A British pilot has died in Tanzania after his helicopter was downed by elephant poachers, the charity he worked for said Saturday.

“Roger was killed while piloting a helicopter during a coordinated effort with the Tanzanian wildlife authorities to track down and arrest active elephant poachers,” said a statement from Dan Friedkin, chairman of the Friedkin Conservation Fund.

“In the course of this action, the poachers fired upon the helicopter and Roger was fatally wounded.”

The BBC quoted Pratik Patel of the fund as saying that Gower had been approaching the last of three elephants which had been killed by poachers when the incident happened.

Beijing – China’s Internet users — already by far the world’s most numerous — rose to nearly 700 million last year, authorities said Friday, more than twice the population of the United States.

The figure accounts for more than half the people in the world’s most populous country.

More than 90% had gone online through their mobile phones, CNNIC reported, while two-thirds had used desktop computers and nearly 40% laptops.

Several Chinese tech firms, led by Jack Ma’s Alibaba, have become multi-billion-dollar giants in recent years as the country’s online population has boomed.

UN documents more than 55,000 civilian casualties and 3.2 million people displaced by violence in 22-month period.

In figures it calls "staggering", the United Nations says that almost 19,000 civilians have been killed and more than 36,000 wounded in violence in Iraq since the start of 2014. 

In a new joint report published on Tuesday, the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights listed a large number of atrocities committed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group. 

Ms Sherene Meetha Pillai works as a project manager on weekdays, a tuition teacher on weekends - and also sells jewellery online.

• The most recent reports were about "starving" university students, who claimed they were unable to afford basic meals. 
• One public university student in Kuala Lumpur said her intestines ruptured from starvation.
• In response, Higher Education Minister Idris Jusoh pledged to take responsibility to ensure that poor students get help.
• Deputy Trade Minister Ahmad Maslan was widely panned after he said Malaysians should get a second job to tackle higher living costs.
• The overwhelming public response: Dear minister, many of us already are doing two jobs.

Malaysia - South-east Asia's third-largest economy after Indonesia and Thailand - had a rocky year last year.

LONDON, U.K. - Britain’s opposition leader invited US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who sparked an outcry by calling for a ban on Muslims from entering the United States, to join him on a visit to a London mosque.

The comments from Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, a socialist who represents a multi-ethnic district of north London, come a day before the British parliament debates a motion calling for a ban on half-Scottish Trump from visiting the country.

“As you know my wife is Mexican and my constituency is very, very multi-cultural so what I was going to do was go down to the mosque with him and let him talk to people there,” he said.

The billionaire frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination called for a ban on Muslims entering the US following a shooting spree by two Muslims who the FBI said had been radicalized, and has made xenophobic comments about Latinos.

British lawmakers are due to debate on Monday a petition signed by more than half a million people calling for Trump to be barred from Britain, although the debate will not be followed by a vote.

Trump has threatened to cancel over 700 million pounds of investments in golf courses in Scotland if Britain slaps him with a travel ban.

Trump has also been involved in a spat with the Scottish government over plans they approved for an offshore wind farm project near one of his golf courses, calling former first minister Alec Salmond “an embarrassment to Scotland.”
 On Sunday, Salmond, who sits as a lawmaker in the British parliament, told the BBC he would likely support barring Trump from the country.

Four German members of a hardcore neo-Nazi terror cell have been charged with planning to bomb refugee shelters and assassinate Salafi clerics, media report. It comes alongside warnings by German politicians far-right violence against refugees is on the rise.

Federal prosecutor Peter Frank filed criminal charges against four suspects of a neo-Nazi terror cell called “Oldschool Society” on Wednesday, according to German media.

Their Facebook cover at the time was an infamous photo of an entrance to Auschwitz concentration camp reading “Arbeit macht frei” (“Work will make you free”), Spiegel reports. They also posted a YouTube recruitment advertisement saying, “We need every man, every woman to fight together for our homeland.”

The "Oldschool Society" also used WhatsApp and Telegram messengers for communication, and set up a clandestine HQ dubbed “Privy council.”

By May 2015, the neo-Nazi group was reportedly ready to carry out “a couple of actions” against refugee shelters, including one in the German town of Borna. It ordered its members to wear “black, casual clothes,” according to wiretapped phone conversations cited by Der Spiegel.

