News, Jobs, Scholarship and Business Tips: 04/01/2018

Monday, April 30, 2018

Job Vacancy For Professional Web Programmers at Alajo Online

Alajo Online is a website that provides AJO (thrift collecting) services. It encourages saving and provides loans to assist people in meeting their financial goals.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Professional Web Programmer

Location: Oyo

Qualification

NCE, OND, HND and First Degree.

Experience:

Minimum of 6 years in Web Programming outstanding experience.

Remuneration
Attractive Salary to Start + Bonuses for outstanding performance.

Application Closing Date
14th May, 2018.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should send their CV's to: admin@alajoonline.com and submission@alajoonline.com

Note: You must be very experienced to apply for the position. This is a result oriented company!

For inquiry - call: +2349094284239

Job Vacancy For Experienced Sales Manager at Alajo Online

Alajo Online is a website that provides AJO (thrift collecting) services. It encourages saving and provides loans to assist people in meeting their financial goals.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Experienced Sales Manager

Location: Oyo

Qualification

NCE, OND, HND and First Degree.

Experience:

Minimum of 5 years in Sales Managerial experience.

Job Vacancy For Experienced Direct Sales Representatives at Alajo Online

Alajo Online is a website that provides AJO (thrift collecting) services. It encourages saving and provides loans to assist people in meeting their financial goals.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Experienced Direct Sales Representative

Location: Oyo

Qualification

NCE, OND, HND and First Degree.

Experience:

Minimum of 3 years outstanding experience.

Job Vacancy For Professional Marketing Executives at Alajo Online

NCE, OND, HND and First Degree.

Experience:

Minimum of 3-5 years outstanding experience.

Job Vacancy For Professional Stock Traders at Alajo Online

NCE, OND, HND and First Degree.

Experience:

Minimum of 5-10 years trading experience in Stock Trading with proofs and certificates.

Job Vacancy For Professional Currency Traders at Alajo Online

NCE, OND, HND and First Degree.

Experience:

Minimum of 5-10 years Trading Experience in Currency Trading (Forex) with proofs and certificates

Job Vacancy For Pharmacy Technician/Assistant at a World Class Hospital - MAHFIST Resources Limited

MAHFIST Resources Limited - Our client, a newly built world class hospital at Maitama district in Abuja, is recruiting suitably qualified candidates to fill the position below:

Job Title: Pharmacy Technician/Assistant

Location: Abuja

Qualifications

WASSC, must have graduated from a recognized College of Health Technology with at least 5 (five) years working experience as Pharmacy Technician

Application Closing Date
30th April, 2018.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should send their CV's and Application Letter to: mahfistt@gmail.com

Job Vacancy For Pharmacist at a World Class Hospital - MAHFIST Resources Limited

B.Pharm with at least two (2) years post NYSC experience.
Must be registered with the Pharmacist Council of Nigeria, and a holder of a current practicing license

Application Closing Date
30th April, 2018.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should send their CV's and Application Letter to: mahfistt@gmail.com

Job Vacancy For Medical Officer at a World Class Hospital - MAHFIST Resources Limited

MAHFIST Resources Limited - Our client, a newly built world class hospital at Maitama district in Abuja, is recruiting suitably qualified candidates to fill the position below:

Job Title: Medical Officer

Location: Abuja

Qualifications

MBBS/MBBCH with at least three (3) years post NYSC experience.
Candidate must be registered with the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDNC), and must possess a current annual practicing license.

Application Closing Date
30th April, 2018.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should send their CV's and Application Letter to: mahfistt@gmail.com

Tunisian Islamist party endorses Jewish candidate

Tunisian Islamist party endorses Jewish candidate
source: AFP

AFP / BECHIR TAIEB Simon Slama, a Tunisian Jewish candidate for the Islamist Ennahdha party, speaks during a press conference in Monastir on April 14, 2018

Decked out in a striking blue suit and white shirt, matching his political allegiance, Simon Slama rubs shoulders with fellow candidates ahead of Tunisia's municipal elections.

Nothing unusual about that -- except he is the only Jewish candidate, standing for the Islamist Ennahdha party.

A public relations stunt for some; a sign of genuine liberalisation for others. But even if Slama fares dismally come the May 6 poll, his candidacy has become a major story in the nation.

This will be the first municipal vote since former dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fell from power in 2011.

And while Slama looks at ease, joyously clapping hands on the campaign trail in the coastal town of Monastir, the 54-year old sewing machine repairman's decision to run drew fierce initial opposition from loved ones.

"All my family were against my choice. My brother was angry and my wife went days without speaking to me," the candidate tells AFP, with a timid smile and a nervous fidget of the hands.

"But I managed to convince them."

Slama and his relatives are among the small number of Jews still living in Tunisia. The community in the North African nation has shrunk from several hundred thousand before independence in 1956, to just 1,200 today.

While Jews in the country, which is overwhelmingly Muslim, once served as lawmakers and even ministers, they have long since slipped to the margins of politics.

Slama believes his candidacy is helping to change all that and has already "removed fears for Jewish Tunisian citizens".

- 'Ancient family' -

Comrades in the Ennahdha party insist Slama is the right man to stand for office in Monastir -- a symbolic town for Tunisians as it is the birthplace of Habib Bourguiba, the father of the country's independence.

AFP / FETHI BELAID

"He comes from an ancient family. He has his roots in Monastir... and he knows the town's problems," says Chokri ben Janet, who heads the party's candidate list in the town.

Slama says that despite its history as an Islamist party he opted for Ennahdha out of political conviction, describing it as "the most active and the most serious on the political scene".

"Ennahdha has changed its strategy -- it is no longer a religious party, it is a civil party," he says.

The party is a junior partner in a coalition led by President Beji Caid Essebsi and his Nidaa Tounes party.

Taking stock from its experience in power after the 2011 revolution, it has worked hard to modernise its image.

It opposed a project to criminalise any attempt to normalise relations with Israel; a vote on the proposal was dropped this winter.

Now some of its leading candidates are women who don't wear the Islamic veil.

All of these changes -- including Slama's candidacy -- have drawn derision from some political opponents who accuse the group of simple opportunism to bolster its vote.

Top Nidaa Tounes official Borhane Bassais called it a "political striptease".

- Torah and Koran -

Others say that interest in Slama's candidacy highlights that while Jews can practice their religion freely they remain an anomaly in Tunisia -- and shows the country still has a long way to go on minority rights.

The media frenzy is testament to "this obsession we have of judging (people) on the basis of something so personal as their religious conviction," says Yamina Thabet, an official for Tunisia's Association for the Support of Minorities.

Some noteworthy figures have, nonetheless, thrown their weight behind Slama's bid for a seat.

"This candidacy brings pride for the Jewish community," says Rene Trabelsi, who organises the Jewish pilgrimage to Tunisia's famous Ghriba synagogue, on the island of Djerba.

"It has created a positive image of an open Tunisia that we can all share," says the businessman, who was once a contender to become tourism minister.

And as for the candidate himself -- he appears comfortable with his identity and the attention his foray into politics has garnered.

If he wins, Slama says, he is ready to take the oath of office on "both the books" -- the Jewish Torah and the Muslim Koran.

Brussels begins big battle on post-Brexit budget

Brussels begins big battle on post-Brexit budget
source: AFP

AFP/File / Tobias SCHWARZ EU Budget Commissioner Guenther Oettinger, who will present the plans in Brussels on Wednesday, says that tough steps are needed to fill a 12 to 14 billion euro hole left by Brexit

The EU will this week unveil its first formal plans for a larger, one-trillion-euro-plus long-term budget after Britain's departure, which threaten to further deepen divisions in the bloc.

From slashed farm funds that will anger French farmers, to development cash tied to respect for democracy, and demands for greater national contributions, the 2021-2027 budget promises to be an explosive mixture.

EU Budget Commissioner Guenther Oettinger, who will present the plans in Brussels on Wednesday, says that tough steps are needed to fill a 12 to 14 billion euro hole left by Brexit.

A race against time will follow, especially as the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, wants the budget agreed before the next European Parliament elections in May 2019, two months after Britain leaves.

EU states say it is "impossible" given the rifts between east, west, north and south, with countries anxious not to put their hands in their pockets at a time when populism on the march.

"They have to take responsibility for the ambitions that they have expressed" for the EU after Brexit, an official in Jean-Claude Juncker's commission said on condition of anonymity.

- 'There will have to be cuts' -

The loss of Britain deprives the EU of one of its biggest net contributor nations at a time when the bloc is trying to finance new areas such as defence and tackling migration.

Countries including Austria and the Netherlands are already gearing up to fight any demand for increased national contributions, although France and Germany have said they are ready to pay more.

