UK joins IMF and World Bank to cut Mozambique aid

The UK government says it has suspended financial aid to Mozambique over an alleged "serious breach of trust" relating to undisclosed debts.

This follows similar action from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

The IMF halted funding 10 days ago when it found Mozambique had not declared debts of more than $1bn (£700m).

The government says the liabilities relate to guaranteeing loans taken out by two mostly state-owned companies.

The UK said in a statement that it was now "working closely with other international partners to establish the truth and coordinate an appropriate response".

The IMF is currently carrying out an analysis to see if Mozambique has a sustainable level of debt, and the World Bank is waiting for its outcome before it approves any more loans.

Mozambique's Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho do Rosario went to the IMF headquarters in Washington DC last week to explain the government's position. 

The government has admitted that it acted as guarantor for a $622m loan taken out by state-owned Pro-Indicus, and another loan of $535m by Mozambique Asset Management. Both are involved in the maritime industry.

Mozambique has had one of Africa's fastest growing economies in recent years with oil and gas discoveries buoying its prospects and attracting a lot of investment.

The mechanics of this are the same as with a personal loan. 

If you take out a loan from a bank, the bank always asks you about your other liabilities. Do you have other debts? It will also want to see a payslip.

From the bank's point of view, it is all to do with risk. Can you make the payments on their loan, if you have a lot of other debt as well?

And it is the same with countries. So, when the IMF lent money to Mozambique, it would have asked about the country's other liabilities. 

As the Mozambique government failed to disclose that it guaranteed the two large loans, it has put the IMF loan in jeopardy. 

The IMF is now worried that Mozambique will not be able to meet its liability commitments with this extra debt on its books.

Clinic In Syria Hit By Another Airstrike

A Syrian clinic has been hit by an airstrike, the second time this week a medical facility has been struck, officials said.

The strike on the Al-Marja neighbourhood of rebel-held Aleppo wounded several people, the civil defence, known as the White Helmets, said.

Several other strikes appeared to target mosques in rebel-held areas. 

At least one child died and five people were injured in the strikes, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

In separate attacks, insurgents killed at least 15 worshippers as they left Friday prayers.

Another 30 are thought to be injured after rockets struck Malla Khan mosque, according to Syrian state TV.

Earlier this week, the Al-Quds hospital and nearby flats were hit in rebel-held Sukkari neighbourhood.

The death toll from that bombing has since risen to 50 people, including six medical staff and patients, the medical charity Doctors Without Borders has claimed.

The head of the organisation's Syria mission said "the city, consistently at the frontlines of this brutal war, is now in danger of coming under a full offensive, no corner is being spared."

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has warned that targeting medical facilities could "amount to war crimes."

Overall, airstrikes on rebel-held areas of Aleppo have killed more than 200 civilians over the last week.

The strikes come as the UN called on the US and Russia to salvage the "barely alive" two-month truce.

Russian state media said the "regime of silence", agreed by Russia and the US, will apply for 24 hours in Damascus and Aleppo and 72 hours in Latakia.

But the Syrian army declared that a temporary truce would affect Damascus and Latakia - but not in Aleppo.

The ceasefire brokered by the US and Russia in February has been crumbling, as casualty figures from government and opposition violence escalates.

FBI Arrests Three In San Bernardino Inquiry

The FBI has arrested three people over an alleged marriage fraud conspiracy uncovered during the investigation into last year's mass shooting in San Bernardino.

Federal agents detained the gunman's older brother, his Russian immigrant wife and her sister during raids on Thursday morning in the Californian cities of Corona and Ontario.

Syed Raheel Farook, 31, his wife Tatiana Gigliotti, also 31, and her sister, Mariya Chernykh, are accused of conspiracy to make a false statement to immigration officials while under oath.

Chernykh, 26, who was wed to another suspect in the terrorism investigation, is also charged with fraud and two counts of making false statements to federal agents.

In the 2 December mass shooting at San Bernardino, California, Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and his wife Tashfeen Malik, 29, shot dead 14 people before being killed by police.

