Nearly 23,500 cholera cases, 242 deaths in Yemen in three weeks : WHO

            GENEVA, May 19 : (AFP) - A cholera outbreak in war-ravaged Yemen has killed 242 people, and left nearly 23,500 others sick in the past three weeks alone, the World Health Organization said Friday.

The UN health agency said that in the past day alone, 20 cholera deaths and 3,460 suspected cases had been registered in the country, where two-thirds of the population are on the brink of famine.

"The speed of the resurgence of this cholera epidemic is unprecedented," WHO country representative for Yemen Nevio Zagaria told reporters in Geneva by phone from Yemen, warning that a quarter of a million people could become sick by the end of the year.

Cholera is a highly contagious bacterial infection spread through contaminated food or water.

Reining in the disease is particularly complicated in Yemen, where two years of devastating war between the Huthis and government forces backed by a Saudi-led Arab military coalition has left more than half the country's medical facilities out of service.

Zagaria pointed out that humanitarian workers cannot access some parts of the country, and that the number of suspected cholera cases could be far higher than those registered.

Yemen's conflict has killed more than 8,000 people and wounded around 40,000 since March 2015, according to the WHO.

Zagaria pointed out that many of the remaining health workers in the country had not been paid for seven months.

At the same time, he said, lacking electricity meant water pumping stations were only functioning in an intermittent way, and the sewer systems were damaged.

"The population is using water sources that are contaminated," he said.

Zagaria said the United Nations agencies were preparing to "release an emergency response cholera plan in the next 48 hours," aimed at dramatically scaling up the number of treatment centres and rehydration centres.


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At the same time, he said there was a dire need for funding to help Yemen authorities to make the necessary infrastructure repairs. "The spread of the disease is too big and they need substantial support, in terms of repairing the sewer system, ... treating and chlorinating the water sources." Without dramatic efforts to halt the spread of the disease, "the price that we will pay in terms of life will be extremely high," he warned.
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12-       Sudan president apologizes for not attending Islamic-U.S. summit

KHARTOUM, May 19 : (Xinhua) -- Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir apologized on Friday for not being able to attend the upcoming Arab Islamic American Summit in the Saudi capital Riyadh, official SUNA news agency reported.

"The President of the Republic has apologized for not attending the summit for special reasons and tasked the State Minister at the Presidency and Director of his offices Gen. Taha Al-Hussein to represent him at the summit and participate in all its activities," SUNA said.

Al-Bashir wished the leaders participating in the summit all success, expressing hope that the summit would serve the interests of humanity and achieve its objectives.

He also expressed hope that the summit would achieve international peace and security, form a new partnership to confront extremism and terrorism and disseminate the values of tolerance, co-existence and joint cooperation.

Earlier, al-Bashir received a message from Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz, delivered by his special envoy, to invite him to attend the summit.

However, the U.S. embassy in Khartoum said on Wednesday that Washington opposes inviting anyone subject to outstanding International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrants, including Sudanese President al-Bashir.

In 2009, the ICC issued an arrest warrant against al-Bashir for allegedly genocide and crimes against humanity.
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13-       South Sudan says 40 rebels killed in latest clash
 
JUBA, May 19 : (Xinhua) -- South Sudan revealed on Friday that 40 rebels were killed in the latest clash on Thursday in Bieh state's Waat area.

Brigadier Dickson Gatluak, spokesman for the Sudan People's Liberation Army-in opposition (SPLA-IO) faction under first vice president Taban Deng Gai, told Xinhua that together with government troops they killed 40 rebels who attacked their positions at Waat.


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"The 40 rebels killed were from the rebel side, and two people from our side were injured in the fighting. The aggression was from the side of the rebels," Gatluak said.

This came after another clash Tuesday in the border town of Yei between the warring factions killed 4 soldiers.

However, Lam Paul Gabriel, deputy military spokesman of the SPLA-in opposition rebels allied to former first vice president Riek Machar, denied the number of death alleged by the government.

"We didn't incur any single loss but we have five with minor injuries," he said.

He added that it was the government troops (SPLA) that provoked the fighting.

"The government forces got out of their trenches in Waat, but were repulsed by our forces and they are still in their trenches up to now," Lam said.

South Sudan descended into violence in December 2013 after political dispute between President Salva Kiir and his former deputy Machar led to fighting that pitied mostly Dinka ethnic soldiers loyal to Kiir against Machar's Nuer ethnic group.

A peace agreement was signed in 2015 but was shattered in July 2016 when the rival factions resumed fighting in the capital forcing Machar to flee into exile.