The sums at stake in the budget debate are huge, even if on the face of it they only represent a tiny fraction of the overall wealth of the European Union -- the current 2014-2020 budget represented just 1 percent of the bloc's GDP.

Oettinger has called for countries to increase their contributions to "between 1.1 percent and 1.2 percent" of their national budgets for the next "multi-annual financial framework".

But along with the new resources "there will have to be cuts," the German commissioner has warned.

Sources said they would be "modest" amounting to less than 10 percent.

Most will target the two areas that together account for nearly three quarters of all EU spending.

The EU's infamous Common Agricultural Policy is first in the crosshairs, accounting for 37 percent of the bloc's spending. That will be difficult to swallow for France, whose farmers are the biggest beneficiaries of CAP funds.

Paris has said it is ready to defend "substantial reform" but the "indispensable security of aid for farmers cannot be affected", a diplomatic source said.

- 'Political pressure' -

Also targeted will be so-called cohesion funds that are used to fund development in poorer European countries. They represent a further 35 percent of the EU's budget.

Most of that money currently goes to eastern former Soviet bloc countries which are still catching up economically.

But southern nations such as Spain and Italy have started demanding that some is redirected to tackle mass youth unemployment in their countries.

AFP/File / GUILLAUME SOUVANT The EU's infamous Common Agricultural Policy is first in the crosshairs, accounting for 37 percent of the bloc's spending. That will be difficult to swallow for France, whose farmers are the biggest beneficiaries of CAP funds

The eastern countries are also alarmed by the commission's plans to link the funds to respect for the rule of law.

Poland and Hungary, both criticised by Brussels over democratic issues, have battened down the hatches and say they are being criticised for failing to take in refugees.

"We will not accept arbitrary mechanisms which will make the funds an instrument of political pressure, Poland's deputy European affairs minister Konrad Szymanski said.

Some of the money saved will be directed to guarding the EU's frontiers in the wake of the migration crisis, with the Commission planning to more than quintuple the size of the Frontex border agency to nearly 6,000, a European source said.

Jordan woos back nervous tourists after years of regional turbulence

Jordan woos back nervous tourists after years of regional turbulence
source: AFP

AFP/File / THOMAS COEX Petra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was once a major crossroads for caravans transporting Arabian incense, Indian spices and Chinese silks

With its rock-hewn ancient city of Petra, lunar-like landscape of Wadi Rum and a medical tourism drive, Jordan is luring back foreign visitors scared off by regional upheaval and jihadist attacks.

Abundant natural wonders and ancient treasures have long attracted tourists to the kingdom, traditionally seen as a haven of peace in a war-ravaged region.

But after the Arab Spring uprisings convulsed the Middle East in 2011 and the Islamic State group (IS) later rampaged across neighbouring Syria and Iraq, visitor numbers slumped.

Jordan welcomed seven million tourists in 2010, but arrivals plunged to around three million in each of the following two years, according to tourism board head Abed Al Razzaq Arabiyat.

Efforts to reverse the slide suffered a major setback in 2016 with a string of attacks in the kingdom, a member of the US-led alliance against IS.

A Canadian tourist was among 10 people killed in a shooting rampage claimed by the jihadists in Karak, home to one of the region's biggest Crusader castles.

But the spillover from the Syrian conflict has since abated and in 2017 tourist arrivals rebounded to more than four million, officials say.

AFP / KHALIL MAZRAAWI Abundant natural wonders and ancient treasures have long attracted tourists to the kingdom, traditionally seen as a haven of peace in a war-ravaged region

"Jordan has proved to be a safe haven in a region which is witnessing turmoil," Tourism Minister Lina Mazhar Annab told AFP in an interview.

"Jordan is a very safe country. We are proving to be safer than a lot of European countries. It is a matter of perception."

The country's goal is to bring annual tourist arrivals back up to 7 million by 2020, she said, guiding a group of visitors through the steep paths of the ancient Nabataean city of Petra with its rose-pink cliffs.

The UNESCO World Heritage Site, which featured in the Hollywood film "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade", was once a major crossroads for caravans transporting Arabian incense, Indian spices and Chinese silks.

- 'Huge cultural wealth' -

Today Jordan's historical jewels are a major draw.

"I came here because it's a country with huge cultural wealth," said French tourist Emmanuel Reneaume, visiting the Amman Citadel perched at the top of a hill in the capital.

"Just behind us there are ruins, a Roman temple, a Byzantine church and an Umayyad mosque. It's exciting," he said.

Jordan boasts 21,000 archaeological and historical sites that span millennia, according to the tourism board.

AFP/File / MENAHEM KAHANA Jordan welcomed seven million tourists in 2010, but arrivals plunged to around three million in each of the following two years

They include the Roman ruins of Jerash, the Dead Sea and Wadi al-Kharrar, or Bethany Beyond the Jordan, where some biblical historians believe Jesus was baptised.

Such sites are helping to attract a growing number of tourists from Asian countries including Malaysia, Indonesia, China and India, according to the authorities.

"People are coming back from all over the world," said the tourism minister.

"This year, so far, it's looking great. The first quarter has been amazing. We also have seen growth of 15 percent in the number of visitors as well as tourism receipts."

Lacking in natural resources, the country of nearly 10 million depends on tourism for around 12 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).

In an attempt to diversify, the kingdom has sought to become a regional hub of medical tourism.

"Between 250,000 and 300,000 foreign patients are admitted in Jordan each year, bringing in up to $1.5 billion," said the president of the country's Private Hospitals Association, Fawzi al-Hammouri.

In March the government adopted a measure facilitating the entry of patients from Iraq, Yemen, Syria, Libya, Sudan, Chad and Ethiopia, allowing them to obtain a visa within 48 hours.

Samer Mostafa, a 50-year-old Iraqi who underwent open-heart surgery in a private hospital in the capital, said he was attracted by Jordan's "stable security situation, the cleanliness of its hospitals and the absence of power cuts in such facilities".

Medical tourism now directly employs 35,000 people in Jordan, according to Hammouri.

The majority of patients come from Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Libya, Sudan, Yemen, Syria and the Palestinian territories.

Jordan is also a stop for Muslim pilgrims visiting holy sites in the region.

And now the kingdom hopes to woo more European visitors thanks to an agreement struck in February with low-cost airline Ryanair for 14 new routes between Europe and Jordan.

All of which gives tourism agency owner Salama Khatar reason for optimism.

"Business is good. Since August we are starting to return to the situation of 2010," Khatar said.

Armenian ruling party says will not nominate candidate for PM

Armenian ruling party says will not nominate candidate for PM
source: AFP

AFP / Vano SHLAMOV Armenian opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan meets with supporters in the northern town of Dilijan

Armenia's ruling party on Saturday refused to nominate a new candidate for premier after veteran ruler Serzh Sarkisian stepped down following mass protests, as support for leading opposition figure Nikol Pashinyan gathered pace.

Ex-Soviet Armenia has been in the grip of a severe political crisis for the past two weeks with the protest movement charging that Sarkisian and his ruling Republican party were making a power grab.

"The Republican Party has decided not to nominate its candidate," said Eduard Sharmazanov, vice speaker of parliament and the ruling party's spokesman, citing the interests of the people.

The party will wait until all candidates are nominated by April 30 and then decide who to back.

It was not immediately clear whether the ruling party -- which has a majority of seats in parliament -- would back the head of the protest movement, Nikol Pashinyan, or another candidate.

Sharmazanov said earlier he personally doubted Pashinyan was a suitable candidate for the top job.

The ruling party said earlier it would announce its position on a May 1 vote to elect the country's next prime minister on Monday.

The Prosperous Armenia Party, which holds 31 seats in the 105-member chamber, said Saturday it was backing Pashinyan.

The party "won't present a candidate and will support the candidate of the people, which is what he (Pashinyan) is," its chief Gagik Tsarukyan told the Kentron television channel.

- Still in the game -

Observers fear the turmoil could destabilise the Moscow-allied nation which has for decades been locked in a territorial dispute with Azerbaijan.

Sarkisian resigned this week as the country's new prime minister after serving as president for a decade.

Pashinyan has issued an ultimatum to the authorities, saying that he should be elected the next prime minister -- who holds the country's top job under a parliamentary system of government.

He however does not have enough votes to get elected.

AFP / Vano SHLAMOV Supporters beat drums and waved flags as they cheered Pashinyan

Moscow has urged compromise and Russian President Vladimir Putin this week spoke by phone with the interim head of government, stressing the importance of the upcoming election.

On Friday, acting head of government Karen Karapetyan refused to hold talks with the protest leader, accusing him of promoting his own agenda and worsening the crisis in the poor country of 2.9 million people.

The United States urged "good faith" in negotiations, with a State Department statement calling for "a resolution that reflects the interests of all Armenians."

