A Japanese nuclear reactor near a fault line must remain shut because of the risk of its being struck by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, a high court ordered on Friday.
All nuclear power stations were shut down after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident following a catastrophic tsunami, and many remain closed.
The Japanese public has turned against atomic power, despite Prime Minister Shinzo Abe insisting the nation needs nuclear plants to power the world's third-largest economy, and the court decision was a boost for the country's anti-nuclear movement.
The move by the Hiroshima High Court reversed a lower court decision in March that would have allowed the reactor at the Ikata nuclear plant in western Japan to resume operations.
The plant's operator, Shikoku Electric Power, wanted to resume work at the reactor, which had been halted for routine inspections, and said it will appeal the high court's ruling.
The case was originally lodged by residents of a neighbouring region who ...

Japan court halts nuclear reactor restart citing volcano, quake risks

PTI Automatic

A Hong Kong airline forced a Japanese woman to take a pregnancy test before allowing her on a flight to a Pacific island popular with mothers seeking US citizenship for their babies.
Midori Nishida, 25, was escorted to a public toilet at Hong Kong airport and told to urinate on a strip in November before being granted permission to board her Hong Kong Express flight to the US territory of Saipan.
She had declared in a questionnaire at check-in that she was not pregnant but airline staff nevertheless requested she undergo a "fit-to-fly" assessment designed for women with a body size or shape resembling a pregnant woman.
The test result came up negative.
"It was very humiliating and frustrating," Nishida told the Wall Street Journal.
She grew up on Saipan and her family have lived on the island for more than 20 years.
The airline apologised to Nishida and said the practice had been discontinued when contacted by AFP.
"We have immediately suspended the practice while we review it. We'd ..

Hong Kong airline made woman take pregnancy test

Iran's supreme leader called the accidental downing of a Ukrainian airliner a "bitter" tragedy Friday but said it should not overshadow the "sacrifice" of a top commander killed in a US drone strike.
"The plane crash was a bitter accident, it burned through our heart," Khamenei said. "But some tried to... portray it in a way to forget the great martyrdom and sacrifice" of Major General Qasem Soleimani, the head of the foreign operations arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guards.
"Our enemies were as happy about the plane crash as we were sad...happy that they found something to question the Guards, the armed forces, the system."
Iran admitted last week it accidentally downed a Ukrainian airliner when it was high alert after strikes against US targets in Iraq in retaliation for Soleimani's killing. The tragedy killed 176 people, most of them Iranians and Canadians.
The accidental downing triggered scattered protests in Tehran and other cities.
Praising Soleimani, Khamenei said his actions ...

Khamenei: 'Bitter' plane tragedy should not cloud Soleimani's 'sacrifice'

Mara listens to her trainer say "up, down, blow", obediently raising her trunk so a saline solution can be introduced, then lowering it and expelling the liquid into a bag for analysis.
She gets a piece of fruit as a reward.
The Asian elephant is being prepared for the medical tests to be done while in quarantine in Argentina ahead of her transfer to Elephant Sanctuary Brazil.
The sanctuary in Brazil's Mato Grosso state is better suited to her needs than her current enclosure in Buenos Aires' old zoo, which was converted into an ecopark in 2016, where she is surrounded by tall buildings and traffic sounds.
Water samples taken from her trunk can be given microbiological tests to see if she suffers from infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis.
Surrounded by the enclosure's thick bars during the training session, Mara patiently presents her front feet, then her back feet, then an ear to her trainers who study them through windows at various heights in the enclosure. They plan to draw ..

Mara the elephant to leave Argentina for Brazil sanctuary

The legal team of Nissan's former chairman Carlos Ghosn issued a statement Friday refuting the latest allegations by the Japanese automaker against the fugitive businessman.
Nissan Motor Co. on Thursday filed a new set of allegations to the Tokyo Stock Exchange against Ghosn, who skipped bail and fled to Lebanon earlier this month, saying he could not get a fair trial in Japan.
The lawyers said that Nissan's complaints were biased and that it never questioned Ghosn about them.
They also said Nissan never tried to interview Ghosn or Greg Kelly, another former executive facing charges of financial misconduct, or bothered to solicit their knowledge of the facts."
His lawyers also complained that Latham & Watkins, which conducted the investigation, had long been Nissan's outside counsel.
Nissan confirmed both were true, but denied there was any conflict of interest.
Ghosn's legal team also complained that Nissan waited for months to investigate Ghosn's successor, former Nissan Chief ...

