UK PM Cameron pledges to combat Islamism in schools
London, May 4
British Prime Minister David Cameron has waded into a controversy over the alleged Islamist extremism spreading across the schools in UK.

Odessa, May 4
Pro-Russian militants stormed a Ukrainian police station in Odessa on Sunday and freed 67 fellow activists as the Prime Minister blamed police corruption there for dozens of deaths in rioting on Friday.

"Russians won't abandon their own!" militants chanted as they smashed windows and broke down the gate at the compound, where comrades had been held since Friday's mayhem. Others shouted "Russia! Russia!" and "we will not forgive!"

The Odessa police said 67 activists were allowed to walk free. Some officers were offered the black and orange St. George's ribbon, a Russian military insignia that has become a symbol of the revolt, and were cheered by the crowd of several hundred.

As rebellion simmered, questions were raised about the ability of the army as well as police to confront an uprising Kiev says is backed by Moscow and led in the field by Russian special forces, an accusation the Kremlin denies. Police in the eastern port of Mariupol said pro-Russian rebels had tricked soldiers at a checkpoint into eating food laced with a sleeping potion.

The soldiers were then bundled off along with their weapons, prompting long talks to free them. Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk, speaking in Odessa on the western, Black Sea stretch of Ukraine's coast, accused Russia of engineering Friday's clashes there that led to the deaths of more than 40 pro-Russian activists in a blazing building.

But he was pointedly critical of the police. "If the law enforcement system in Odessa had worked not exclusively on the 'Seventh Kilometre' and had protected people, then these terrorist organisations would have been foiled." The Seventh Kilometre is an open market on the edge of Odessa, associated in the popular consciousness with the corruption and black market business that have marked Ukraine's 23 years of post-Soviet independence.

Odessa's police chief was fired on Saturday and Yatseniuk said other changes in leadership were planned. Friday's clashes were the deadliest since Moscow-oriented President Viktor Yanukovich was forced to flee in February and pro-Russian militants launched uprisings in the industrial east.

They also marked the first serious disorder beyond eastern areas since Yanukovich fell, heralding possible trouble for Kiev. Outright civil war in Ukraine and the division of a country the size of France would have serious implications for countries around, not least for Russia and for NATO states bordering it.

"There were dozens of casualties resulting from a well prepared and organised action against people, against Ukraine and against Odessa," said Yatseniuk, whose Western-backed government took power after Yanukovich fled and aims to hold a presidential election to replace him. — Reuters

Seoul, May 4
South Korean dive teams struggled today to gain access to blocked cabins of a submerged ferry that sank nearly three weeks ago, as the confirmed death toll from the disaster rose to 242.

Six more bodies were recovered early today, 18 days after the 6,825-tonne Sewol capsized and sank with 476 people on board, most of them schoolchildren, while 60 remain unaccounted for.

"Rescuers using some equipment are trying to open blocked cabins," spokesman Ko Myeong-Suk told a morning briefing.

The search has been hampered by fast currents and high waves, while dive teams have been working in challenging and sometimes hazardous conditions.

They have to grope their way down guiding ropes to the sunken ship, struggling through narrow passageways and rooms littered with floating debris in silty water.

As days go by, personal belongings and other items from the ship have been spotted further and further away, fuelling concerns that some victims of the ferry disaster may never be found.

One body was retrieved Friday by a fishing vessel four kilometres (two miles) away from the recovery site, and another was found 2 km away on Wednesday.

As a precaution, recovery workers have put rings of netting around the site.

It is one of South Korea's worst peacetime disasters, made all the more shocking by the loss of so many young lives.

Public anger has focused on the captain and crew members who abandoned the ship while hundreds were trapped inside, and on the authorities as more evidence emerges of lax safety standards and possible corruption among state regulators. — AFP

Washington, May 4
US President Barack Obama poked fun at his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, Republicans and media elites, and even mocked himself for his administration's disastrous health care policy rollout at the annual White House Correspondents Association dinner today.

"In 2008 my slogan was, 'Yes we can.' In 2013, it was control+alt+delete," Obama, donning the role of comedian-in- chief, said, poking fun at himself over his signature policy initiative and refereed to the technical glitch experienced by healthcare.gov this year.

Obama was at his oratorical best as he enthralled over 2,500 audiences, which included celebrities, politicians and American journalists at the WHCA's 100th anniversary.

First Lady Michelle Obama accompanied him to the annual tradition that has the President mocking others and himself.

The 52-year-old US President then turned to Fox news and said the TV channel would have a tough time in opposing Hillary Clinton, if she runs for 2016 presidential election. "Let's face it, Fox. You will miss me when I am gone. It will be harder to convince the American people that Hillary was born in Kenya."

Russian President Vladimir Putin too was at the receiving end of Obama's wit, notwithstanding the Ukraine crisis. He cracked jokes about Putin being headed for a Nobel Peace Prize. "To be fair, they give those to just about anybody these days," said Obama, a laureate himself.

He also turned the humour on Republican Party saying the Opposition brought in experts to learn how to talk to women.

"Both sides are doing whatever it takes to win a ruthless game. Republicans, this is a true story. Republicans actually brought in a group of consultants to teach their candidates how to speak to women. This is true. And I don't know if it will work with women, but I understand that America's teenage boys are signing up to run for the Senate in droves."

The dinner at the Washington Hilton Hotel has often come at key moments in the US president's presidency. In 2011, it came a day before Osama bin Laden was killed. Last year, the deadly Boston Marathon happened nearly two weeks before the dinner. This year, the Ukraine crises eclipsed the WHCA event. — PTI

Beirut, May 4
Syrian rebels have reached a deal with the government to pull out opposition fighters, civilians and wounded people from the army-besieged city of Homs, a rebel negotiator said today.

"An agreement occurred between representatives of the rebels and the chiefs of security, in the presence of the Iranian ambassador, for the pullout of fighters from the Old City to the northern countryside of Homs," Abul Hareth al-Khalidi told AFP, adding that talks are now focused on implementation.

Homs was dubbed the "capital of the revolution" at the start of the 2011 uprising against President Bashar al-Assad. Around 2,250 people, mostly fighters, will evacuate the Old City area, which lies in the heart of Syria's third city Homs, according to a version of the agreement obtained by AFP.

Abul Harith said civilians and wounded people will also be evacuated from the battered Old City, much of which has been destroyed by near-daily bombardment and constant fighting.

It was impossible to reach Syrian government officials on Sunday to confirm the reports. — AFP