- 'Equal rights' -

Addressing supporters in his birthplace Ijevan in Armenia's bucolic north earlier Saturday, Pashinyan pledged equal rights and opportunities for all, saying the country had turned a new page after Sarkisian quit power.

"Every citizen will have equal rights and opportunities," he told supporters. "From now on people will not be judged by who their acquaintances, friends and relatives are."

He also said he was ready to meet with members of the ruling party to discuss a "peaceful transfer of power."

Over the past two days, the 42-year-old has received a hero's welcome in a number of towns and villages outside the capital Yerevan, driving around the landlocked South Caucasus country with his supporters in a convoy.

In the small northern town of Dilijan earlier in the day, several hundred locals greeted Pashinyan, holding flags and beating drums.

"We want change in Armenia and Pashinyan to be elected prime minister right away," said Arman Ovsepyan, a 43-year-old musician.

"If the Republicans refuse to leave power, we will force them to do so peacefully."

After a brief halt to two weeks of nearly non-stop rallies, protesters were expected to return to the streets of the capital on Sunday.

They also planned to stage a major rally on election day.

Police said there was a "potential threat" of provocations by radical groups on May 1, urging protesters to be vigilant.

The opposition says only its candidate should become the country's next leader to oversee free and fair parliamentary elections and clean up the political system of corruption and the influence of oligarchs.

mkh-ir-am-as/pg

Hamilton wins chaotic Baku battle to lead title race

Hamilton wins chaotic Baku battle to lead title race
source: AFP

AFP / Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV Mercedes' defending world champion Lewis Hamilton on the podium after a fortuitous first win of the season on the streets of Baku

Defending world champion Lewis Hamilton claimed his first win of 2018 on Sunday and took over as leader of the title race when he triumphed in a dramatic, crash and incident-strewn Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The 33-year-old Briton managed to steer his Mercedes through a chaotic race and capitalize on his team-mate Valtteri Bottas’ misfortune when a late puncture scuppered the Finn's chances.

Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel had looked set to turn pole position into a victory until a second Safety Car intervention left him lunging to pass Bottas and locking-up.

The German finished fourth behind the triumphant Hamilton, Kimi Raikkonen in the second Ferrari and Mexican Sergio Perez of Force India.

The race was heavily punctuated by accidents which included one in which the two Red Bulls of Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen collided while fighting for fourth place in the closing stages.

Hamilton leads the world championship on 70 points, four clear of Vettel.

Carlos Sainz finished fifth for Renault and Charles Leclerc sixth for Sauber, his first points finish.

Fernando Alonso finished seventh for McLaren ahead of Canadian Lance Stroll of Williams, Stoffel Vandoorne in the second McLaren and New Zealand’s Brendon Hartley of Toro Rosso.

Trump escapes 'swamp' for another Washington, in Michigan

Trump escapes 'swamp' for another Washington, in Michigan
source: AFP

AFP / MANDEL NGAN US President Donald Trump -- who frequently attacks the press -- skipped the 2018 White House correspondents dinner, opting instead for a rally in the small town of Washington, Michigan

President Donald Trump swapped one Washington for another Saturday, pointedly opting to connect with American "deplorables" in a Michigan town rather than exchange barbs at the "phony" White House correspondents dinner.

The US leader attended a campaign-style rally in Washington Township, north of Detroit, to tout what his team hails as an economic revival on the same evening that the White House press corps hosts its annual dinner.

"By the way, is this better than that phony Washington White House correspondents dinner?" an animated Trump asked the cheering crowd.

"I could be up there tonight smiling like I love when they are hitting you shot after shot," he said.

"If you don't smile they will say he was terrible. He couldn't take it. If you do smile, they will say what was he smiling about."

Trump, who has frequently attacked the media and its coverage of him since his days as a presidential candidate, snubbed the press dinner for a second consecutive year since taking office.

"Why would I want to be stuck in a room with a bunch of fake news liberals who hate me?" Trump had said in a fundraising email this week authorized by the Republican National Committee.

During his speech Trump fired up the crowd by taking about everything from border control and trade to alleged Russian collusion and the Korean peninsula -- a topic that prompted chants of "Nobel! Nobel!"

The rally, held at a sports complex, was Trump's fifth in the Detroit area since he began his improbable presidential run in 2015.

"For too long the loyalty of Michigan workers was repaid with pure and simple betrayal. You were betrayed. For decades you were dealt one devastating blow after another. Disastrous trade deals which I'm straightening out," he said.

"The cars are coming back to Michigan. The plants are coming back. They are being expanded," he said.

Since coming to office, Trump has repeatedly touted day-to-day stock market increases, jobs data and other positive economic indicators as evidence his administration is succeeding.

- 'Dishonest media' -

AFP / MANDEL NGAN Trump supporters hold a sign greeting the US president to the rally in Washington, Michigan

US reporters are frequent targets of Trump's ire. He routinely tweets about the "fake news" or the "dishonest media," especially after he sees news reports he believes are unfavorable to him and his administration.

"Trump's absence is part of a bigger pattern," historian Julian Zelizer wrote on The Atlantic's website about the president's plan to skip the dinner.

"Not only has the president been extremely hostile to the press, questioning their legitimacy and vilifying them as enemies of the state, but he has cut off access to almost everyone outside the Fox News-Breitbart orbit," Zelizer wrote, referring to outlets that cover Trump favorably.

"Most notable of all has been his decision to hold just one solo press conference since taking office."

- Hollywood stars absent -

Unlike in years past, there were no A-list Hollywood celebrities at the dinner. Notable guests this year included porn star Stormy Daniel's lawyer, former White House press secretary Sean Spicer, and ex-reality show star and White House employee Omarosa Manigault Newman.

"Like a porn star says when she's about to have sex with a Trump, let's get this over with," the event's entertainment host, Michelle Wolf, said as she began her presentation.

The comedian then unleashed a volley of often vulgar jokes than included nasty personal putdowns.

She was especially hard on women in Trump's sphere: Wolf compared the president's daughter Ivanka to a diaper pail -- shiny on the outside and full of feces -- and said that adviser Kellyanne Conway has "the perfect last name" because "all she does is lie."

Wolf's description of White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was so nasty that the crowd audibly groaned.

Trump last attended the dinner in 2011 as a guest, when he was a reality TV star. Barack Obama famously mocked him for renewing the "birther" conspiracy about the nation's first black president.

"No one is prouder to put this birth certificate matter to rest than The Donald," Obama quipped, as Trump scowled in his seat.

"And that's because he can finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter, like, did we fake the moon landing?"

US has 'obligation' to pursue N.Korea diplomatic track: Pompeo

US has 'obligation' to pursue N.Korea diplomatic track: Pompeo
source: AFP

AFP / FAYEZ NURELDINE US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held in-depth talks about a denuclearization "mechanism"

The US has an "obligation" to pursue a diplomatic solution with North Korea, and there is a "real opportunity" for progress, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in an interview broadcast Sunday.

"We have an obligation to engage in diplomatic discourse to try and find a peaceful solution so that Americans aren't held at risk by Kim Jong Un and his nuclear arsenal," Pompeo told ABC's "This Week."

America's top diplomat also said he and North Korean leader Kim held in-depth talks about a denuclearization "mechanism" when they met over Easter weekend.

"We talked a great deal about what it might look like, what this complete, verifiable, irreversible mechanism might look like," Pompeo said, according to a transcript released by ABC.

Pompeo told journalists on Sunday that he believes Kim is looking for "concrete" actions.

"I'm confident that Kim Jong Un is looking for more than a piece of paper," Pompeo said during a Middle East trip.

US National Security Advisor John Bolton said Libya's decision to give up its nuclear program through diplomacy was a "model" for efforts to get North Korea to do likewise.

"We have very much in mind the Libya model from 2003, 2004," Bolton told Fox News Sunday when asked if North Korea would have to fully give up its nuclear weapons, fuel and missiles before the US makes concessions.

"There are obviously differences, the Libyan program was much smaller. But that was basically the agreement that we made," Bolton said.

- Fears over 'Libya model' -

Libya announced in late 2003 that it was giving up any ambitions to acquire weapons of mass destruction and would allow UN inspections of its nuclear sites, following months of secret talks with London and Washington.

But Libya's move to scrap its nuclear program also serves as a model of what North Korea fears will happen: its government was later overthrown by rebel forces supported by Western air strikes in 2011.

Pyongyang regularly cites the fates of Saddam Hussein in Iraq -- whose government was toppled by a US-led invasion -- and Libya's Moamer Kadhafi, who was killed after his fall from power, as evidence of the need for nuclear arms.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in met with Kim in an historic summit, agreeing on Friday to pursue a permanent peace and the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

An armistice brought the fighting on the Korean peninsula to an end in 1953 but, 65 years later, a final peace agreement has still not been reached.