Ghosn lawyers rebut new Nissan claims against fugitive exec

Unseeded Ugo Humbert toppled big-serving John Isner on Friday to make his first ATP final and set up an all-French showdown with Benoit Paire at the ATP Auckland Classic.
Humbert attacked Isner at his strongest point, the serve, on his way to a 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 victory, while fifth-seed Paire beat Poland's Hubert Hurkacz 6-4, 7-6 (7/1), 6-2.
"I will enjoy playing Ugo in the final, it's something special between French guys," a relieved Paire after settling down to calmly take his deciding set after a prolonged mid-match outburst.
The often emotional Paire had broken Hurkacz at 2-2 in the second set, but when Hurkacz broke back immediately, the Frenchman began chafing at outside distraction.  By the time the set reached a tie-break he was yelling at the umpire to take action about crowd noise when he served.
Amid the arguing, he was docked a point for smashing his racquet on the ground and from heading towards a two-set win he ended up losing the tie-break 7/1.
But order was restored in .

Paire, Humbert set up all French final in Auckland

South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada has been banned from the series-deciding final cricket Test against England.
Rabada was given a one-Test ban after breaching the International Cricket Council code of conduct for his celebration after getting England captain Joe Root out on the first day of the ongoing third test in Port Elizabeth.
Rabada ran through and celebrated  fists pumping and screaming  close to Root after bowling him.
He was found guilty of using language, actions or gestures" which could provoke an aggressive response from the batsman. The 24-year-old Rabada was given one demerit point for the offense but it's his fourth demerit in the last two years, which results in a one-match ban.
Rabada was charged with the offense in Port Elizabeth by match referee Andy Pycroft. He pleaded guilty and accepted the punishment.
It's a major boost for England's hopes of winning the four-test series and a major blow for South Africa's. Rabada is the No. 4-ranked bowler in the world and 

South Africa's Rabada banned for final test over Root celeb

Sepsis caused about 11 million deaths worldwide in 2017, almost twice as many as previously estimated, according to a study published in The Lancet journal.
The study, led by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and University of Washington in the US, revealed 48.9 million global cases of sepsis in 2017, and 11 million deaths, representing one in five deaths worldwide.
Sepsis occurs when a person's organs cease to function properly as the result of an out-of-control immune response to infection.
Even if sepsis doesn't kill its victims, it can create lifelong disabilities in survivors, according to the researchers.
The large majority of sepsis cases -- 85 per cent in 2017 -- occurred in low- or middle-income countries, they said.
The highest burden was found in sub-Saharan Africa, the South Pacific islands near Australia, and South, East and Southeast Asia.
Sepsis incidence was higher among females than males, according to the researchers.
By age, the incidence of sepsis peaks ..

Sepsis linked to 1-in-5 deaths worldwide: Lancet study

Iran's supreme leader said President Donald Trump is a "clown" who only pretends to support the Iranian people, as he addressed Friday prayers In Tehran for the first time since 2012.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says Trump will "push a poisonous dagger" into the nation's back.
He said the outpouring of grief at the funeral for Iran's top general, who was killed in a US airstrike earlier this month, shows that Iranians support the Islamic Republic.
Khamenei said America had "cowardly" killed the most effective commander in the fight against the Islamic State group when it killed General Qassem Soleimani in a US airstrike in Baghdad.
In response to Soleimani's killing, Iran launched a barrage of ballistic missiles targeting US troops in Iraq, without causing serious injuries.
As Iran's Revolutionary Guard braced for an American counterattack that never came, it mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian jetliner shortly after it took off from Tehran's international airport, killing all 176 passengers .

Iran's top leader: Trump is 'clown' who will betray Iranians

Anirban Lahiri could manage only a modest two-under 70 to be Tied-74th in the first round of the American Express Golf tournament at the Nicklaus Tournament course, here.
Lahiri, returning to the event after a gap of two years, had five birdies against three bogeys including one on 17th.
Lahiri, who missed the cut in his first start of the year at Sony Open, will play the tough Stadium Course on the second day and the La Quinta on Saturday.
Starting from the tenth tee, Lahiri birdied thee 11th, 14th, 18th, second and seventh. He bogeyed the 15th, second and eighth.
Zac Blair and Grayson Murray shot eight-under 64 each on different golf courses to share the first round lead, while Rickie Fowler, playing the event for the first time in six years shot seven-under 65 to be one shot alongside Scottie Scheffler and Hank Lebioda.
Blair, Fowler and Scheffler played at La Quinta, while Murray played at the Stadium Course and Lebioda played his first round at the Nicklaus Tournament ...

