News in Brief(18-5-2018)

Egypt kills 19 jihadists in Sinai
CAIRO, May 17: Egypt's army said Thursday it killed 19 presumed jihadists in the Sinai peninsula during a large-scale "anti-terror" operation. Egyptian forces launched operation "Sinai 2018" in February in the peninsula where soldiers and security forces have been battling the Islamic State group. A military statement said 19 suspected extremists were killed in gun battles with army and security forces in the central and northern Sinai in recent days. — AFP
Britain gets ready for royal wedding
LONDON, May 17: Street parties, open-air screenings and hipster bars are all offering Britons a chance to join in celebrations of the Windsor Castle wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on Saturday. A pre-wedding night out-known as a stag-do for the groom and a hen night for the bride-is a well-observed tradition in Britain, regardless of your nobility. So while Harry celebrates with his brother and best man Prince William at a five-star hotel near Windsor, and bride-to-be Markle enjoys the comforts of a nearby country estate with her mother, London nightspots are encouraging partying in their honour. — AFP
Trump admits paying porn star
WASHINGTON, May 17: US President Donald Trump acknowledged for the first time in an ethics disclosure released on Wednesday that he repaid more than $100,000 to former personal attorney Michael Cohen, renewing questions about Trump's ties to porn star Stormy Daniels. The disclosure underscored the inconsistency of explanations by Trump and aides about a $130,000 payment made by Cohen to Daniels before the 2016 presidential election to buy her silence over an alleged sexual encounter with Trump in 2006. — Reuters
Congo confirms third Ebola case
KINSHASA, May 17: The Democratic Republic of the Congo has confirmed the third Ebola case, also the first case in the urban area, in the latest Ebola epidemic declared early this month. "This weekend, two suspected cases of hemorrhagic fever were reported in the health zone of Wangata, one of the health zones of Mbandaka City. After analysis, one of the two samples was positive, "said Congolese Minister of Health Orly Ilunga in a statement released late Wednesday night. — Xinhua
5.3-magnitude quake strikes Japan
TOKYO, May 17: An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.3 struck Japan's Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo in the Kanto region on Thursday, the weather agency here said. According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), the temblor, which measured 4 on the Japanese seismic scale which peaks at 7, struck at a latitude of 35.7 degrees north and a longitude of 140.8 degrees east, and at a depth of 50 km. — Xinhua
Sherpa guide missing on Everest
KATHMANDU, May 17: A sherpa guide who went missing four days ago on Everest is presumed dead, Nepali officials said Thursday, the first feared fatality of the climbing season on the world's highest mountain. — AFP