The Moon-Kim meeting has raised expectations for US President Donald Trump's own planned summit with the North Korean leader, the date and location of which have not yet been finalized.

Last year, Pyongyang carried out its sixth nuclear test, by far its most powerful to date, and launched missiles theoretically capable of reaching the US mainland.

Its actions sent tensions soaring as Kim and Trump traded personal insults and threats of war.

Trump has demanded the North give up its weapons, and Washington is pressing for it to do so in a complete, verifiable and irreversible way.

Pyongyang is demanding as yet unspecified security guarantees to discuss its arsenal.

US Fed to hold fire amid rising market sensitivity

US Fed to hold fire amid rising market sensitivity
source: AFP

GETTY/AFP/File / Drew Angerer When the central bank's Federal Open Market Committee reports on the outcome of its meeting next week, investors will be reading anxiously between the lines for signs of how concerned officials appear to be about rising wages and inflation

Markets do not expect the US Federal Reserve to raise interest rates this week, as policymakers take time to assess how much pressure is building in the world's largest economy.

The central bank's Federal Open Market Committee, which is due to begin a two-day meeting on Tuesday, has signaled it will raise its key lending rate at least twice more this year after kicking it up a notch last month.

But Wall Street since February has shown a tendency to swoon at the faintest hint the Fed might consider moving at a more aggressive pace.

And data that suggest the Fed might move four times this year under newly-installed Fed Chairman Jay Powell have generated wild volatility in share prices.

While the central bank will leave the benchmark lending rate untouched on Wednesday when it announces the outcome of the meeting, investors will be reading anxiously between the lines for signs of how concerned officials appear to be about rising wages and inflation.

After years at with interest rates at zero in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, the US central bank has nudged the rate up six times since the first move in December 2015, moving in increments of 0.25, or 25 basis points.

"There's just a level of disbelief that the Fed would actually raise rates a hundred basis points in a year, as if a hundred basis points is a lot," economist Joel Naroff told AFP.

"You've got this 10 years of low rates and people thinking it's almost a birth right," he added. "That's creating a lot of the uncertainty."

Powell's nomination to lead the Fed was widely seen as a White House signal of continuity with the end of Fed Chair Janet Yellen's era, which saw low interest rates, tame inflation, rallying markets and steady growth.

But since taking office in February, Powell has managed to spook the markets at virtually every turn.

At his debut congressional testimony that month, stocks turned negative, particularly on Powell's remark that the central bank's mandate did not include boosting Wall Street returns.

"We don't manage the stock market, we manage stable prices and maximum employment," he said.

The Dow lost 1.2 percent that day.

The index also fell 0.2 percent following Powell's first post-FOMC press conference in March, when the central bank hiked and raised its long-term interest rate forecast by a tenth to 2.9 percent.

- No 'Powell Put' -

Two weeks later, Powell delivered his first speech as Fed chair, saying the central bank wanted to avoid raising rates either too quickly or too slowly.

Stocks fell 2.3 percent in the wake of his comments, seemingly disappointed he had not promised to slow future rate increases in light of a possible trade war with China.

Kathy Bostjancic, head of US macro investor services at Oxford Economics, said mounting inflation could indeed force the Fed to move faster than Wall Street likes, shattering hopes the central bank will act to protect stock prices.

"I do think Chair Powell will be careful as all Fed officials are but I don't believe that there's this so-called 'Powell Put,'" she said, referring to the idea the central bank chief would attempt to put a floor under stock prices.

"I don't think he could easily give deference to the equity market and enable this idea."

Since the FOMC raised rates in March, economic data have pointed to continued steady growth and signs wages are rising at long last, which would be expected to boost inflation.

GDP expanded by a better-than-expected 2.3 percent in the first quarter and is projected to return to around three percent in the second quarter, and job creation remained strong.

Inflation has turned up the heat. A quarterly measure of the core Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, the Fed's preferred measure, which strips out volatile food and fuel prices, surged above the Fed's two percent target to 2.5 percent, its strongest quarter since 2007.

Naroff said Powell would be careful not to send markets nosediving -- which could spill over into business confidence and hurt the real economy -- even though markets are not his primary concern.

"If the stock markets are totally flat this year and he gets a hundred basis points, he'll be a happy camper."

Pompeo talks tough on Iran in first trip to Mideast allies

Pompeo talks tough on Iran in first trip to Mideast allies
source: AFP

AFP / Thomas COEX US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (L) is greeted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Ministry of Defence in Tel Aviv on April 29, 2018

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lashed out at Iran during a rapid tour of Middle East allies on Sunday ahead of a crucial White House decision on whether to quit the nuclear deal with Tehran.

After setting off on his first diplomatic trip only hours after being sworn in, Pompeo met with Saudi and Israeli leaders, two countries with especially close strategic bonds with the United States.

Both also have a common enemy in Iran, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly called for the nuclear deal to either be altered or scrapped, though most world powers see it as key to preventing Tehran from obtaining atomic weapons.

"Iran's ambition to dominate the Middle East remains," Pompeo said while standing next to Netanyahu after their two-hour meeting in Tel Aviv.

He reiterated that US President Donald Trump will withdraw from the nuclear deal with Iran "if we can't fix it".

Netanyahu said "Iran is trying to gobble up one country after the other."

"Iran must be stopped," the premier said. "Its quest for nuclear bombs must be stopped. Its aggression must be stopped."

Both Netanyahu and Saudi leaders appeared delighted that Pompeo, like Trump, included their countries on his first foreign trip since taking office.

The former CIA chief and congressman showed similar affection, saying when meeting Netanyahu that he and his country were an "incredibly important partner, occupy a special place in my heart too."

- 'Made no decision' -

Pompeo met earlier on Sunday with Saudi King Salman in Riyadh, after dinner on Saturday with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

He later flew to Jordan, wrapping up a weekend of talks with some of Iran's most fervent foes in the region.

Pompeo accused Iran of destabilising the Middle East, including through its support for Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and for Shiite rebels in Yemen.

Saudi Royal Palace/AFP / BANDAR AL-JALOUD Saudi Arabia's King Salman shakes hands with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in the capital Riyadh on April 29, 2018

"(Iran) supports proxy militias and terrorist groups. It is an arms dealer to the Huthi rebels in Yemen and Iran conducts cyber-hacking campaigns. And it supports the murderous Assad regime," he said at a joint press conference with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir.

"Unlike the prior administration we will not neglect the vast scope of Iran's terrorism."

Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said the nuclear deal was "not negotiable".

"The nuclear deal or any other subject under its pretext is not negotiable in any way," he told his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in a phone call, quoted by the presidency website.

"Iran will not accept any restrictions beyond its commitments."

Trump is due to decide on May 12 whether to reimpose sanctions on Tehran, putting in peril a landmark 2015 nuclear accord.

Britain, France and Germany all remain committed to the deal, saying it is the best way to keep Tehran from getting the bomb.

But Trump and America's Middle East allies argue the deal, approved by Trump's predecessor Barack Obama, was too weak and needs to be replaced with a more permanent arrangement and supplemented by controls on Iran's missile programme.

Jubeir said Riyadh supports "efforts aimed at improving the nuclear deal" and called for further sanctions against Iran for its "violations of international decisions on ballistic missiles, its support for terrorism and its interference in the affairs of countries in the region."

Pompeo said the nuclear deal "in its current form" does not do enough to make sure Iran never possesses atomic weapons.

Macron and Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany left Washington this week after talks with Trump which failed to secure any promise to keep the deal alive.

In Washington, National Security Advisor John Bolton also said Trump was still considering his options.

"He has made no decision on the nuclear deal, whether to stay in or get out," Bolton told Fox News.

- 'Hopeful' on Qatar crisis -

Absent from Pompeo's agenda were any meetings with the Palestinian leadership, which is boycotting the White House over its decision to move its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, expected to occur on May 14.

Pompeo said in Tel Aviv that "we are incredibly proud" of the decision.

Senior Palestinian official Ahmed Majdalani told AFP the policy of boycotting Trump's administration would continue.

Pompeo made mention after meeting Netanyahu of the White House wanting a "lasting and comprehensive peace" between Israel and the Palestinians, but other issues took centre stage.

Speaking to reporters on the flight to Tel Aviv, Pompeo said he discussed calls from Trump for Saudi Arabia and other Middle East allies to contribute more to regional stability, including in Syria where the United States has more than 2,000 troops.

He also said he was "hopeful" of an end to the Gulf crisis that has seen Saudi Arabia and regional allies impose a diplomatic and trade embargo on fellow US ally Qatar.

Pompeo will conclude his first diplomatic trip on Monday after talks with senior Jordanian officials, then fly back to Washington to move into his office in the State Department.

