ICC have different rules for different members, says Sir Richards

ANTIGUA: Legend cricketer Sir Vivian Richards has said that International Cricket Council (ICC) had different rules for its member countries.

In an interview to a foreign news agency, Richards slammed ICC over reprimanding West Indies side following their World Twenty20 win. He said that the members are held to different standards and India have been given a free pass due to its financal position.

“There are rules in the one-day game under the auspices of the ICC, like for instance the system where you go back to the third umpire and things like that,” Richards said.

“So if you are the sole governing body of world cricket, then everyone should be coming under the same umbrella. The Indians do not play certain things the ICC may have in its rules,” he said.

It should be noted that batsman Marlon Samuels was fined over celebrating his side’s World T20 win by removing his shirt and was also involved in a spat with England’s Ben Stokes. Skipper Darren Sammy had criticized the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) during the post match presentation as well.

The former West Indies batsman believed that the cricket’s governing body has different rules for different teams.

“When you look around the world in terms of the governance of the ICC, there are rules for some and not for others,” he said.

The governing body of the sport had stated that the statements and actions of the West Indies team had brought disgrace to the event.

Glorious summer in sight for Leicester City after many winters of discontent

LEICESTER: When King Richard III was reinterred in Leicester in March last year 500 years after his death, fans of the English city’s unheralded soccer club might have thought it too was dead and buried.

Richard’s remains had been found beneath a municipal car park. Leicester City were also at a low point, bottom of the Premier League table having won just six games all season.

Then they embarked on an incredible run, winning seven of their last nine matches to comfortably avoid relegation.

Now are on the brink of becoming league champions for the first time in their 132-year history, with just three defeats all season.

Their exploits have thrust the provincial city into the global spotlight once again.

“It’s a remarkable coincidence,” Wayne Harding, a season ticket holder for 34 years, said of the link between Richard’s reburial and Leicester’s meteoric rise.

Rated 5,000-1 long shots by bookmakers last August, if “the Foxes” win at Manchester United on Sunday, the title will be theirs with two games still to go.

“Everybody’s buzzing. If they do it on Sunday, it will be an absolutely banging day,” said Harding, 53, standing by a new statue of King Richard outside the city’s cathedral.

Leicester, about 100 miles (160 km) north of London, has become a sea of blue and white, the team’s colours.

Bunting with the club crest flutters from poles in the main shopping thoroughfares and shop windows are adorned with huge Leicester flags and blue and white balloons.

“It’s had a massive impact, everyone’s talking about it whether you’re a fan or not,” said Ian Derry, 51, who went to his first game in 1969.

In a league dominated for the last 25 years by a select few rich, glamour clubs such as Man Utd, Chelsea and Arsenal, neutrals and supporters from other clubs are also rooting for Leicester, said shop-worker Derry.

“The great escape surprised us all and then to push on to the top and possibly, possibly win it, is unbelievable. All the planets just seem to have aligned.”

ALL GONE MAD

The highest Leicester have previously finished was second, way back in 1928-9. The club has also been FA Cup runner-up four times but never triumphed, although it has won the less prestigious League Cup three times.

Just eight years ago, it was languishing in the third tier of English football.

“I’ve worked in Leicester for 10 years and never heard a word about Leicester football club until this year,” said Phil Wiley, 52, who hails from northeast England. “Now everyone is banging on about them. They’ve all gone mad.”

Billboards for the Leicester Mercury newspaper read “Biggest Game in Club’s History” and “Pubs Set For Big City Party”.

Bars and restaurants are offering blue-themed food and drinks, a butcher is selling sausages named after Italian manager Claudio Ranieri, and pubs are pouring beer named in honour of top scorer Jamie Vardy.

One restaurant is planning to give away 1,000 free curries to season-ticket holders if Leicester win the title.

WHERE IS LEICESTER?

Like its soccer team, Leicester itself has rarely found itself in the headlines.

The city, which dates back to Roman times some 2,000 years ago, is one of Britain’s most ethnically diverse areas, with about half its 330,000 citizens non-white British, according to a 2011 census.

The tourist office’s list of famous residents past and present has few household names, featuring the likes of psychedelic rock band Gaye Bykers On Acid and crooner Engelbert Humperdinck.