The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions of others.
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14-       Warrants issued for four at opposition daily in latest Turkish media crackdown

ANKARA, May 19 : (AFP) -- Turkish authorities issued arrest warrants on Friday for the owner and three employees of opposition daily Sozcu, state media reported, as the crackdown on opposition media widened.

The owner, Burak Akbay, and the three others, including the executive in charge of the website, Mediha Olgun, are accused of links to the movement led by Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen blamed for last year's failed coup, Anadolu news agency reported.

The fiercely anti-government and ultra-secularist daily whose name means "spokesman" is one of the country's bestselling papers. Its slogan is: "If #Sozcu is silent, Turkey will be silent."

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Istanbul prosecutors issued the warrants for the four including correspondent Gokmen Ulu and Yonca Kaleli, a finance executive, CNN Turk broadcaster said.

Anadolu said Olgun had been detained while CNN Turk said Akbay was in London.

However, Sozcu's lawyer Ismail Yilmaz denied arrest warrants had been issued, telling the private Dogan news agency warrants had been issued to seize and search their belongings.

Yilmaz confirmed Olgun was in custody but said that could be in connection with another investigation, Dogan reported.

Despite the Yilmaz denial, Istanbul prosecutor Irfan Fidan confirmed the operation into "Sozcu's executives", saying "there are warrants, there are detentions".

Fidan did not give details, only saying the "boss and some workers" were being investigated, Anadolu reported.

Owner Akbay later said he was "being targeted because I produce right and honest journalism" in a statement on the daily's website.

- Links to Gulen? -

The four are accused of "committing crimes on behalf of an armed terror organisation", referring to the Gulen movement, CNN Turk reported.

Turkey refers to the movement as the "Fethullah Terrorist Organisation" (FETO), but Gulen vehemently denies ordering the coup and the movement denies any terror charges.

CNN Turk said the suspects were wanted in connection with an online article published on the same day as the attempted coup on July 15.

The accusations levelled at them include "facilitating a real attack on the president" and involvement in an "armed rebellion against the government".

The article in question revealed details of where President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was on holiday in the upmarket Aegean resort of Marmaris, CNN Turk said, and had images of his hotel.

Izmir correspondent Ulu said no one had come to his home and learnt of the apparent warrants from the media, the broadcaster said.



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"We have fought against terrorist organisations, FETO. As journalists, we have written the truth when they have committed large wrongs against this country," Ulu said.

Sozcu is the second daily to be targeted after another leading opposition newspaper Cumhuriyet saw 20 staff members charged under the state of emergency imposed following the attempted putsch.

The daily is on occasion rabidly anti Erdogan and its angry front pages are regarded with some suspicion by some liberal Turks critical of the president.

Its sometimes lurid approach contrasts with the more moderate tone of Cumhuriyet, one of the country's oldest dailies.

- 'Voice of Turkey's conscience' -

The warrants for Sozcu come as Turkey commemorates modern Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk on "Ataturk, Youth and Sports Day".

Sozcu writer Ugur Dundar reacted to the news on Twitter, saying: "On a national holiday, there are detentions from Sozcu. I will go to my newspaper Sozcu. If Sozcu is FETO, everyone in Turkey is FETO!"

Sozcu's front page on Friday had a large image of Ataturk with the headline: "The biggest leader in 100 years" accompanied with the usual image of his eyes next to the paper's name.

The daily issued a statement of defiance on its website: "Let no one have any doubt, Sozcu will not be silent. It will continue to be the voice of this country's conscience."

Kati Piri, the European Parliament's rapporteur for Turkey, criticised the operation on Twitter: "In Turkey critical journalism is equaled with terrorism. Attack on Sozcu newspaper another sad example."

According to the P24 press freedom website, there are 165 journalists behind bars in Turkey, most detained as part of the emergency imposed after the coup bid.

More than 100 media outlets have been closed down since mid-July.

Turkey ranks 155th out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Border's 2017 World Press Freedom Index.
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15-       About 70 escape from prison in DR Congo
 
KINSHASA, May 19 : (Xinhua) -- About 70 prisoners escaped from a prison in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Thursday evening, local officials said Friday.
  
The incident in Kongo Central Province followed another on Wednesday, when at least 50 inmates escaped from a prison in the capital Kinshasa.
  
Witnesses said police have recaptured several fleeing prisoners.
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16-       Think tank network pledges support for Belt and Road
 
BEIJING, May 19 : (Xinhua) -- The Silk Road Think Tank Network (SiLKS) has released a declaration on joint action to support the Belt and Road Initiative, pledging to advise and assist government efforts to advance the plan.