France, Germany, Britain say EU 'must be ready to react' to US trade tariffs

France, Germany, Britain say EU 'must be ready to react' to US trade tariffs
source: AFP

POOL/AFP/File / Francois Lenoir British Prime Minister Theresa May (C), German Chancellor Angela Merkel (R) and French President Emmanuel Macron, pictured in March 2018, said they "hope the United States doesn't take measures contrary to transatlantic interests"

The European Union's three largest economies agree on the need to be "ready to react" to trade tariffs imposed by the United States, France's presidency said Sunday.

"The EU must be ready to react, if necessary, with efficiency and speed," it said in a statement after telephone talks between French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May on the potential impact of new US tariffs.

Crippling US tariffs on steel and aluminium are set to take effect on Tuesday, and key trading partners including the EU have urged the White House to exempt them from the additional cost.

US President Donald Trump met last week with Macron and Merkel but gave no indication of whether or not he planned to exempt the EU, which last year exported over $7.7-billion of steel and aluminium to the US market.

Eurozone powerhouse Germany last week said it expected Washington to impose the tariffs from May 1, although a key economic advisor to Trump hinted Thursday that concessions might be made to the EU.

"It's very important that so many of our friends make some concessions with respect to trading practices, tariffs and taxes," National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow told CNBC.

He pointed to concerns about "equal treatment of automobiles" in the EU as an example.

Macron, Merkel and May discussed the tariffs and said they "hope the United States doesn't take measures contrary to transatlantic interests," the Elysee statement said.

Trump imposed the tariffs last month on national security grounds, saying cheap imports were undermining US producers crucial to military preparedness, but gave a temporary reprieve to the countries that are the main suppliers to the US market.

The measures were targeted primarily at overproduction by China, which has been the key focus of Trump's combative trade policies.

The EU has threatened to impose their own punitive tariffs on key US goods if they are not shielded from the steel and aluminium duties.

In a state visit to Washington last week, Macron called for cooperation among allies on trade.

"You don't make trade war with your allies," Macron warned addressed the US Congress.

The three EU leaders also discussed the Iran nuclear deal, which Trump has threatened to scrap, the French presidency said.

N. Korea offers to shut nuclear test site in May, invite US experts

N. Korea offers to shut nuclear test site in May, invite US experts
source: AFP

KCNA VIA KNS/AFP/File / STR Kim Jong Un plans to shut down North Korea's nuclear test site in May, Seoul says

North Korea has promised to shut its atomic test site within weeks and invite American weapons experts to verify its closure, Seoul reported Sunday, as new US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington had an "obligation" to pursue peace.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un -- who may meet US President Donald Trump as early as next month -- also said Pyongyang would have no need for nuclear weapons if it were promised it would not be invaded, according to Seoul.

Friday's historic meeting saw Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in agree to pursue the complete denuclearisation of the peninsula.

Washington's new chief diplomat said he and Kim held in-depth talks about a denuclearisation "mechanism" when they met over Easter.

"We talked a great deal about what it might look like, what this complete, verifiable, irreversible mechanism might look like," Pompeo said.

"We have an obligation to engage in diplomatic discourse to try and find a peaceful solution so that Americans aren't held at risk by Kim Jong Un and his nuclear arsenal," Pompeo told ABC, saying there is a "real opportunity" for progress.

He was speaking as the Blue House in Seoul reported Kim told Moon during the summit he would close the North's nuclear test site in May.

Kim also said he "would soon invite experts of South Korea and the US as well as journalists to disclose the process to the international community with transparency", Seoul's presidential spokesman Yoon Young-chan added.

AFP / Laurence CHU North Korea's missile and nuclear tests

Tensions spiked last year over the North's testing of atomic weapons and long-range missiles, including some capable of reaching the US mainland.

"Kim said 'the US feels repelled by us, but once we talk, they will realise that I am not a person who will fire a nuclear weapon to the South or the US or target the US'," according to Yoon.

The North Korean leader reported added: "If we meet often (with the US), build trust, end the war and eventually are promised no invasion, why would we live with the nuclear weapons?"

Kim also slammed speculation that the North's Punggye-ri nuclear test site was already unusable after an underground tunnel there reportedly collapsed.

"As they will see once they visit, there are two more tunnels (at the test site) that are even bigger... and they are in good condition," he was quoted as saying.

- 'Maximum pressure' -

The remarks are likely to be seen as a sweetener ahead of Trump's eagerly-awaited summit with Kim, which the US president said would take place "in the next three or four weeks".

US Government/AFP/File / HO US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he had a "good conversation" with Kim during a secret visit to Pyongyang over Easter weekend

Trump touted his ability to achieve a nuclear deal with the regime at a campaign-style rally in Michigan to cheers and chants of "Nobel! Nobel!"

The US leader has been eager to play up his role in achieving a breakthrough with Pyongyang through his "maximum pressure" campaign involving tough rhetoric, stronger sanctions and diplomatic efforts to further isolate the regime.

"Months ago, do you remember what they were saying? 'He's going to get us into nuclear war, they said,'" Trump told supporters in Washington Township, north of Detroit.

"No, strength is going to keep us out of nuclear war, not going to get us in!"

But Trump also sounded a note of caution, saying he was prepared to walk away if US demands for North Korea to relinquish its atomic arsenal were not met.

- 'Things are going well' -

Trump held phone calls earlier Saturday with both Moon and Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, declaring "things are going very well", as CBS News reported that Mongolia and Singapore are the final two locations under consideration for his meeting with Kim.

Pyongyang has demanded as-yet-unspecified security guarantees to discuss its arsenal, but Kim could use the Trump meeting to agree on "the range of nuclear weapons and facilities to be dismantled and specific timeframe to do so", said Hong Min, an analyst at the Korea Institute for National Unification.

But Kim's remark about his personal good intentions may be aimed at using Trump's "troubling tendency to take authoritarian rulers at their word," said Adam Mount, a senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists in Washington.

Trump's new National Security Advisor, John Bolton, cited Libya's decision to give up its nuclear programme as a model for North Korea.

"We have very much in mind the Libya model from 2003, 2004," Bolton told Fox News Sunday.

- New era? -

Kim and Moon said at their summit that they had a "common goal of realising, through complete denuclearisation, a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula."

But the phrase is a diplomatic euphemism open to interpretation on both sides.

Pyongyang has long wanted to see an end to the US military presence and nuclear umbrella over the South, but it invaded its neighbour in 1950 and is the only one of the two Koreas to possess nuclear weapons.

The two leaders also pledged in a joint statement to formally end the Korean War, which ceased in 1953 with an armistice rather than a peace treaty.

And in another conciliatory gesture, Kim said he would move North Korea's clocks 30 minutes forward to unify with the South's time zone.

Pyongyang changed its standard time to half an hour behind the South in 2015.

North Korea's parliament on Monday adopted a decree to return to the same time zone as South Korea from May 5, the North's official KCNA news agency said.

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Asia markets rise as Seoul, won extend gains after Moon-Kim talks

Asia markets rise as Seoul, won extend gains after Moon-Kim talks

source: AFP

AFP / MOHD RASFAN Asian markets have started the week on a positive note, with Seoul extending last week's gains after the historic summit between Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong Un

Hong Kong led a rally across most Asian markets on Monday as traders brushed off a slowdown in the US economy, while the boost from last week's historic North-South Korea summit continue to support Seoul and the won.

While figures on Friday showed growth in the world's top economy slowed in January-March, tech firms on Wall Street won support after healthy earnings from Amazon, Microsoft and Intel.

The positive lead from New York provided some much-needed help to Asian tech firms, which have been hammered in recent weeks by worries about the lucrative smartphone market.

Hong Kong-listed AAC Technologies rose more than two percent and Tencent added one percent, while in Taipei, Apple suppliers TSMC and Foxconn were also sharply higher.

On broader markets Hong Kong surged 1.6 percent, with a better-than-forecast Chinese factory activity reading also providing support as it eased concerns about a slowdown in the mainland economy.

Seoul was 0.6 percent higher, while Sydney gained 0.5 percent.

Singapore surged more than one percent, while Wellington, Manila, Taipei and Jakarta were all deep in positive territory.

Tokyo and Shanghai are closed for public holidays.

South Korean traders remain upbeat after Friday's meeting between President Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong Un, which fuelled hopes for peace on the peninsula and Pyongyang's possible denuclearisation.

- China-US trade hopes -

Adding to the positive news Kim said he would shut the North's atomic test site within weeks and invite American weapons experts to verify its closure, while new US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Washington had an "obligation" to pursue peace.

The developments, which come weeks before a planned summit between Kim and Donald Trump, have helped push the won up more than one percent against the dollar.

That comes even as the dollar enjoys a fresh bout of buying thanks to broadly positive mood about the world economy and easing worries over the China-US trade spat.