“It’s not a high-profile city. We’re not really on the tourist map. When we went abroad and said we’re from Leicester, they didn’t know where it was,” said Bev Danson, 56, who has lived in Leicester all her life.

The discovery and reburial of Richard’s body was estimated to have brought an extra 59 million pounds ($86 million) to the local economy, attracting an extra 600,000 visitors to the city.

Resident’s believe the club’s success will have a far greater impact, with English soccer avidly followed by millions of fans across the globe and the team certain to play in Europe’s most prestigious competition, the Champions League.

“It seems as though all eyes are on Leicester,” said Pratik Master, managing director for Lilu Restaurant which is serving up dishes renamed after the team’s manager, who came in for a meal last week, and players.

The fact that the club has a Thai owner, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, and a Japanese striker, Shinji Okazaki, has also ensured an eager following in Asia.

“We’ve had a great 18 months in Leicester with Richard III but now with the Foxes it’s brought the world even closer,” Master said.

IMF announces $1.5bn loan for Sri Lanka

COLOMBO: The IMF has agreed a $1.5 billion loan for Sri Lanka in support of economic reforms aimed at reversing a two-decade decline in tax revenue and reviving growth, it said Friday.

The International Monetary Fund’s chief for Sri Lanka, Todd Schneider, said a staff-level agreement was reached to release $1.5 billion over a three-year period in support of the island’s reform agenda.

“This agreement will be subject to completion of prior actions and approval by the IMF’s Executive Board, which is expected to consider Sri Lanka’s request in early June,” he said in a statement.

The island has already announced an increase in value added tax (VAT) from 11 to 15 percent from Monday. It has also said it will scale down tax exemptions and promised to simplify revenue collection.

The IMF said the Sri Lankan government will seek to raise its tax-to-GDP ratio to 15 percent by 2020 from the current level of 11 percent.

Schneider said the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF) to Sri Lanka was expected to “catalyse an additional $650 million in other multilateral and bilateral loans, bringing total support to about $2.2 billion”.

An EFF is designed to help countries resolve serious balance of payment problems brought on by structural weaknesses in the economy.

Sri Lanka enjoyed a blistering economic growth rate averaging more than 8.0 percent for two years after a prolonged civil war ended in 2009.

But the pace of expansion has since slowed, falling to 4.8 percent in 2015, down from 4.9 in the previous year, according to official data.

The new government in Colombo sought an IMF bailout immediately after taking power in January last year, but the fund turned down the request, saying the country’s reserves were at a comfortable level then.

However, the government faced a balance of payments crisis after the government went on a huge spending spree to implement its election pledges of higher public sector salaries and lower prices.

In 2009, Sri Lanka received $2.6 billion from the IMF to boost its financial reserves, which dropped below $1 billion at the height of fighting between Tamil Tiger rebels and troops.

Pakistani women’s rights activist honored with Nelson Mandela award

KARACHI: Swat’s Tabassum Adnan was honored with the prestigious Nelson Mandela – Graça Machel Innovation Award 2016 in Columbia, ARY News reported.

According to details, Tabassum Adnan was recognized for her struggle for women’s rights.

Adnan said that she was thankful to the Pakistani nation whose support and cooperation helped her win the prestigious award.

She suffered 20 years of mental and physical abuse after getting married at the age of 13 years. She lost her children, money and home following her divorce.

After her divorce, She founded the first ever female-only jirga in Pakistan by the name of Khwendo Jirga. The jirga supports rights for women which includes voting and security.

She was awarded International Women of Courage award in the United States in 2015.

IDP camp in Kurram Agency closed as families return home

PARACHINAR: The government has announced to close a camp established for internally displaced people after all those residing there have returned to their native areas.

Since the last 5 years several Internally Displaced People (IDPs) were staying at the New Durrani Camp in Kurram tribal region. The camp was established some 30 kilometers east of Parachinar in 2010 where around 54,000 IDPs were accommodated.

The FATA Disaster Management Authority (FDMA) has announced that these people have now returned to their homes and the camp has now been closed.

The camp was declared abandoned as more than 10,000 families staying have been repatriated to their homes. The FDMA also said those IDPs outside the camp will also be sent to their homes till 9th May.

