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  From the section US & Canada Share The provisions within the new health care bill have caused huge political debate US President Donald Trump has demanded a make-or-break Friday vote on a new health care bill in the House of Representatives. The American Healthcare Act is intended to replace parts of President Barack Obama's signature law. But Thursday's vote was delayed because of opposition from some Republicans - despite Mr Trump's repeated attempts to persuade them to back the legislature. He now says he wants to move on and vote - whatever the result on Friday. White House budget director Mick Mulvaney said this was exactly the message delivered to Republican lawmakers at a meeting behind closed doors on Thursday. "For seven-and-a-half years we have been promising the American people that we will repeal and replace this broken law because it's collapsing and it's failing families, and tomorrow we're proceeding,...

Image copyright REUTERS Image caption Only five bodies have been recovered More than 200 migrants are feared dead in a boat sinking off the coast of Libya, a Spanish aid organisation says. Proactiva Open Arms said it had recovered five bodies floating near two capsized boats, which can each hold more than 100 people. The group's Laura Lanuza said the five they pulled from the Mediterranean were young men who appeared to have drowned. A spokesman for Italy's coast guard, which co-ordinates rescues, confirmed the five deaths, Reuters reports. Ms Lanuza at least 240 migrants may have died as the boats were often overloaded by smugglers. "We brought on board five corpses recovered from the sea, but no lives," the group wrote on  its Facebook page . "It is a harsh reality check of the suffering here that is invisible in Europe." Numbers of migrants trying to reach Europe from Libya via Italy have risen dramatically this year since...

Share I Image caption The flames were fanned by high winds A fire that destroyed a church owned by a well-known white supremacist in a small US town is under investigation. The place of worship in Nome, North Dakota, was recently purchased by Craig Cobb, who tried to set up a whites-only enclave in another part of the state. The blaze was reported on Wednesday afternoon and the structure was razed by the time fire crews arrived after nearly an hour. Cobb said the fire at the former Zion Lutheran church was "100% arson". He told WDAY-TV, a Fargo-based news station, that he is offering a reward of $2,000 (£1,600) to anyone with any information related to the incident, which he said was a direct attack on his life. Local residents said that it appeared Cobb had not yet moved in the 108-year-old building. He says the gas and electric utilities had not been hooked up, so the fire could not have been accidental. The blaze occurred on the same day that new...

5 hours ago From the section Football Ghanaian referee Joseph Lamptey has been banned for life by Fifa Ghanaian referee Joseph Lamptey has been banned for life by Fifa for what it calls "match manipulation". The ban results from a penalty he awarded to  South Africa in a 2-1 win  over Senegal in a 2018 World Cup qualifier in November. He penalised Kalidou Koulibaly for handball, but replays showed the ball hit his knee. Football's world governing body says it will give more details  "once the decision becomes final and binding". Lamptey can now appeal to Fifa and the Court of Arbitration for Sport. One of his assistants, David Laryea, also from Ghana, had charges against him dismissed by Fifa's disciplinary committee. The win for South Africa left them in second place in the four-team group after two matches, with Senegal in third. Lamptey, who also officiated at the Rio Olympics last year, de...

3 hours ago   From the section Africa Share At least 18 people, mainly high school students, have died after a large tree fell on them at a popular waterfall spot in Kintampo, Ghana, police say. The students were swimming during a storm when the freak accident happened, local police chief Owusu Boampong said. Twenty-two others were injured and are being treated at local hospitals. Rescue teams used chainsaws to cut through the fallen tree and free those trapped underneath, local media report. President Nana Akufo-Addo has  tweeted  his condolences to the families of the victims. Police and fire service personnel were involved in the rescue operation at the scene in Ghana's central Brong-Ahafo region, 400km (250 miles) north of the capital Accra. An eyewitness  told Ghana's Starr News  that most of those involved were students of the Wenchi Senior High School, but that there were also tourists. Top tourist destination: By Sammy Dark...

Syrian civil war Share Image copyright AFP Image caption Rebel-held areas on the outskirts of Damascus have been extensively damaged in recent months Syrian security forces are engaged in fierce clashes with rebels on the eastern outskirts of the capital Damascus, residents say. Artillery shells and rockets landed inside the heart of the city as part of a surprise rebel attack, they say. The insurgents detonated two suicide car bombs in Jobar district before trying to storm government defence lines, observers said. The military responded to the attack with air strikes. Syrian state media says secret tunnels were also used to launch the assault in Jobar. Damascus only has a few opposition held areas, and Jobar is the closest to the city centre. Control of the war-damaged area - which is split between rebels and jihadists on one side and government forces on the other - has been fought over for more than two years. Image copyright AFP Image caption The lat...