered 150 extremist internet groups of young people and averted 50 armed attacks on schools.
The TASS news agency said that one of the young men had told ...

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