It has also announced the schedule for the return of IDPs from other tribal regions of the area which included South Waziristan, North Waziristan, Orakzai and Khyber Agency. More than 150,000 families are expected to be returned by end of November.

Till 2008, Kurram Agency was the stronghold of various terrorist organizations including the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), until the Pakistan Army launched a military operation to flush out the militants.

This military offensive called Operation Koh-e-Safaid continued till 2011 after which the area fell back into Pakistani control and it was later declassified as a conflict zone. The closure of this camp is a significant step in bring peace and prosperity in one of the most remote and restive areas of the world.

PTI disassociates with Soran Singh murder suspect Baldev Kumar

PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has announced disassociation with Baldev Kumar, an accused of the murder of Sardar Soran Singh, a PTI lawmaker in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Advisor to CM on Minorities.

Police had claimed that Hindu rival of Singh, Kumar, had ordered his assassination a week back.

Since Kumar was second in priority list to take the reserved seat for minorities after Singh, therefore the KPK government has decided to get issuance of the notification for Baldev Kumar blocked.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly had on Friday paid rich tributes to Soran Singh for playing active role in proceedings of the assembly and serving public.

Members from both treasury and opposition benches had demanded a special package for family of Sardar Soran Singh.

They had expressed concern over the target killing and asked the government to protect life and property of people.

The House had also passed a resolution for giving incentives to family of Sardar Soran Singh.

Chief Minister KPK Pervez Khattak had assured the House that children of Sardar Soran Singh would be paid monthly scholarship besides meeting their other needs. The Chief Minister also assured the House that the case would be registered under terrorism act against those who have been involved in the crime.

Court grants bail to ARY News anchor Iqrarul Hassan

KARACHI: A judicial magistrate granted bail to senior anchorperson of ARY News Syed Iqrarul Hassan, ARY News reported.

ARY News anchorperson Syed Iqrarul Hassan, who was arrested over exposing the poor security measures at Sindh Assembly, was produced before a civil judge in City Court.

The court granted bail to Iqrar-ul-Hassan and a member of Sar-e-Aam team Kamran in the two cases under PPC 452 and 188. Earlier, the judge had reserved his verdict in the case.

The court has ordered the anchorperson to submit two surety bonds of Rs. 50,000 each in the court.

Sar-e-Aam host Iqrarul Hassan was produced in the court after being questioned by the investigation officer. Speaking on the occasion, he said that he was handcuffed for showing the truth to the people.

He said that he did not do any corruption nor did he loot the nation.

“I am happy as my child is proud of me,” he said.

Senior citizens bill passed in Sindh Assembly

KARACHI: The Sindh Assembly has passed three bills on senior citizens welfare, employee’s old-age benefits and the abolition of bonded labor.

The Sindh Senior Citizens Welfare Bill would allow senior citizens to be issued cards by the Senior Citizens Council which would entitle them certain essential services and benefits.

This includes 25 percent discount on transport fares and other purchases, concession at recreation centers, free funeral and burial services, and free treatment of geriatric, medical and health services from government medical institutions.

This council would be established to take measures for the economic welfare of senior citizens. It will be headed by the social welfare minister. Its membership includes the secretary of the concerned departments, two senior citizens from civil society, two members of NGOs and one retired judge.

Those who do not honor the senior citizens card or any of it provisions will be punished with rigorous imprisonment between one to three years and a fine of up to 30,000 rupees or both.

The bill also states those people or family members who abandon the care of a senior citizen will also face imprisonment for three months or a fine. Senior citizens are increasingly facing neglect in our society and some even have been forced to join old-age homes.

This law not just aims to convert the country into a welfare state but also treat senior citizens with respect, compassion, kindness and selflessness as enjoyed upon by our religion. Sindh is the first province in the country which has introduced legislation for the well-being of senior citizens.

The Sindh Senior Citizens’ Welfare Bill, 2014 and the other bills, Sindh Employees Old-age Benefits (Amendment) Bill, 2016 and The Sindh Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Bill, 2015 were passed by the assembly with a majority vote.

Important bills from Dr Asim case misplaced, says Rangers lawyer

KARACHI: Important bills linked with Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Dr. Asim Hussain’s case of providing treatment to terrorists at his private hospital, have been misplaced, claimed Rangers lawyer.