"This week's US trade roadshow to China, which includes (key Trump administration officials) Steven Mnuchin, Robert Lighthizer and Larry Kudlow, has undoubtedly calmed investors nerves triggering an unwind of dollar risk premiums around tariff and trade," said Stephen Innes, head of Asia-Pacific trade at OANDA.

"Also, the North Korea talks should play out favourable for the dollar as it evaporates much of the political risk weight that has been hanging around (it) like an anvil in recent months."

The greenback held on to gains against the pound, which took a battering last week after data showed British economic growth slowed sharply in the first three months of the year. The news all but killed any remaining expectations for a Bank of England interest rate rise in May.

Attention this week turns to the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting. While it is not expected to hike borrowing costs its statement Wednesday will be scanned for clues about future moves.

That is followed by the release Friday of US jobs figures for April, which will provide a fresh look at the economy and give an idea about the Fed's monetary policy plans.

- Key figures around 0300 GMT -

Hong Kong - Hang Seng: UP 1.6 percent at 30,758.13

Seoul - Kospi: UP 0.6 percent at 2,507.43

Tokyo - Nikkei 225: Closed for a public holiday

Shanghai - Composite: Closed for a public holiday

Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3773 from $1.3778

Euro/dollar: UP at $1.2127 from $1.2125 at 2100 GMT on Friday

Dollar/yen: DOWN at 109.08 yen from 109.13

Dollar/Korean won: DOWN at 1,067.45 won from 1,076.70 won

Oil - West Texas Intermediate: DOWN eight cents at $68.02 per barrel

Oil - Brent North Sea: DOWN 29 cents at $74.35 per barrel

New York - Dow: DOWN 0.2 percent at 24,311.19 (close)

London - FTSE 100: UP 1.1 percent at 7,502.21 (close)

Trump and Macron planted a tree -- but where did it go?

Trump and Macron planted a tree -- but where did it go?
source: AFP

AFP/File / JIM WATSON US President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron plant a tree watched by Trump's wife Melania and Macron's wife Brigitte on the grounds of the White House April 23, 2018

The photograph was seen around the world: US President Donald Trump and France's Emmanuel Macron, gilded spades in hand, shovelling dirt over a young sapling.

A week ago, at the beginning of Macron's visit to Washington, the French president joined his American counterpart to throw handfuls of soil on the roots of a young oak tree as the their respective first ladies looked on

It was a symbolic gesture: the tree came from a northern French forest where 2,000 US Marines died during the First World War.

But a few days later, the plant was nowhere to be seen.

Amid fervent speculation, France on Sunday came through with an explanation: the tree, now not just a plant but a symbol of US-French relations, had been placed in quarantine.

"It is a quarantine which is mandatory for any living organism imported into the US," Gerard Araud, French ambassador to America, wrote on Twitter.

"It will be replanted afterwards."

When a follower fired back that the caution seemed a bit late -- given that the tree had already been planted -- the diplomat went on to confirm that the roots had been enclosed in plastic.

World's oldest known spider dies in Australia -- of wasp sting

World's oldest known spider dies in Australia -- of wasp sting
source: AFP

Curtin University/AFP / LEANDA MASON Named Number 16, the spider helped scientists to unlock important information about the behaviour of an arachnid that can be found across Australia, including in domestic gardens

The world's oldest known spider has died at the ripe old age of 43 after being monitored for years during a long-term population study in Australia, researchers said Monday.

The trapdoor matriarch comfortably outlived the previous record holder, a 28-year-old tarantula found in Mexico, according to a study published in the Pacific Conservation Biology Journal.

The spider did not die of old age but was killed by a wasp sting, researchers said.

Named Number 16, the spider helped scientists to unlock important information about the behaviour of an arachnid that can be found across Australia, including in domestic gardens.

"To our knowledge this is the oldest spider ever recorded, and her significant life has allowed us to further investigate the trapdoor spider's behaviour and population dynamics," said lead author Leanda Mason from Curtin University.

A research project to study trapdoor spiders in the Central Wheatbelt region of Western Australia was first launched in 1974 by Barbara York Main, during which Number 16 was found and monitored.

"Through Barbara's detailed research, we were able to determine that the extensive life span of the trapdoor spider is due to their life-history traits, including how they live in uncleared, native bushland, their sedentary nature and low metabolisms," said Mason.

Number 16 was monitored in the wild. Female trapdoor spiders stay in and around the same burrow virtually all their lives, so researchers marked her burrow and went back to check on it regularly.

The study also gave a better understanding of how the future stresses of climate change and deforestation could impact the species.

Trapdoor spiders traditionally have a life span between five to 20 years. While females stay in or near their burrows, males leave once mature and go in search of a mate.

They are not a major threat to humans, although a bite can cause pain and swelling.

Thousands gather to pay tribute to Toronto massacre victims

Thousands gather to pay tribute to Toronto massacre victims
source: AFP

AFP / Lars Hagberg A boy lights candles at a makeshift memorial in Toronto before the vigil on April 29, 2018

Thousands gathered at a vigil Sunday night paying tribute to 10 people mowed down by a van in downtown Toronto earlier this week.

Ten candles, sheltered from the wind by tealight holders, were placed on a stage in memory of the eight women and two men struck by a rental van driven by Alek Minassian on Monday.

The victims, who ranged in age from 22 to 94, were killed when the suspect drove along a sidewalk in the north end of Canada's largest city. Sixteen others were injured.

"Love for all, hatred for none," was the message seen on large posters and blue T-shirts in the crowd, which included Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Governor General of Canada, Julie Payette -- representing Queen Elizabeth II -- Toronto's Mayor John Tory and provincial heads of government also stood in the crowd, anonymous.

"Our sorrows are reflected in the eyes of the stranger beside to us. We stand together," said Reverend Alexa Gilmore of the Windermere United Church, opening the somber event, which saw representatives from each of Toronto's diverse range of religious communities offer tribute.

- White roses-

"Toronto has felt the pain of other cities," affected by vehicle ramming attacks, such as London, Paris and Berlin, said Rabbi Barud Frydman.

The victims' names -- Mary Elizabeth Forsyth, Geraldine Brady, Dorothy Sewel, Beutis Renuka Amarasingha, Chung So-he, Anne-Marie D'Amico, Andrea Bradden, Kim Ji-hun, Kang Chul-min and Munir Abdo Habib Najjar -- were recited, with white roses placed by each candle in their memory.

In the wake of the killings, police concluded that 25-year-old Minassian had targeted "predominantly women," having posted a "cryptic" message on Facebook minutes before the attack.

In the post, Minassian praised mass killer Elliot Rodger -- a 22-year-old American who murdered six people and then killed himself in California in 2014, and who had professed frustration over his virginity and women rejecting him.

The suspect's post also referred to the "Incel Rebellion" -- "incel" is short for "involuntarily celibate" and is often used in connection with online groups of sexually frustrated men who are known to rant against women.

Minassian was arrested seven minutes after the first call to an emergency hotline. He now faces 10 counts of premeditated murder, as well as the multiple attempted murder charges related to the injured survivors.

AMP chairman quits as Australia banking scandal deepens

AMP chairman quits as Australia banking scandal deepens
source: AFP

AFP / William WEST AMP is one of several major Australian financial services companies under scrutiny at a royal commission set up in February to investigate misconduct in the banking sector

Australian finance company AMP's chairman quit Monday barely a week after its chief executive stood down as damning evidence of misconduct by the firm continues to mount.

AMP is one of several major Australian financial services companies under scrutiny at a royal commission set up in February to investigate misconduct in the banking sector.

It has heard that AMP charged clients for advice they never received and that senior executives intervened in the drafting of a supposedly independent report drawn up for the inquiry.

AMP also admitted misleading the stock market watchdog Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) about the scandal, which affected some 15,700 clients between 2009 and 2016.

On Friday, the commission was told that AMP could face criminal charges, making chairman Catherine Brenner's position increasingly untenable.

"As chairman, I am accountable for governance," she said in a statement Monday ahead of the group's annual general meeting on May 10.

"I have always sought to act in the best interests of the company and have been in discussions with the board about the most appropriate course of action, including my resignation.

"The board has now accepted my resignation as chairman as a step towards restoring the trust and confidence in AMP."

It follows chief executive Craig Meller quitting "with immediate effect" earlier this month.

AMP also announced directors would take a 25 percent pay cut for the rest of the year.

Amid the ongoing revelations, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, whose conservative government long resisted launching the royal commission, unveiled plans to toughen criminal and financial penalties for bank misconduct and to expand ASIC's investigative powers.

These include increasing the maximum jail term for individuals convicted of serious offences from five to 10 years, and imposing fines on companies which could reach 10 percent of their annual revenue.