At the same time, the Oldschool Society allegedly sent Markus W. and Denise Vanessa G. to the Czech Republic, where they were tasked with buying large amount of explosive materials, while another suspect, Andreas H., worked on how to increase the power of their nail bombs.

The terror group members were detained in May 2015 following an operation by dozens of GSG 9 elite counterterrorist operatives, who simultaneously raided the homes of 10 neo-Nazis, including those of Andreas H., Markus W., Denise Vanessa G. and Olaf O. Explosive devices labeled “Cobra” and “Viper” as well as baseball bats were found in the suspects’ locations.

“That was quite a dangerous group,” an unnamed investigator told journalists. “It could quickly grow up and turn into a terrorist community.”

SINGAPORE – Oil prices rebounded in Asia Wednesday, halting a plunge that saw fall below $30 a barrel for the first time in more than 12 years but analysts warned of further pressure on the commodity.

Investors have an eye on the release later in the day of US commercial crude stockpiles data, which is expected to show another increase, further exacerbating a global supply glut that has hammered the market for 18 months.

On Tuesday, WTI fell at one point to $29.93, a level last seen in December 2003, although they were given a lift later by a private report pointing to a drop in inventories. However, experts warned that prices remained fragile.

“The supply and demand landscape for oil continues being bearish as prices continue to take discounts,” Daniel Ang, an analyst with Phillip Futures in Singapore said in a market commentary.

• Bernard Aw, a market strategist with IG Markets Singapore said, that if the market continues to test the $30 price level, “it is possible that the mark might eventually break”.
• He said the long-term trend is for prices to fall, with the supply glut not showing any let up.
• Oil-reliant OPEC member Nigeria on Tuesday called for an emergency meeting of the cartel to address collapsing prices, which have rattled world stock markets and hammered energy firms.
• The Nigerian petroleum resources minister, Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, said he expects an extraordinary meeting of the group in “early March” to discuss the crisis.
• “We did say that if it hits the $35 (per barrel level), we will begin to look (at)… an extraordinary meeting,” Kachikwu said at the Gulf Intelligence UAE Energy Forum.
• Poorer members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries have been clamouring for the cartel to cut high production levels in a bid to drive prices higher.

But OPEC’s influential members led by Saudi Arabia have rejected any such move, preferring to fight for market share against rival producers, particularly the United States.

A form four student gave birth to a baby girl at the sick bay of her school after complaining of stomach pains, reported Harian Metro.

The 16-year-old was assisted by her teacher and a nurse when she delivered the 3.1kg baby at 12.30pm last Wednesday.

The girl who was in her class, had asked for her teacher's permission to go to the sick bay, complaining of stomach ache. The nurse found out that she was actually in labour.

• Meanwhile, Kemaman OCPD Supt Mohd Said Ibrahim said an 18-year-old teenager, believed to be the girl's boyfriend, was detained to facilitate in investigations under Section 376 for rape.
• Initial investigations revealed that the student and her boyfriend have had sex five times since she was 14.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak today expressed his shock over reports that two Malaysians were involved in the recent suicide bombings in Iraq and Syria.

"Shocked and appalled to hear that two Malaysians were reported to have been involved in suicide bombings in Iraq and Syria, resulting in the loss of more than 30 innocent lives.

"Their actions and ideology have no place in Malaysia or Islam, and the government is absolutely committed to fighting terrorism in all its forms and guises, both at home and overseas," he said in his Facebook post yesterday.

He said the government would spare no effort in finding out how and why the two men were able to commit such atrocious acts, and would take all measures necessary to prevent others from doing so in the future.

The Philippines legislature's decision to eliminate funding for contraception will fuel HIV infections, maternal deaths and teen pregnancies, particularly among poor girls and women, reproductive rights advocates said on Friday.

MANILA: The Philippines legislature's decision to eliminate funding for contraception will fuel HIV infections, maternal deaths and teen pregnancies, particularly among poor girls and women, reproductive rights advocates said on Friday.

"We are so insulted by this. It is a violation of the very essence of a law that Congress itself enacted," said Rom Dongeto, executive director of the Philippine Legislators' Committee on Population and Development Foundation (PLCPD) comprised of lawmakers and members of civil society.