The law said this while confronting investigation officer in court on Saturday. The lawyer exchanged allegations with the investigation officer in the courtroom. The court had to intervene to stop the brawl.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement leader Waseem Akhter and Pak Sarzameen Party leaders Mustafa Kamal and Anees Qaimkhani were also present before the court on this occasion.

The lawyer alleged that the investigation officer had misplaced the bills with regard to providing treatment to terrorists of Al Qaeda, Gang war groups and MQM.

He accused that the bills were misplaced from record in an attempt to provide benefit to the accused.

However, the investigation officer rejected the allegations and termed them baseless. He said the report contained 26 additional documents and nothing was missing from them.

An accountability court had on Friday deferred the indictment of Dr Asim and others, in a corruption case involving Rs17 billion, till May 07.

Dr. Asim Hussain has been in the custody of law enforcement agencies since his arrest in August 2015 on charges of corruption and providing treatment to terrorists at his hospital.

Of late, he was allowed to visit the embassy of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) where he signed a Power of Attorney transferring all his assets to his son.

Earlier, he had also rejected reports of meeting with PPP MNA Faryal Talpur for getting assurance of the party help. He had said neither he held a meeting with Talpur, nor any telephonic contact with former president Asif Ali Zardari.

Following torrent of allegations of corruption and terror-financing he is facing, he had repented of taking part in the politics.

Intelligence agencies track RAW facilitators in Karachi

KARACHI: Pakistani intelligence agencies have tracked facilitators of Indian intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), in Pakistan, ARY News reported on Saturday.

RAW uses Mehmood Siddiqui and Khalil Behrami to carry out terrorist activities in Karachi, said intelligence sources.

The sources said both the RAW agents, who were previously operating from South Africa and Malaysia and now have been shifted to India, are running an organised network of agents in Pakistan.

Law enfrocement agencies have acquired legal documents of Siddiqui and Behrami.

ARY News has got recent pictures of both the suspected RAW agents.

Earlier, this month a RAW officer Kulbhushan Yadav, who has served in the Indian navy, was arrested from Balochistan.

Yadav was arrested during a raid in Balochistan on March 25. A Pakistani foreign ministry statement had described the incident as the “illegal entry into Pakistan by a RAW officer and his involvement in subversive activities in Balochistan and Karachi”.

Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest but least developed province, has been battling a years-long separatist insurgency that the army has repeatedly highlighted as terrorism promoted by states hostile to Pakistan such as India.

Brother of San Bernardino shooter arrested for ‘marriage fraud’ charges

LOS ANGELES: Three people linked to the couple responsible for the mass shooting in San Bernardino, California were arrested for conspiracy, marriage fraud and other unrelated charges.

Three people linked to the couple responsible for December’s mass shooting in San Bernardino, California were arrested on charges of conspiracy, marriage fraud and other unrelated charges to the massacre, U.S. prosecutors said.

This includes Syed Raheel Farook, whose brother Syed Rizwan Farook and sister-in-law, Pakistan-born Tashfeen Malik, killed 14 people in a rampage authorities have said was inspired by Islamist militants.

Lawyers for the three did not immediately return calls seeking comment. Officials said the charges stemmed from an immigration-related investigation that came out of their probe into the massacre.

U.S. Navy veteran Syed Raheel Farook, 31, his wife, Tatiana Farook, 31, and her sister Mariya Chernykh, 26, were arrested after being charged with conspiracy to make a false statement to immigration officials while under oath.

All three pleaded not guilty and will be released on bond, Los Angeles U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesman Thom Mrozek said.

The investigation found that in 2014 Enrique Marquez, who had been a friend of Syed Rizwan Farook, allegedly agreed in return for payment to marry Chernykh, a Russian citizen, so she could apply for permanent U.S. residency status, charging documents stated.

Chernykh also was charged with fraud and two counts of making material false statements to federal agents.

Syed Raheel Farook and Tatiana Farook, who is originally from Russia like her sister, alleged staged photos of Marquez and Chernykh to make them look like a married couple and created a joint bank account for them. The Farooks were arrested at their home in Corona while Chernykh was arrested in Ontario.