Lahiri shoots two-under 70, as one-handed golfer gets a hole-in-one

Iran's supreme leader says its missile attack on US troops in Iraq earlier this month was a "blow to America's image" as a superpower, as he led prayers in Tehran for the first time since 2012.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said America had "cowardly" killed the most effective commander in the fight against the Islamic State group when it killed General Qassem Soleimani in a US airstrike in Baghdad.
In response, Iran launched a barrage of ballistic missiles targeting US troops in Iraq, without causing serious injuries. As Iran's Revolutionary Guard braced for an American counterattack that never came, it mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian jetliner shortly after it took off from Tehran's international airport, killing all 176 passengers on board, mostly Iranians.
Khamenei has held the country's top office since 1989 and has the final say on all major decisions.
The 80-year-old leader openly wept at the funeral of Soleimani and vowed "harsh retaliation" against the US.
Authorities concealed ...

Top Iran leader praises missile attack on US forces in Iraq

Teenager Anshu Malik settled for a silver medal after losing the 57kg final by technical superiority while Divya Kakran missed out on a podium finish after losing her bronze play-off at the Rome Ranking Series wrestling event, here on Friday.
Anshu carried her sparkling form from the trials at her maiden international tournament at the senior level but could not replicate it in the gold medal bout, losing to Nigeria's Odunayo Adekuoroye.
The 18-year-old was very dominant till the final, beating American Jenna Rose Burkert, Grace Bullen of Norway, 2019 world champion from Canada Linda Morais en route the final.
Anshu had upset world championship bronze medallist Pooja Dhanda during the trials.
But Divya returned empty-handed after losing to Danielle Suzanne Lappage of Canada.
India can hope for one more medal as 2019 World Championship bronze winner Vinesh Phogat is yet to compete in the 53kg. Nirmala Devi will also open her campaign in the 50kg.
Kiran has already exited from the 76kg .

Anshu settles for silver, Divya misses out on bronze

A Pakistani court has sentenced 86 members of a radical Islamist party to 55-year prison terms each for taking part in violent rallies in 2018 over the acquittal of a Christian woman in a blasphemy case, a party official said Friday.
The verdicts, unusually harsh for Pakistan, were announced late Thursday night by the court in Rawalpindi, a garrison city near Islamabad. The trial had lasted for over a year. Pir Ejaz Ashrafi, a senior leader of the radical Tehreek-e-Labbaik party, said the sentences would be appealed.
Among those sentenced was Ameer Hussain Rizvi, the brother of firebrand cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi who heads the party.
"Justice has not been done," Ashrafi told The Associated Press. We will challenge the verdicts." The 86 were charged with damaging public property, beating people up and disrupting normal life by staging sit-ins against the acquittal of Aasia Bibi earlier that year.
Bibi was convicted of blasphemy in 2009 and sentenced to death on charges of insulting ..

Pakistani court hands down 55-year sentences to 86 Islamists

Popular AMC series "Better Call Saul" is set to conclude after its sixth season.
The show, a spin-off of cult hit series "Breaking Bad", has been renewed for the sixth and final season, reported Variety.
The news was shared by showrunner Peter Gould and executive producer and co-creator Vince Gilligan at the show's Television Critics' Association winter press tour panel.
The 13-episode final season will go into production later this year and air in 2021
"Better Call Saul" follows the story of con-man turned small-time lawyer, Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk), beginning six years before the events of "Breaking Bad", showing his transformation into the persona of criminal-for-hire Saul Goodman.
It also stars Jonathan Banks, Rhea Seehorn, Patrick Fabian, Michael Mando and Giancarlo Esposito.
The show's fifth season is scheduled to be premiered on February 23 this year.

'Better Call Saul' to end with its sixth season

A father and daughter were swept away in a swollen stream as Tropical Cyclone Tino caused widespread flooding in Fiji, forcing more than 100 people to take refuge in evacuation centres.
It is the second cyclone to hit the Pacific island nation in three weeks and the Meteorological Service has warned of "destructive force winds" with gusts up to 130 kilometres per hour (80 mph) and floods caused by heavy rain.
Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama on Friday told Fijians to "stay safe, remain away from floodwaters" as police searched for a schoolteacher and his daughter, believed to be aged nine or 10.
The pair were attempting to swim across a flooded river when they were caught in the strong currents.
The incident happened on Thursday before the storm developed into a tropical cyclone, but a police spokesman linked the tragedy to "heavy rain brought about by the current weather system (which) raised the river level".
On Fiji's outer islands, as locals were evacuated from their homes, many ..

