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Football: Roma hit with fan ban over racist abuse

Agence France-PresseMay 20, 2013 14:15

Roma will play their next league game without fans in the Olympic Stadium's 'Curva Sud' for their role in targeting AC Milan striker Mario Balotelli with racist abuse last week, officials said Monday. Balotelli was among several Milan players subjected to the abuse when the sides played out a scoreless Serie A draw at the San Siro. The game was marked by the referee halting the match for 90 seconds to make an appeal to Roma's fans. In a statement issued Monday the FIGC said: "The Giallorossi (Roma) will play one game with the Curva Sud (South Stand) empty of fans."

Germany seeks 'visible' Kosovo-Serbia progress

Agence France-PresseMay 20, 2013 13:45

Germany on Monday called for "visible" progress in implementing a landmark deal between Serbia and Kosovo before securing Berlin's backing for Belgrade's bid to join the European Union. Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle hailed the April 19 EU-brokered agreement to normalise ties between Serbia and its former southern province as "historic" but said momentum needed to be continued. "Such historic circumstances do not occur every day, and when they occur they have to be grabbed," Westerwelle told reporters after meeting top Serbian officials in Belgrade.

Israel backs Kerry peace moves despite internal debate

Agence France-PresseMay 20, 2013 13:45

Israel's centre-right government will support US efforts to revive peace talks with the Palestinians, despite hardline positions held by ministers and coalition parties, a prominent MP said on Monday. "If (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu goes on the path that US Secretary of State Kerry is encouraging... he will have the full support of... the majority of the parliament," Ofer Shelah, a member of the powerful Yesh Atid party told army radio.

Death toll from Dagestan bombings lowered to 3

Agencia EFEMay 20, 2013 13:30

Moscow, May 20 (EFE).- The death toll from the car-bomb attacks Monday in Makhachkala, the capital of the Russian federal republic of Dagestan, has been revised downward to three, with more than a dozen people wounded, officials said. "According to preliminary figures, three people died - a police officer, an operations officer and a marshal. More than 10 people were wounded," the official Dagestan Interior Ministry spokesman said. The government initially told the Interfax news agency that at least eight people were killed when the two car bombs exploded.

Hezbollah suffers big losses in Syria battle: activists

Thomson ReutersMay 20, 2013 13:16

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis and Dominic Evans AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama voiced concern at Hezbollah's growing role in the Syrian civil war on Monday after men from the Lebanese militia fought their biggest battle yet alongside President Bashar al-Assad's army. About 30 Hezbollah fighters were killed on Sunday, Syrian activists said, along with 20 Syrian soldiers and militiamen loyal to Assad during the fiercest fighting this year in the rebel stronghold of Qusair, close to the Lebanese border.

Obama, Thein Sein to hold landmark talks; reforms likely top agenda

Kyodo News InternationalMay 20, 2013 13:16

U.S. President Barack Obama and his Myanmar counterpart Thein Sein will hold talks at the White House on Monday with further promotion of democratization and economic reforms in the Southeast Asian country likely topping the agenda. Thein Sein's landmark trip marks the first state visit by a Myanmar leader to the U.S. capital in nearly 50 years.

Nigeria says it has retaken five Islamist strongholds

Agence France-PresseMay 20, 2013 13:16

Nigeria's military on Monday said it had re-established control in five remote areas of the northeast where Islamist insurgents had seized territory, as it pressed on with a sweeping offensive against Boko Haram militants. The military has "secured the environs of New Marte, Hausari, Krenoa, Wulgo and Chikun Ngulalo after destroying all the terrorists camps...The troops are already interacting with locals and citizens assuring them of their safety and freedom from the activities of insurgents," a statement said. ola-bs/fb

Rebels, army clash in DR Congo ahead of Ban visit

Agence France-PresseMay 20, 2013 13:15

Rebels from the M23 movement and the army fought Monday north of Goma just two days before UN chief Ban Ki-moon was due to visit the troubled eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, both sides said. The volatile mineral-rich region was rocked by hours of fierce fighting with mortars and rocket launchers in the first clashes involving M23 since December. The rebels briefly occupied the regional capital of Goma in November.

Radical cleric Abu Qatada denied bail in Britain

Agence France-PresseMay 20, 2013 13:15

Jordanian terror suspect Abu Qatada was on Monday denied bail in his latest legal skirmish with British authorities, who have been trying to deport him for a decade. The cleric has been in and out of British prisons since 2002 as he fights successive government attempts to send him to Jordan, where he has been convicted of terror charges in his absence. To ministers' horror he was released from his latest stint in jail in November, but was arrested again in March for allegedly breaching his bail conditions.

Peace stone from Hiroshima presented to Kosovo

Kyodo News InternationalMay 20, 2013 12:46

A Hiroshima-based civic group on Monday presented the former Yugoslav autonomous region of Kosovo with a stone from the 1945 atomic bombing of the Japanese city, engraved with an image of a Buddhist goddess of mercy.