Chernykh is married to Enrique Marquez, a former neighbour of the San Bernardino attackers.

Marquez was charged in December with conspiracy to support terrorism and lying about the purchase of the assault rifles used in the shooting.

He was also accused of entering into a sham marriage with Chernykh, who lives in Ontario.

On Thursday, investigators said that marriage was for Chernykh to obtain immigration benefits that she could not access because she lacked legal status in the US.

Federal agents had already searched the Corona home of the gunman's brother in February.

Neighbours had reported seeing agents carrying out papers, manila envelopes and computer equipment from Raheel Farook's house.

No one was arrested on that occasion.

Miley Cyrus is Not Entirely Wrong About Her Tat

Miley Cyrus and Galileo Galileihave a lot in common. OK, Miley Cyrus and Galileo Galilei don’thave a lot in common. But give them this: at one point in their lives they both got punked by Saturn.

For Miley, it happened on April 28, when she Instagrammed a picture of a new tattoo on her left arm—a tattoo which was clearly a picture of Saturn—and captioned it #lilbbjupiter, for “li’l baby Jupiter.” (She later corrected the post, deleting the Jupiter reference.) And then everyone on Instagram did what everyone on Instagram always does, which was to engage her in polite conversation and gently correct her mistake. Oh, and practically set the tips of their thumbs on fire typing back snark.

For Galileo, it happened one evening in 1611, when he climbed to the top of his favorite tower in Padua and turned his little two-foot telescope toward Saturn and noticed for the first time that the planet had…he didn’t know what. Ears, maybe. “Ears” was actually the word he wrote in his notebook, which makes it a very good thing they didn’t have Google Docs then because all of the other people in Padua could have hacked his password, seen what he wrote and made fun of him. It wasn’t until 1654 that Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens, who had a better telescope, discovered that the ears were rings. Galileo, as it happened, was dead by then, so he went to his grave thinking that Saturn looked slightly like Prince Charles.

But the point is, planets can be confusing and what you think is true about them isn’t always true. So you can make fun of Miley all you want for calling a ringed planet Jupiter, but guess what: Jupiter does have rings. And so does Uranus and so does Neptune.

Neptune’s five rings were discovered in 1968 when Earth-based telescopes first noticed that starlight near the planet seemed to flicker on and off as if something was getting in the way of the light now and then. In 1989, Voyager 2 flew by Neptune and discovered that that something was a set of fine rings—so fine in fact that they were more like arcs. Uranus’ rings were discovered the same way—first by so-called “stellar eclipsing” in 1977 and then by Voyager 2.

For Jupiter, it was both Voyagers 1 and 2, which flew by the planet in 1979 and discovered four rings. None are as vivid as Saturn’s, but all are big enough and distinct enough to have been later observed by the Hubble Space Telescope and to have earned some evocative names: the halo ring, the main ring, the Amalthea gossamer ring and the Thebe gossamer ring.

Call them anything you want, but the rings are there, astronomers know they’re there—and they’ve known since 13 years before Miley Cyrus was even born. It’s entirely possible Miley wasn’t thinking about the Amalthea gossamer ring and the history of the Voyager probes when she posted her picture. And the rest of the text that accompanied it—”permaaaa skinnnnn arrrrrttttt by daaaa mosssst bad a$$”—might need some vetting before she submits it for peer review.

But sorry snarkers and haters, this time Miley may know something you don’t. So, nice tat Miley, and if you’re considering another one, I vote for l’il baby Pluto. That guy’s just adorable.

Huge Haul Of Roman Coins Unearthed In Spain

Workers laying pipes in a southern Spanish town have stumbled upon thousands of bronze and silver-coated coins dating as far back as the third century.

Culture officials have described it as a "unique historic discovery", which is now being looked after by Seville's archaeology museum.

Workers came across 19 Roman amphoras - a type of storage jar - containing the coins while carrying out routine work in a park in Tomares.