“Today’s arrests open a new phase in the process of bringing to justice all individuals who allegedly committed crimes that were uncovered during our exhaustive investigation,” U.S. Attorney Eileen Decker said in a statement.

Marquez was charged on Dec. 18 with conspiring with Syed Rizwan Farook in 2011 and 2012 to support a militant attack in Southern California that was never carried out. He has pleaded not guilty.

Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife died in a shootout with police hours after the Dec. 2 San Bernardino attack.

The alleged sham marriage first surfaced in December, when Marquez also was charged with defrauding immigration authorities.

Syed Raheel Farook and Tatiana Farook, who are both U.S. citizens, if convicted of conspiracy each face a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Chernykh faces up to 25 years, prosecutors said. Their trial is set to start on June 21.

Under U.S. law, Chernykh could also be deported to Russia if convicted.

Rouhani allies win Iran parliament elections second round: media

TEHRAN: Reformist and moderate politicians allied with Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani won most seats in second round parliamentary elections, local media reported Saturday.

Unofficial and incomplete results said that of the 68 seats being contested at least 33 had gone to the pro-Rouhani List of Hope, with conservatives gaining 21 more MPs.

The second ballot to complete a new 290-seat parliament took place Friday because initial polls on February 26 did not produce clear winners in the 68 seats.

According to Fars news agency, close to the conservatives, 33 seats went to the Rouhani allies — 31 reformists and two moderates– while only 21 seats were taken by the conservative coalition.

The remaining 14 seats went to independents, the report said.

Another conservative news agency, Tasnim, said pro-Rouhani allies of moderates and reformists had gained 35 seats so far.

Official results are expected later Saturday.

Rouhani’s allies made huge gains in the first round of elections, on February 26, when voters drove many conservatives out of the parliament.

Results from Friday’s second ballot will decide who has the most power when lawmakers are sworn in next month, opening or potentially closing a politically delicate path to even limited social and cultural change in the Islamic republic.

Tension over the vote’s high stakes was dramatically underlined by a shooting involving supporters of rival candidates in a southern province. The rare political violence left four people wounded, a security official said.

Around 17 million citizens were eligible to vote on Friday in 55 towns and cities. There was no voting in Tehran as the List of Hope swept all 30 of the capital’s 30 seats in the first round.

Bomb attack kills 21 pilgrims in Iraq: officials

BAGHDAD: A car bomb targeted Shiite pilgrims in an area near Baghdad on Saturday, killing at least 21 people and wounding at least 25, security and medical officials said.

The bomb was left on a road in the Nahrawan area used by Shiite pilgrims who are walking to the shrine of Imam Musa Kadhim in northern Baghdad for annual commemorations.

Imam Musa Kadhim, the seventh of 12 imams revered in Shiite Islam, died in 799 AD. The commemoration has in recent years turned into a huge event that brings the Iraqi capital to a standstill for days.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but the Islamic State jihadist group frequently targets members of Iraq’s Shiite majority, whom it considers heretics.

Last year’s pilgrimage was also marred by attacks against worshippers that killed at least 13 people.

And four more were burned or shot to death when mobs torched houses and a Sunni religious endowment building after rumours of a suicide bomber sparked panic among a crowd of pilgrims.

IS overran large areas north and west of Baghdad in 2014, but Iraqi forces backed by US-led military assistance have since regained signficant ground.

The jihadists still control a large part of western Iraq, and are able to carry out frequent attacks against both civilians and security forces in government-held areas.

Fourteen killed in Nairobi floods and building collapse

NAIROBI: Torrential rainstorms in the Kenyan capital have left at least 14 people dead, police said Saturday, including at least seven crushed when a six-storey building collapsed, as rescue teams shifted rubble in a desperate search for survivors.

One survivor was pulled from the huge pile of debris shortly after dawn, Kenya Red Cross said, some 10 hours after the building collapsed Friday night and as skies cleared after a night of ferocious storms.

“We have lost seven people after the house collapsed last night,” Nairobi police chief Japheth Koome told AFP. “We have 121 others who have been rescued and taken to hospital.”

Kenya Red Cross, who along with police and other rescue services continued to search the piles of crumbled concrete rubble, said a total of 150 households had been affected.