The country's major banks -- among the developed world's wealthiest -- have been under increasing scrutiny in recent years amid allegations of dodgy financial and life insurance advice and mortgage fraud.

There have also been claims of anti-money laundering laws being breached and benchmark interest rates rigged.

Tehran dismisses Pompeo's 'unfounded' accusations

Tehran dismisses Pompeo's 'unfounded' accusations

source: AFP

AFP / FAYEZ NURELDINE US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo shakes hands with Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir at a press conference in Riyadh on April 29, 2018

Iran on Monday dismissed "unfounded" accusations by new US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo over its "ambition to dominate the Middle East".

Pompeo lashed out at Tehran on Sunday during a rapid tour of Middle East allies ahead of a crucial White House decision on whether to quit a landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Iran.

Speaking during a visit to Iran's arch-rival and key US ally Saudi Arabia just days after he took office, Pompeo accused Tehran of destabilising the Middle East through its support for Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and for rebels in Yemen.

"The US secretary of state's remarks on the presence and role of the Islamic Republic of Iran in certain countries in the region are a repetition of absurd and unfounded accusations," Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghassemi said in a statement Monday.

Iran's presence in Syria and Iraq is in response to requests from the two countries' governments and is part of "the fight against terrorism in the region", he said.

"This assistance will continue as long as (these) governments need help in this fight," he said.

Ghassemi also reiterated previous government statements denying Saudi and US accusations that Iran is supplying weapons to Yemen's Huthi rebels, backed politically by Tehran.

Such charges are "a false problem, created solely for the purpose of diverting the attention of international public opinion from the atrocities committed by Saudi Arabia in its daily attacks" in Yemen, he said.

Shiite-dominated Iran and Sunni heavyweight Saudi Arabia, which cut diplomatic ties in January 2016, are engaged in a region-wide struggle for influence and back rival sides in Lebanon, Syria and Yemen.

Tehran has deployed "military advisors" and thousands of Iranian and Afghan "volunteer" fighters to Syria and Iraq.

Saudi Arabia launched a military coalition in 2015 to battle Huthi rebels in Yemen who had seized the capital Sanaa the previous year.

The United Nations and rights groups have slammed the Saudi-led campaign for causing civilian casualties and sparking a humanitarian crisis.

Australia scientist, 104, heads to Switzerland for assisted dying

Australia scientist, 104, heads to Switzerland for assisted dying
source: AFP

Exit International/AFP / Handout Exit International is helping David Goodall make the trip

Australia's oldest scientist, who caused a stir when his university tried to vacate his office aged 102, will fly to Switzerland in early May to end his life, reigniting a national euthanasia debate.

David Goodall, who is now 104, does not have a terminal illness but his quality of life has deteriorated and he has secured a fast-track appointment with an assisted dying agency in Basel, euthanasia advocates said.

"I greatly regret having reached that age," the ecologist told broadcaster ABC on his birthday earlier this month. "I'm not happy. I want to die. It's not sad particularly. What is sad is if one is prevented.

"My feeling is that an old person like myself should have full citizenship rights including the right of assisted suicide," he added.

Assisted suicide is illegal in most countries around the world and was banned in Australia until the state of Victoria became the first to legalise the practice last year.

But that legislation, which takes effect from June 2019, only applies to terminally ill patients of sound mind and a life expectancy of less than six months.

Other states in Australia have debated euthanasia in the past, but the proposals have always been defeated, mostly recently in New South Wales state last year.

Exit International, which is helping Goodall make the trip, said it was unjust that one of Australia's "oldest and most prominent citizens should be forced to travel to the other side of the world to die with dignity".

"A peaceful, dignified death is the entitlement of all who want it. And a person should not be forced to leave home to achieve it," it said on its website Monday.

The group has launched a GoFundMe campaign to get plane tickets for Goodall and his helper upgraded to business class from economy and has so far raised more than Aus$17,000 (US$13,000).

Goodall, an honorary research associate at Perth's Edith Cowan University, made international headlines in 2016 when he was declared unfit to be on campus.

After an uproar and support from scientists globally, the decision was reversed.

He has produced dozens of research papers and until recently continued to review and edit for different ecology journals.

Japan jail escapee nabbed after massive 3-week manhunt

Japan jail escapee nabbed after massive 3-week manhunt
source: AFP

JIJI PRESS/AFP / JIJI PRESS Tatsuma Hirao, 27, was arrested near Hiroshima railway station in western Japan

A thief who fled an open jail in Japan sparking a high-profile manhunt involving some 15,000 officers was taken into custody on Monday, police said, more than three weeks after his escape.

Tatsuma Hirao, 27, a "model" inmate who was serving time for multiple thefts, was arrested on a street near Hiroshima railway station in western Japan, a local police spokesman told AFP.

He was captured some 70 kilometres (40 miles) west of Mukaishima island, where police had deployed helicopters, drones, police dogs and infrared detectors to find him.

Hundreds of officers a day were sent to the island for the manhunt with the total number reportedly reaching around 15,000 since early April, local media said.

Hirao told investigators that he escaped from the island by swimming across the sea, according to public broadcaster NHK.

Television footage showed Hirao, who was unshaven and wearing a black shirt, taken by several police officers to a police vehicle.

The case has made headline news in Japan with TV channels picking over the manhunt in minute detail.

AFP/File / Toru YAMANAKA Japan enjoys one of the lowest crime rates in the developed world

Hirao gave guards the slip on April 8, vanishing from the facility, an "open institution" where inmates can walk around freely.

Police detected the fugitive's fingerprints and several thefts have been reported since his escape.

The stolen items include socks, a mobile phone, a wallet, a pair of sandals and a car key, whose owner found a polite note -- apparently from the fugitive -- saying: "I'm borrowing your car but I'll never damage it."

Justice Minister Yoko Kawakami made a rare apology for the difficulties in recapturing the criminal.

"I deeply apologise to local residents and many people for troubling and worrying them for such a long time," Kawakami said in a statement, adding that her ministry will take preventive measures.

A total of 20 inmates have escaped since the prison opened in 1961.

Japan enjoys one of the lowest crime rates in the developed world but has a relatively high reoffending rate.

China's foreign minister to visit N. Korea this week

China's foreign minister to visit N. Korea this week
source: AFP

POOL/AFP / MADOKA IKEGAMI Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will be the first Chinese foreign minister to visit the North since 2007, a lapse that highlights the rough patch that relations between the Cold War-era allies has gone through in recent years

China's foreign minister will visit North Korea this week, his office said Monday, becoming the highest-ranking Chinese official to travel there in years as Beijing moves to further improve ties with Pyongyang days after a landmark inter-Korean summit.

The Chinese foreign ministry said in a brief statement that Wang Yi will visit North Korea on Wednesday and Thursday at the invitation of his North Korean counterpart, Ri Yong Ho.

The two met in Beijing in early April, days after talks between President Xi Jinping and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in the Chinese capital -- the first meeting between the leaders since Kim inherited power from his father Kim Jong Il in 2011.

Wang will be the first Chinese foreign minister to visit the North since 2007, a lapse that highlights the rough patch that relations between the Cold War-era allies have gone through in recent years.

Then then-premier Wen Jiabao visited Pyongyang in 2009.

China has supported a series of United Nations sanctions against the North over its nuclear weapons programme.

But Beijing is likely eager to avoid being marginalised in the wave of diplomacy that led to last Friday's historic summit between Kim and the South's President Moon Jae-in.

Kim is expected to meet US President Donald Trump in the coming weeks at a time and place that have yet to be announced.

The North Korean leader has also invited Xi to visit Pyongyang but no date has been set yet.

"The Chinese are undoubtedly eager to hear what Kim Jong Un's plan is for his meeting with Donald Trump," Bonnie Glaser, China specialist at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, told AFP.

"It is also possible that Wang Yi is in Pyongyang to advance Xi's visit to North Korea," Glaser said, adding there were rumours this could happen before Trump's meeting with Kim.

At their summit in the Demilitarized Zone, Kim and Moon agreed to pursue the complete denuclearisation of the peninsula.

They also decided to seek a peace treaty by the end of the year and hold talks with the United States, and possibly China, to achieve it.

The Korean War, in which China fought on the North's side, ended in 1953 with an armistice rather than a peace treaty.

Being left out of peace talks would be unacceptable to Beijing, Glaser said.

"The Chinese want to ensure that they are at the table and have a means to influence the course of events on the peninsula," she said.

- Test site closing -

While China has supported punitive measures against the North, analysts say it could worry that the diplomatic thaw may lead to a deal between Pyongyang and Washington that is not in its interests.

A divided Korea has played in its favour as the North serves as a buffer from the South, where US troops are stationed. Despite recent tensions, China remains the North's sole major ally and top economic partner.