At the annual conference in Beijing, members and partners of SiLKS agreed to increase information exchanges to offer constructive advice for policy design and mechanism building for the initiative.

They also vowed to play their role in facilitating strategy coordination and people-to-people connectivity.

SiLKS was jointly launched by the Development Research Center of the State Council of China and several international think tanks. The network currently has 54 members and partners.

The Belt and Road Initiative is a grand plan proposed by China in 2013to connect Asia with Europe and Africa along, and beyond, ancient trade routes by putting in place an unparalleled trade and infrastructure network.

A two-day forum of world leaders ended on May 15 with promises and high hopes, including the signing of a series of cooperation agreements to revive the Silk Road. 
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17-       Over 30,000 Somalis return from conflict-hit Yemen: UNHCR
  
MOGADISHU, May 19 : (Xinhua) -- Some 30,600 Somalis have reportedly returned to Somalia from Yemen since the beginning of war in Yemen in 2015, the UN refugee agency said on Friday.

The UNHCR said an increasing number of Somalis are approaching the agency for assistance to support their return, citing safety concerns and limited access to services in Yemen.

"UNHCR is now providing some support to those choosing to return on their own," the UN agency said in a statement.
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"In 2017, UNHCR is able to assist up to 10,000 Somali refugees who have made the choice to return, based on the information received at Return Help Desks on conditions in Somalia and the assistance package that is being offered both in Yemen and Somalia," it said.

Yemen has been both a destination and a transit hub for refugees and migrants from the Horn of Africa and beyond. The overwhelming majority of refugees in Yemen, 91 percent or some 255,000, are Somali refugees.

The UNHCR said its humanitarian operations in Yemen will continue to provide support to refugees who remain in Yemen.

It said most Somali refugees registered in Yemen originate from Banadir, Lower Shabelle, Bay, Middle Shabelle and Woqooyi Galbeed regions in Somalia.

In Yemen, most reside in Aden, Sana'a and Lahj governorates, the latter of which is where Yemen's only refugee camp, the Kharaz refugee camp, is located.

The UNHCR said most refugees opt to return to Mogadishu, in the anticipation that assistance and services will be more accessible and available.
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18-       La Liga title to be decided on dramatic last weekend in Spain
 
MADRID, May 19 : (Xinhua) -- The La Liga title is up for grabs along with two places in next season's Europa League as the season in Spain's top-flight league comes to an end on a weekend that also sees Atletico Madrid say goodbye to the ground that has been their home for the past 50 years.

The title race between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona takes pride of place on Sunday evening, with Madrid knowing a draw away to Malaga will assure them the title no matter what Barcelona do at home to Eibar.

Real Madrid are still without Dani Carvajal and Gareth Bale, but will be full of confidence after their 4-1 win away to Celta on Wednesday night.

Malaga coach Michel Gonzalez, who was part of the Madrid side that lost two league titles when they lost to Tenerife at the end of the 1991-92 and 1992-93 seasons, recently caused controversy by commenting he is a "better Madrid fan," than Jorge Valdano, the man who led Tenerife to those wins.

Barcelona know the destiny of the title is out of their hands and all they can do is beat Eibar and hope for the best, although they will be without the injured Javier Mascherano for the game and Gerard Pique is still in doubt following a serious stomach bug.



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The battle for the Europa League sees Villarreal, Athletic Club Bilbao and Real Sociedad, who are separated by just one point, contest fifth and sixth place in the table to assure European football next season.

Seventh place could also give a place in Europe, but only if Barcelona defeat Alaves in the Cup final, so whichever of the three misses out is in for a nervous week of waiting to know whether their summer holidays will be cut short.

Villarreal face a difficult visit to neighboring Valencia in what will be Voro Gonzalez's last game in charge after a successful half season as caretaker manager.

Valencia have nothing to play for, but denting their neighbor's European ambitions would see their season end on a positive note.

Athletic Club travel to face Atletico Madrid in the last league game to be played in the Vicente Calderon Stadium. It is certain to be an emotional affair in the much-loved Calderon, and Atletico coach Diego Simeone will have his work cut out to ensure his players are able to retain their focus. He also has a problem with injuries and suspensions which have left Lucas Hernandez and Stefan Savic as his only two available defenders.

Finally, Real Sociedad need to win in Vigo and hope that either Athletic or Villarreal slip up in order to move into the top-six. However, the side from San Sebastian have arguably the easiest task against a rival that has lost 6 consecutive games and is both emotionally and physically tired after Wednesday's game against Real Madrid.