They were found just under a metre underground, and the coins are stamped with the inscriptions of emperors Maximian and Constantine.

It is thought they had been newly minted and stored to pay soldiers or civil servants, with little sign of wear and tear.

Ana Navarro, head of the Archaeological Museum of Seville, told a news conference: "It is a unique collection and there are very few similar cases".

"I could not give you an economic value, because the value they really have is historical and you can’t calculate that."

The museum has contacted counterparts in the UK, France and Italy, and believes the find is one of the most important from the period.

Construction work has been suspended in the park while archaeologists investigate further.

Driver Killed In Crash Between Two Ambulances

Colleagues of an emergency service driver killed when his vehicle was in a collision with another ambulance say they are "absolutely devastated" by the tragedy.

The Welsh Ambulance Service NHS Trust (WAS) said the crash involving two ambulances - one an urgent response vehicle and the other a patient transport service - happened on the A499.

Seven teams of paramedics, including two air ambulances, three ambulances by road and two rapid response cars, went to the scene where the driver of the non-emergency vehicle was pronounced dead.

Three people who were travelling in the 999 ambulance are being treated in hospital following the fatal crash in Pwllheli, Gwynedd, shortly before 3pm on Thursday.

WAS head of operations in North Wales, Sonia Thompson, said: "We were all absolutely devastated to hear about this tragic accident, and our thoughts are with everyone involved.

"We're doing everything we can to support our affected colleagues, and are working hard to understand what happened."

Richard Lee, the WAS's director of operations, added: "As an ambulance service we deal with road traffic accidents on a daily basis.

"These are always difficult for our staff to deal with, but even more so when they involve our colleagues."

The WAS said it had been overwhelmed by the "humbling and deeply touching" reaction, adding: "Out of adversity comes strength.

"We are truly stronger together. Thank you."

Fellow emergency services posted their support on social media.

London's Metropolitan Special Constabulary said their thoughts were with all those involved at the WAS as part of the "#999family".

The Northern Ireland College of Paramedics tweeted: "Our thoughts are with our @WelshAmbulance colleagues and their families this evening."

West Midlands Ambulance Service said: "Our deepest sympathies go out to our colleagues in @WelshAmbulance who lost one of their own in a crash today. #RIP."

Jim Hancox, from Midlands Air Ambulance's Strensham base, wrote: "Words can't express the sadness and loss our @WelshAmbulance colleagues will be feeling tonight.

"We stand shoulder to shoulder with you ..."

The Dublin Fire Brigade tweeted: "Thinking of our colleagues in @WelshAmbulance and everyone affected by today's tragic events #999family."

TOWIE Star's Sister Hands Back Marathon Medal

The sister of The Only Way Is Essex (TOWIE) star James "Arg" Argent is to return her London Marathon finisher's medal after allegations of cheating.

Natasha Argent was recorded as completing the 26.2 miles in three hours 44 minutes but it was soon noted that she had appeared to run the second half of the race faster than elite athletes.

Members of the public flagged up that her results showed her as running the final 20km in under an hour. 

Earlier this week organisers of the event told Sky News the results were "extremely questionable".

Argent's results have now been wiped from the official London Marathon website.

The male and female elite winners of Sunday's race with Prince Harry

Hugh Brasher, event director, said: "Our results team has been in touch with Natasha Argent, along with a small number of other runners, to request an explanation for the missing split times in her results from Sunday's Virgin Money London Marathon.

"At her request, we have removed her results from the system and she will be returning her finisher's medal to us."

Argent's results page showed she started Sunday's race at 10.16am and had completed the first 20km by 12.33pm.

However, her timings for the next 20km were not visible on the site.

She then reappeared at the 40km mark at 1.21pm and finished at 2pm.

Organisers said there are a number of suspect times every year and around 20 out of 39,000 entrants are being investigated this year.

James Argent completed the London Marathon in 2012 with a time of just over six hours.

On Sunday he congratulated his sister on Twitter for her achievement but the tweet was later deleted.

Sky News has contacted his representative for a comment.