In the latest major diplomatic announcements, Seoul said Sunday that Pyongyang had promised to shut its nuclear test site within weeks and invite US weapons experts to verify its closure.

Kim also said Pyongyang would have no need for nuclear weapons if it were promised it would not be invaded, according to Seoul.

China has repeatedly proposed that the North suspend its nuclear and missile tests in return for the United States and South Korea halting their joint military exercises.

"Beijing is likely irritated that Kim has ignored China's 'freeze for freeze' proposal," Glaser said, adding that Kim offered to suspend tests without demanding that the US halt military manoeuvres.

"In addition, Kim has said nothing about the eventual removal of US troops from Korea, which is almost certainly what China hopes for," Glaser said.

But Hua Po, an independent Chinese political commentator, said Wang's visit would allow the two countries to coordinate their positions ahead of the Trump-Kim summit.

"Now that North Korea has committed itself (to denuclearisation of the peninsula), China may give priority to lifting some sanctions on North Korea. Wang Yi may address this issue during his visit," Hua said.

Armenia 'hero' opposition leader nominated for PM

Armenia 'hero' opposition leader nominated for PM
source: AFP

AFP/File / Vano SHLAMOV Observers have expressed fears that the turmoil could destabilise the Moscow-allied nation

Armenian opposition leader Nikol Pashinyan on Monday was formally nominated for the post of prime minister by his supporters, inching closer to victory after two weeks of protests that transformed the country's political landscape.

Pashinyan has called a halt to protests in order to hold high-stakes talks with all political forces ahead of a crucial vote on Tuesday and swapped his trademark khaki-coloured T-shirt for a smart business suit.

"We are facing the task of resolving the political crisis in the country," he told reporters in parliament, announcing the nomination by his Elk coalition.

"If a prime minister is not elected tomorrow, this crisis will not disappear."

The leader of the protest movement that ousted the country's veteran leader Serzh Sarkisian last week, Pashinyan is the only candidate in the running for the premiership and insists that only he can rid Armenia of corruption and poverty and conduct free and fair parliamentary elections.

AFP / KAREN MINASYAN Pashinyan (C) has called a halt to protests in order to hold high-stakes talks with all political forces

However the 42-year-old former newspaper editor still needs a handful of votes from the ruling Republican Party -- which has a majority of seats in parliament -- to seal his victory in a vote by lawmakers on Tuesday.

The party headed by ousted prime minister Sarkisian has yet to announce its official stance on the vote, even though a senior lawmaker, Vahram Baghdasaryan, has said it would not stand in the way of Pashinyan's candidacy.

The protest leader said he would not beg the Republicans for votes. "I don't have to and will not coax them," he said.

- 'Political consensus' -

Many political observers said it was highly likely that Pashinyan would be elected prime minister, in a whirlwind development that was unimaginable just two weeks ago in the poor South Caucasus country of 2.9 million people.

"I see practically no obstacles to Pashinyan becoming a prime minister tomorrow," political analyst Hakob Badalyan told AFP.

"There is political consensus including among the Republicans that the settling of the crisis in this way would serve the interests of the country."

Another analyst, Ervand Bozoyan, said Pashinyan made everyday Armenians believe that they matter and have the right to determine the future of their country themselves.

"Beginning from the 1990s people did not believe that change is possible in this country. Now they see that it's possible. People are surprised," he told AFP.

"Nikol has become a hero."

Observers have expressed fears that the turmoil could destabilise the Moscow-allied nation which has been locked in a territorial dispute with Azerbaijan for decades.

The European Union expressed its support to Armenia in "its efforts to build a prosperous and democratic society."

"It remains crucial that all parties involved, including the law enforcement agencies and those exercising their right of freedom of assembly and expression, show restraint and responsibility," said a statement by the Delegation of the European Union.

Russia has urged compromise while the United States has called for "a resolution that reflects the interests of all Armenians."

- 'Revolution of love' -

Tens of thousands of opposition supporters rallied in the capital Yerevan on Sunday, hoping that a massive show of strength would propel their leader to power.

"Looking into your eyes, I can say that yes, I am ready -- with a great sense of responsibility -- to assume the prime ministerial duties," Pashinyan told the ecstatic crowd Sunday evening.

On Saturday, after days of frantic negotiations, two major parties including the Prosperous Armenia -- which has 31 seats in parliament -- said they would back Pashinyan.

Pashinyan is still six votes short of the 53 he needs from the 105-seat legislature.

Last week, Sarkisian resigned from his new post of prime minister after serving as president for a decade in the face of peaceful protests some dubbed a "revolution of love."

The protest movement had accused him of a power grab, saying he had failed to tackle a litany of problems like corruption, poverty and the influence of oligarchs.

Observers said that Sarkisian's resignation sounded the death knell for the seemingly unshakable rule of the Republican Party which dominated the ex-Soviet republic's politics for over a decade, unchallenged by weak and divided opposition forces.

Twin Kabul suicide blasts kill at least 25, including journalists

Twin Kabul suicide blasts kill at least 25, including journalists
source: AFP

AFP/File / Johannes EISELE AFP confirmed that, along with Agence France-Presse chief photographer Shah Marai, two journalists from 1TV and one from Tolo news were among the dead

At least 25 people were killed, including Agence France-Presse chief photographer for Afghanistan Shah Marai and eight other journalists, when two suicide blasts ripped through Kabul on Monday.

The attacks, claimed by the Islamic State group, are the deadliest to have targeted the media in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, according to Reporters Without Borders.

They spurred an outpouring of grief among journalists, many of whom took to Twitter to post tributes to colleagues and friends.

Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai said the second explosion came minutes after the first, and targeted reporters at the scene.

"The bomber disguised himself as a journalist and detonated himself among the crowd," he said.

The interior ministry confirmed the death toll and said 49 people had been wounded. There were fears the death toll could rise.

In a separate attack 11 children were killed and 16 people wounded, including foreign and Afghan security force members, when a suicide attacker exploded his bomb-laden car near a convoy in the southern province of Kandahar, officials said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for that attack.

In a statement Reporters Without Borders said nine journalists were killed in Kabul -- Marai, along with colleagues from Radio Free Europe and Afghan broadcasters Tolo News and 1TV, among others.

Marai joined AFP as a driver in 1996, the year the Taliban seized power, and began taking pictures on the side, covering stories including the US invasion in 2001.

In 2002 he became a full-time photo stringer, rising through the ranks to become chief photographer in the bureau. "I taught myself photography, so I am always looking to improve," he said in a company profile in 2015. "Now my photos appear around the world.

"My best memories are when I beat the competition by getting the best photographs of the president or someone else, or from the scene of a bomb attack. I like to be first."

He leaves behind six children, including a newborn daughter.

"This is a devastating blow for the brave staff of our close-knit Kabul bureau and the entire agency," said AFP Global News Director Michele Leridon.

"Shah Marai was a treasured colleague who spent more than 15 years documenting the tragic conflict in Afghanistan for AFP.

"We can only honour the extraordinary strength, courage, and generosity of a photographer who covered often traumatic, horrific events with sensitivity and consummate professionalism," Leridon said.

"We also send our condolences to the families of other journalists killed in this terrible attack."

Tributes from Afghan officials, analysts, and journalists were pouring in on Twitter.

"NO, we can't lose Marai, I am devastated," former interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi wrote.

- Bloody summer -

AFP / Gal ROMA Kabul suicide explosions

The first blast in Kabul came shortly before 8:00am (0330 GMT) near the headquarters of the Afghan intelligence services, when a motorcyclist detonated his explosives, the interior ministry said.

It comes days after the Taliban began their spring offensive in an apparent rejection of calls for the militants to take up the Afghan government's offer of peace talks.

A Taliban spokesman told AFP they were not involved in Monday's attack. However, Western and Afghan officials suspect that the Taliban's Haqqani Network sometimes assists IS in carrying out attacks.

In an announcement via its propaganda agency Amaq, IS, which has dramatically stepped up its attacks in Kabul in recent months, posted pictures of the attackers it claimed were responsible for the bombings.

The blasts follow several bloody attacks across the country, including a bombing that targeted a voter registration centre in Kabul and killed 60 people last week.

The Taliban said the offensive was partly a response to US President Donald Trump's new strategy for Afghanistan announced last August, which gave US forces more leeway to go after insurgents.

President Ashraf Ghani's government is under pressure on multiple fronts this year as it prepares to hold long-delayed legislative elections in October, while its security forces struggle to get the upper hand on the battlefield and prevent civilian casualties.

Officials have acknowledged that security is a major concern because the Taliban and other militant groups control or contest large swathes of the country.

Some Western and Afghan officials expect 2018 to be a particularly bloody year.

General John Nicholson, the top US and NATO commander in Afghanistan, told Tolo TV last month that he expected the Taliban to carry out more suicide attacks this fighting season.

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