Fiji cyclone leaves two missing, 119 in emergency shelter

Sri Lankan authorities have arrested a former minister who allegedly recorded 100,000 phone calls, the sometimes lewd and compromising contents of which were leaked on social media.
In what has become a major scandal, Ranjan Ramanayake is heard discussing court cases with judges, police, politicians and local celebrities in some of the recordings.
Police, who seized hard drives from Ramanayake's home, said they were investigating whether the recordings had been used for blackmail or other criminal activity.
The opposition lawmaker, 56, who was remanded in custody earlier this week, has said he is being targeted for speaking out against corruption.
In some of the leaked audio tapes, Ramanayake is heard slating the leadership of his own opposition United National Party, which has since suspended his membership.
Parliamentary speaker Karu Jayasuriya said the scandal demonstrated the moral degradation of the otherwise conservative Buddhist-majority nation of 21 million people.
"Recording .

Sri Lanka ex-minister held over phone recording scandal

Turkey's state news agency has published images of two men accused of helping fugitive businessman Carlos Ghosn escape via an Istanbul airport, as he fled a corruption trial in Japan.
The security camera images, first made public on Thursday, show Michael Taylor and George Antoine Zayek at passport control in Istanbul Airport, according to state news agency Anadolu.
The Wall Street Journal described Taylor as a former US special forces operative now working as a private security contractor.
Ghosn, the former boss of carmaker Nissan, fled from Japan reportedly by hiding inside an audio equipment box, later giving a news conference in Lebanon.
He has refused to comment on the details of his escape.
Turkish police say he disembarked on foot at the smaller Ataturk Airport and transferred to another private jet for Lebanon.
Anadolu's report suggests Taylor and Zayek accompanied Ghosn from Japan to Turkey, but then transferred across town to Istanbul's main airport and took a separate ...

Turkey releases images of alleged Ghosn accomplices

An erupting Philippine volcano remains life threatening despite weaker emissions and fewer tremors, an official said Friday and advised thousands of displaced villagers not to return to the danger zone.
The Taal volcano emitted weaker ash and steam explosions Thursday and Friday, the sixth day of its eruption. But despite the seeming lull, continuing volcanic quakes, the drying of the crater lake and other signs indicate magma is moving beneath, said Maria Antonia Bornas, an official with the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.
"When there is an explosion, that will be life threatening, especially if people get very near, like on Volcano Island," Renato Solidum, head of the the institute, told The Associated Press.
The volcano since Sunday has remained at alert level 4, the second-highest warning, indicating a hazardous explosive eruption is possible in hours or days.
Solidum said assessing whether the volcano's restiveness has eased may take up to two weeks.
Tens of ..

Philippine volcano still 'life threatening' despite lull

Almost two years to the day after the death of famed French chef Paul Bocuse, his iconic restaurant has lost the coveted Michelin three-star rating it had held continuously since 1965, the restaurant guide said Friday.
The Michelin Guide told AFP it downgraded Bocuse's L'Auberge de Collonges-au-Mont-d'Or, near Lyon in food-obsessed southeastern France, to two stars in its 2020 edition because "the quality of the establishment remained excellent but no longer at the level of three stars".

Legendary Bocuse restaurant loses third Michelin star

Ukraine's prime minister offered his resignation on Friday after audio was leaked of him reportedly criticising President Volodomyr Zelensky's understanding of the economy.
"To remove any doubts about our respect for and trust in the president, I have written a resignation letter and handed it over to the president," Oleksiy Goncharuk wrote on his official Facebook page.
He said the audio "artificially created an impression that my team and I do not respect the president".
"This is not true," he said. "I came to this post to carry out the president's programme." Zelensky's office said it had received the letter of resignation and would consider it.
The alleged recording, which emerged this week, came from an informal December meeting between ministers and senior officials from the National Bank.
According to local media reports, the participants discussed how to explain recent economic developments to Zelensky, a comedian and political neophyte who won a surprise election victory last 

Ukraine PM offers resignation after leaked recording

A stolen 15th-century book by the famed Persian poet Hafez has been recovered by a Dutch art detective after an international "race against time" that drew the alleged interest of Iran's secret service.
The gold-leafed volume worth around one million euros (USD 1.1 million) was found to be missing from the collection of an Iranian antiques dealer after his death in Germany in 2007.
It sparked a decade-long search for one of the oldest surviving copies of the "Divan of Hafez" -- the collected works of the poet who remains extremely popular in Iran and has inspired artists worldwide.
But Arthur Brand, dubbed the "Indiana Jones of the Art World" for tracing a series of lost works, finally tracked down the tome via the murky stolen arts underworld.
"This is a hugely important find for me, because this is such an important book," Brand said as he showed AFP the recovered book at an Amsterdam apartment.
Along with Rumi, Hafez -- full name Shams al-Din Muhammad Hafiz Shirazi -- is one of the 

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