None of the other games being played this weekend have anything at stake.
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19-       Nearly 23,500 cholera cases, 242 deaths in Yemen in three weeks : WHO

GENEVA, May 19 : (AFP) - A cholera outbreak in war-ravaged Yemen has killed 242 people, and left nearly 23,500 others sick in the past three weeks alone, the World Health Organization said Friday.

The UN health agency said that in the past day alone, 20 cholera deaths and 3,460 suspected cases had been registered in the country, where two-thirds of the population are on the brink of famine.

"The speed of the resurgence of this cholera epidemic is unprecedented," WHO country representative for Yemen Nevio Zagaria told reporters in Geneva by phone from Yemen, warning that a quarter of a million people could become sick by the end of the year.

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Cholera is a highly contagious bacterial infection spread through contaminated food or water.

Reining in the disease is particularly complicated in Yemen, where two years of devastating war between the Huthis and government forces backed by a Saudi-led Arab military coalition has left more than half the country's medical facilities out of service.

Zagaria pointed out that humanitarian workers cannot access some parts of the country, and that the number of suspected cholera cases could be far higher than those registered.

Yemen's conflict has killed more than 8,000 people and wounded around 40,000 since March 2015, according to the WHO.

Zagaria pointed out that many of the remaining health workers in the country had not been paid for seven months.

At the same time, he said, lacking electricity meant water pumping stations were only functioning in an intermittent way, and the sewer systems were damaged.

"The population is using water sources that are contaminated," he said.

Zagaria said the United Nations agencies were preparing to "release an emergency response cholera plan in the next 48 hours," aimed at dramatically scaling up the number of treatment centres and rehydration centres.

At the same time, he said there was a dire need for funding to help Yemen authorities to make the necessary infrastructure repairs.

"The spread of the disease is too big and they need substantial support, in terms of repairing the sewer system, ... treating and chlorinating the water sources."

Without dramatic efforts to halt the spread of the disease, "the price that we will pay in terms of life will be extremely high," he warned.
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20-       Worldwide effort set to keep Trump happy on 1st trip abroad

WASHINGTON,May 19 : (AP) — When President Donald Trump sits down for dinner in Saudi Arabia, caterers have ensured that his favorite meal - steak with a side of ketchup - will be offered alongside the traditional local cuisine.
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At NATO and the Group of 7 summits, foreign delegations have gotten word that the new U.S. president prefers short presentations and lots of visual aids. And at all of Trump's five stops on his first overseas trip, his team has spent weeks trying to build daily downtime into his otherwise jam-packed schedule.

It's all part of a worldwide effort to accommodate America's homebody president on a voyage with increasingly raised stakes given the ballooning controversy involving his campaign's possible ties to Russia. For a former international businessman, Trump simply doesn't have an affinity for much international.

Even before Trump's trip morphed from a quick jaunt to Europe into a nine-day behemoth, White House aides were on edge about how the president would take to grueling pressures of foreign travel: the time zone changes, the unfamiliar hotels, the local delicacies. Two officials said they feared that a difficult trip might even lead the president to hand off future traveling duties to Vice President Mike Pence.

Trump's final itinerary hardly eases him into the delicate world of international diplomacy on foreign soil. After departing Friday on an overnight flight on Air Force One, Trump will hopscotch from Saudi Arabia to Israel to the Vatican. He'll close his trip with a pair of summits in Brussels and Sicily, often-staid affairs that require leaders to be locked in lengthy plenary sessions.

"The chance of something going wrong - you insult the hosts, you get sick, your boss gets sick, you miscommunicate with your hosts, you make a scheduling error, you need to change the schedule just hours before a meeting, the motorcade get stuck in traffic, or the plane is stranded due to bad weather - is extremely high," said Julianne Smith, who served as a foreign policy adviser to Vice President Joe Biden and is now a senior fellow at the Center for New American Security.

"Personally, I think they should cut it back now before they regret it," she said of Trump's long jaunt.

The trip marks the first time since taking office that Trump has spent a night away from the White House at a property that doesn't bear his name. And it's not just the bragging rights Trump gets when he goes to his own properties: Staffers know his meal preferences and the exact temperature he likes a room set at. He's often surrounded by long-time friends and acquaintances who have memberships to the commander in chief-owned retreats.

The only overnight trip Trump took abroad as a candidate was to mark the opening of a new golf resort in Scotland. He led journalists on a roving tour of the course and said his property would benefit if Britain's currency tanked following its decision to leave the European Union. He also made a daytrip to Mexico.

