Indian hometown grieves for engineer killed in Kansas bar

A family member waits for the arrival of the body of Srinivas Kuchibhotla from the US next to a garland and photograph in his residence on the outskirts of Hyderabad, India, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2017. A bartender at the restaurant where a man was arrested last week for an apparently racially motivated bar shooting of two Indian men told a 911 dispatcher that the suspect admitted shooting two people, but described them as Iranian.

Indian hometown grieves for engineer killed in Kansas bar

A family member waits for the arrival of the body of Srinivas Kuchibhotla from the US next to a garland and photograph in his residence on the outskirts of Hyderabad, India, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2017. A bartender at the restaurant where a man was arrested last week for an apparently racially motivated bar shooting of two Indian men told a 911 dispatcher that the suspect admitted shooting two people, but described them as Iranian.

Five stories in the news today, Feb. 28

Kevin O’Leary’s boycott of tonight’s Conservative party leadership debate has his competitors crying foul. O’Leary says having all 14 candidates on stage together to answer the same questions – as is planned for the Edmonton event – is unproductive.

Five stories in the news today, Feb. 28

Kevin O’Leary’s boycott of tonight’s Conservative party leadership debate has his competitors crying foul. O’Leary says having all 14 candidates on stage together to answer the same questions – as is planned for the Edmonton event – is unproductive.

NKorea official in Beijing after China’s ban on coal imports

A senior North Korean diplomat arrived in Beijing on Tuesday for talks following China’s ban on coal imports from its neighbor and the killing of the exiled half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Vice Foreign Minister Ri Kil Song will hold talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on “issues of common concern,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a daily news briefing.

NKorea official in Beijing after China’s ban on coal imports

A senior North Korean diplomat arrived in Beijing on Tuesday for talks following China’s ban on coal imports from its neighbor and the killing of the exiled half brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Vice Foreign Minister Ri Kil Song will hold talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on “issues of common concern,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a daily news briefing.

N. Korean diplomats in Malaysia to seek Kim’s brother’s body

Ri Tong Il, former North Korean deputy ambassador to the United Nations, speaks to reporters outside the North Korean embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2017. Ri told reporters Tuesday that North Korea has sent a high-level delegation to Malaysia to seek the return of the body of leader’s Kim Jong Un’s slain half brother and the release of a North Korean arrested in the case.

Billed as a “mega trip”, it would be a Saudi king’s first visit to Indonesia in nearly five decades.

University Malaya Vice Chancellor Sultan nazrin Muizzuddin Shah, right, presents the honourary degree of Doctor of Letters to Saudi Arabia’s King Sultan Salman bin Abdulaziz, left, at the University Malaya in Kuala Lumpur on February 27, 2017. Photo – AFP University Malaya Vice Chancellor Sultan nazrin Muizzuddin Shah, right, presents the honourary degree of Doctor of Letters to Saudi Arabia’s King Sultan Salman bin Abdulaziz, left, at the University Malaya in Kuala Lumpur on February 27, 2017.

Suspected jihadists attack northern Burkina Faso towns

Authorities in Burkina Faso say suspected jihadists have attacked two communities in the north while an international film festival takes place in the capital. The Monday night attacks in Baraboule and Tongomayel are the latest violence to hit this once peaceful landlocked West African nation.

Saudi Arabia wants oil prices to rise to around $60 in 2017

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other producers pledged last year to cut production by about 1.8 million barrels per day from January 1. – Times file picture The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other producers pledged last year to cut production by about 1.8 million barrels per day from January 1. – Times file picture Dubai/London: Saudi Arabia wants crude oil prices to rise to around $60 a barrel this year, five sources from Opec countries and the oil industry said.

France’s Macron targets political sleaze ahead of manifesto release

French presidential frontrunner Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday he would ban lawmakers from employing family members and from carrying out consulting activities, seizing on his conservative rival’s legal troubles to project a clean image. Standing as an independent centrist, Macron is tipped by opinion polls to defeat far-right leader Marine Le Pen in a run-off vote in May. He has shot to the position of frontrunner after conservative Francois Fillon was embroiled in a financial scandal over his wife’s employment as a parliamentary assistant and summoned by a judge on Wednesday.

Nation and world briefs

Former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama have signed book deals with Penguin Random House, the publisher announced Tuesday. Financial terms were not disclosed, although the deal is likely in the tens of millions of dollars.

Malaysian tycoon stresses over Vancouver project with Trump

In this June 19, 2013, file photo, Donald Trump gives a thumbs-up as he poses with Tiah Joo Kim, left, CEO and president of Holborn Group, upon arrival to announce the building of Trump International Hotel and Tower Vancouver in downtown Vancouver, Canada. Malaysian property developer Tiah got way more than he bargained for when he signed a licensing deal to use the Trump brand on the Trump International Hotel and Tower that he is opening on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2017 in Vancouver.

Starbucks CEO says chain ready to enter Italy after 35 years

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz’s vision for the chain was largely inspired by the coffee bars he saw on his first trip to Milan more than three decades ago. But it took the company growing to about 26,000 stores in 75 countries in win the credibility he felt necessary to make the leap into the country that gave the world espresso.

Russia pledges to veto UN sanctions resolution on Syria

Russia pledged to veto a Western-backed U.N. resolution Tuesday that would impose sanctions on 21 Syrian individuals, organizations and companies allegedly involved in chemical weapons attacks in the war-ravaged country. The draft Security Council resolution would also ban all countries from supplying Syria’s government with helicopters, which investigators have determined were used in chemical attacks.

Fierce stuff at Narrandera Rodeo

STRONG HAUL: Lee Kimber of Lockington Victoria roping a calf, later went to win the steer wrestling competition. Photo: Ron Arel With more than $40,000 in total prize money on the line at the Narrandera Rodeo Saturday night, the competition was fierce and that is just how the cowboys and cowgirls like it.

China’s coal consumption falls for 3rd year in a row

In this Nov. 3, 2015 file photo, smoke and steam rise from the smokestack of a coal-fired power plant near Ordos in northern China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. According to official data released Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2017, China’s consumption of coal fell in 2016 for a third year in a row as the world’s top polluter has emerged as a leader in efforts to tackle climate change.

Call out for amateur golfers

There is still time for amateurs to enter Devonport Golf Club’s Pro-Am on March 6 and play with forty-two of Australia’s best touring professional golfers. Teams of three amateurs and one professional will play an 18-hole 4BBB stableford.

Plastic’ seaweed? Chinese producers lose millions over rumours

Video clip went viral on the internet in China falsely claiming some of the produce sold in Fujian province was artificial, newspaper reports Seaweed producers in southeast China say they have lost hundreds of millions of yuan in two weeks after a video went viral on the internet alleging that some of their produce was made of plastic, according to Chinese media reports. In the two-minute clip that was widely circulated on social media, a woman questioned whether the seaweed collected by one producer in Jinjiang in Fujian province was real.