Two neighbouring buildings in the densely-populated and poor Huruma neighbourhood were declared unsafe on Saturday and are being evacuated.

In other separate incidents, two people drowned when their vehicle was swept away by storm waters in the capital’s Industrial Area, another person died in floods, and four were killed when a wall collapsed, Koome added.

Nairobi Deputy Governor Jonathan Mueke, who visited the scene of the destroyed building on Saturday morning, said an investigation would look into why the two-year old building had collapsed.

“The building went down during the heavy rains, but we still want to establish if all the procedures were followed when it was constructed,” he said.

The building collapsed at around 9:30 pm (1830 GMT) Friday following some of the heaviest downpours since the start of the rainy season.

They have caused flooding and landslides in many areas of the city. Kenya Red Cross spokeswoman Arnolda Shiundu said the site had been “complete chaos” and teams were “still searching,” assisted by a crane.

“We don’t know how many people are under the rubble, but we fear there are still several of them,” she said.

Pictures broadcast by local media showed soldiers, policemen and civilians searching through the rubble of the collapsed buildings for survivors.

Nairobi has been in the middle of a building boom for some years but the quality of materials used and speed of construction have sometimes been called into question.

The growing middle class has triggered an explosion in demand for housing and a rise in real estate prices in the east African capital.

Protests outside Trump speech in California

BURLINGAME: Hundreds of demonstrators jostled with police in riot gear outside a California hotel where Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump gave a speech, forcing the candidate to duck into a back entrance.

At one point, several dozen protesters broke through barricades and attempted to storm the hotel where the California Republican Party Convention was taking place on Friday, but police, some wielding batons, were able to push them back.

The demonstrators waved banners that read “No hate, no racism, no Trump,” “We need a uniter, not a divider” and “Trump is the modern day Hitler.” Several carried Mexican flags.

The tense stand-off at the Hyatt Regency near the San Francisco International Airport forced the Republican front-runner and his security detail to abandon his motorcade on a nearby highway, hop over a barrier and use a back entrance to the hotel.

“That was not the easiest entrance I’ve ever made,” he told the party members at the convention. “It felt like I was crossing the border.”

California, which holds its presidential primaries on June 7, is crucial in Trump’s push to secure the number of delegates needed to win the Republican presidential nomination outright.

Trump blasted his rivals Texas Senator Ted Cruz and Ohio Governor John Kasich for staying in the race.

“I think it’s going to come to an end very soon,” Trump told the crowd. “And really, I’m speaking to the people in this room, because there has to be unity in our party.”

After delivering his speech without incident, Trump was again escorted out the back entrance.

A crowd of those attending the convention watched live footage of Trump leaving the hotel, and cheered when he entered his vehicle away from the protesters, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Kasich, who hours later spoke to the California Republicans, did not refer directly to Trump but did say that he’s chosen in his own campaign “not to live on the dark side of human nature.”

Once seen as inconceivable, Trump’s quest for the 1,237 delegates needed to win the Republican nomination outright is within reach.

Sick of being denigrated

Some of the anti-Trump protesters outside the hotel lobbed rocks and eggs at officers, and at least five were arrested, a police spokesman said.

He added that several demonstrators and police officers suffered minor injuries.

“I am here because I don’t like all the bad stuff Trump has been saying lately about immigrants and Latinos,” said Eric Lopez, one of the demonstrators. “We are not all like the way he thinks we are.”

Jorge-Mario Cabrera, spokesman for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles (CHIRLA), denounced Trump’s rhetoric and said he hoped the real estate magnate would be defeated at the polls.

“The community is sick of being denigrated, disrespected and attacked,” he told AFP in a statement. “Nevertheless, our reaction should be to march peacefully, as we have always done, and vote at the polls.”

The protest in Burlingame followed similar demonstrations that turned violent late Thursday at another Trump rally in southern California.

Some 20 people were arrested outside the Orange County amphitheater in Costa Mesa during a Trump campaign stopover, which drew a crowd of thousands ahead of the state’s June 7 primary.

The demonstrators hurled rocks at passing vehicles and vandalized cars. They smashed at least one patrol car’s window and punctured the tires on a police sports utility vehicle, while trying to overturn another police car.

Protesters have disrupted campaign rallies for Trump across the country, denouncing the frontrunner’s rhetoric against Muslims and immigrants.