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The stakes will be far higher as President Trump makes his debut on the international stage. He's the first president since Jimmy Carter to not travel abroad during his first 100 days in office. And he'll depart under a cloud of controversy, much of it of his own making, including the White House's botched handling of FBI Director James Comey's firing.

Nearly all of Trump's senior White House officials are traveling with him. First lady Melania Trump will also be on the trip, headlining her own events on each stop.

The Slovenian-born Mrs. Trump is the more seasoned international traveler in the relationship. She lived and worked as a model in Paris and Milan before moving to New York, and speaks multiple languages.

Before the couple married, they flew to Slovenia so the New York real estate mogul could meet his bride-to-be's family. The day trip marked the only time Trump has set foot in his wife's home country.

"At least I can say that I went," Trump told The New York Times last year.

Foreign travel has never been high on Trump's list of priorities. During his first marriage, he usually stayed behind when wife Ivana took his children for visits to her home country, the former Czechoslovakia. He's made the occasional stops to meet business partners abroad, but most of his travel has been to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, and other U.S. properties.

Trump's hosts on his upcoming trip are well-aware of his aversion to travel and are trying to make accommodations to keep him happy.

In Saudi Arabia, people with knowledge of the planning for Trump's trip say the caterers are planning to offer the president steak and ketchup alongside the lamb and hefty portions of rice on the menu. All the meat will have been butchered in a Shariah-compliant halal manner as per Islamic custom.

The people with knowledge of the Saudis' planning insisted on anonymity because the
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21-       Iran's presidential poll opens as supreme leader casts vote
  
TEHRAN, May 19 : (Xinhua) -- Iran's presidential election began on Friday morning at 8:00 a.m. local time (0330 GMT) as Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei cast his vote in the ballot box.

Khamenei urged the Iranians to go to the polling stations for the vote at the earliest time.


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The election of the president is important in the Islamic republic and the people should take note of this point, Khamenei said in a live TV broadcast.

He also hailed the elections as the sign of democracy in Iran.

Concurrently, Iran's Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli officially announced the beginning of the presidential elections nationwide.

Iranian incumbent President Hassan Rouhani, also a candidate, cast his vote in a ballot box in Tehran's Hosseinieh Ershad on Friday morning.

Over 60,000 ballot boxes have been prepared nationwide to receive votes.

Some 56 million Iranians are eligible for voting, and will choose the next president for a four-year term from among the four candidates.

On Thursday, Iranian Interior Ministry officially announced the names of incumbent Hassan Rouhani, Ebrahim Raisi, Mostafa Agha-Mirsalim and Mostafa Hashemi Taba as the four hopefuls for the Friday presidential election. 

On April 21, out of 1,636 registered candidates, six qualified to compete for the four-year presidential term, including three principalists, better known as conservatives, as well as two centrists and one reformist.

On Tuesday, Iran's reformist Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri announced his withdrawal from the race in order to back incumbent President Hassan Rouhani, urging all his supporters to vote for Rouhani.

Tehran's Mayor Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, a conservative candidate, said in a statement on Monday that he withdrew from the presidential race to back Raisi. 
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22-       S.Korean president says to take cautious approach to THAAD issue

SEOUL, May 19 : (Xinhua) -- South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Friday that he will take a cautious approach to the issue on the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system.

   Moon made the remarks at a meeting with floor leaders of the five major parties, including the ruling Democratic Party, the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, the centrist People's Party, the minor conservative Righteous Party and the minor liberal Justice Party, presidential spokesman Park Su-hyun told reporters.

Moon's special envoys arrived in Beijing and Washington respectively earlier this week to explain the new government's policy stance on the issues of the Korean Peninsula.

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On April 26, part of THAAD elements, including two mobile launchers, radar and other equipments, were secretly transported to a golf course at Soseong-ri village in Seongju county, North Gyeongsang province.

The golf course, which Lotte Group, the country's fifth-biggest conglomerate had owned, was designated as a site for THAAD that Seoul and Washington agreed in July last year to deploy in southeast South Korea.

The secret transportation caused strong backlash from residents and peace activists who had stood sentry beside the entrance road to the golf course to block any further deployment of other THAAD elements.

A THAAD battery is composed of six mobile launchers, 48 interceptors, the AN/TPY-2 radar and the fire & control unit.

A special committee of the ruling party announced its plan to push for parliamentary hearings on the THAAD deployment decision to find any illegitimacy and illegality in the decision-making process.  RSS