The billionaire developer has outraged many by comparing Mexican immigrants to “rapists” and vowing to build a wall along the Mexican-American border to prevent illegal immigration.

Younger than you look? Scientists identify gene that seems to age people faster

Scientists have said they have identified a variation in a gene that seems to age people faster.

It’s no secret that good genes can explain why some people age well. But researchers they have identified a specific gene variant that can make people look about two years older than their actual age.

Scientists already know that the gene in question, known as MC1R, is responsible for producing red hair and pale skin, according to the report in the journal Current Biology.

“For the first time, a gene has been found that explains in part why some people look older and others younger for their age,” said researcher Manfred Kayser of Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

Previous research has shown that a person’s genes and environmental factors contribute equally to how old a person looks.

Perceived age is also important because it can be linked to a person’s actual health and their risk of dying prematurely, other research has suggested.

For the current study, scientists examined the genomes of more than 2,600 elderly Dutch Europeans “for DNA variants associated with differences in perceived facial age and wrinkling as estimated from digital facial images,” the report said.

“The strongest hits for perceived facial age were for DNA variants in the MC1R gene.”

Researchers said they were able to confirm their finding in two other large European studies.

The influence of the MC1R gene variant was not swayed by age, sex, skin color, or sun damage.

MC1R is also known for its role in inflammation and DNA damage repair, processes that may influence how youthful a person appears, researchers said.

Colombia’s illegal mining linked to malaria outbreak

BOGOTA: Colombia’s widespread illegal mining is blamed for causing environmental damage and holding workers in slave-like conditions — and now is also being blamed for a malaria outbreak.

Critics point to stagnant water buildups at the clandestine sites and poor sanitary conditions at the workers’ camps for an increase in mosquitos spreading the disease, which has quadrupled in jungle regions of the hard-hit and impoverished western department of Choco.

“The country had more or less controlled its malaria problem… the death rate had dropped significantly,” Health Minister Alejandro Gaviria said this week.

“But because of illegal mining… we’ve had hotspots since last year and especially this year.”

Speaking on RCN radio, Gaviria said that malaria was especially on the rise in Choco — which stretches from the border with Panama along a stretch of Colombia’s Pacific coastline — as well as the Bajo Cauca area to the east.

The National Health Institute counted 18,524 malaria cases and about 300 cases of the disease’s more severe strain.

A year earlier, only 4,740 cases of malaria were recorded.

Outbreaks of malaria due to clandestine mining however is not new.

“Population displacement linked to the exploitation of gold mines (and resulting deforestation) has previously created isolated epidemics of malaria” in Latin America, the Health Institute said.

Mining is a major source of revenue for Colombia.

In 2012, the last year for which official figures are available, legal mining accounted for 2.3 percent of GDP, or $8.5 billion.

But authorities say that more than half of Colombia’s mining sites are in fact illegal.

– Mosquito breeding ground –

In these illegal mines, which help finance illegal armed groups, “excavators dig huge holes where water accumulates, perfect breeding groups for malaria-carrying mosquitoes,” said University of Antioquia researcher Ivan Dario Velez.

And the sites where the miners set up camp “usually lack public utilities and have very poor hygiene conditions, which encourages the spread of mosquito and thus the disease,” he said.

Malaria symptoms include feverish headaches, chills, fatigue, nausea and vomiting.

Last year, some 214 million people suffered from malaria, of which 438,000 died from the disease, according the World Health Organization.

Most of those who died were children under five, the vast majority of them in Africa.

The malaria death rate has dropped 72 percent in South America since 2000, and the WHO expects to eradicate the disease in eight Latin American countries by 2020.

The outbreak in Choco is also linked to a shortage of medicine to fight the disease, according to the health minister.

Gaviria said about 7,000 doses of needed medicine are being sent to the department, the poorest in the country.

From 2015 to 2016, about 30 people died of malaria, most in isolated communities far from urban centers, according to the Office of the Ombudsman, which that warned this week of a “worrisome increase” in cases.

Separately, in February officials launched an investigation into the deaths of 37 children and the poisoning of 64 others in the Choco region.

The victims suffered from symptoms said to be linked to mercury, which is commonly used in illegal mining.