Saudis get a glimpse of Hollywood, NASA's planet-hunter launched, and other news in pictures

A visitor takes pictures of posters of Hollywood movie stars during an invitation-only screening at the King Abdullah Financial District Theatre, in Riyadh.

A visitor takes pictures of posters of Hollywood movie stars during an invitation-only screening at the King Abdullah Financial District Theatre, in Riyadh.   | Photo Credit: AP

12:20 pm

First Saudi cinema opens

The lights dimmed and the crowd of men and women erupted into applause and hoots as Hollywood’s blockbuster “Black Panther” premiered in Saudi Arabia’s first movie theater.

Though it was a private, invitation-only screening on Wednesday evening, for many Saudis it marked one of the clearest moments of change to sweep the country in decades. - AP

10.00 am

SpaceX blasts off NASA's new planet-hunter

This NASA handout photograph shows NASA’s next planet-hunter, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), successfully launching on a SpaceX Falcon 9 on April 18, 2018 at Cape Canaveral, Florida.

This NASA handout photograph shows NASA’s next planet-hunter, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), successfully launching on a SpaceX Falcon 9 on April 18, 2018 at Cape Canaveral, Florida.   | Photo Credit: AFP

 

A Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Florida on Wednesday on SpaceX's first high-priority science mission for NASA, a planet-hunting orbital telescope designed to detect worlds beyond our solar system that might be capable of harboring life.

NASA expects to pinpoint thousands more previously unknown worlds, perhaps hundreds of them Earth-sized or "super-Earth" sized - no larger than twice as big as our home planet.

9.30 am

Trump-Abe press meet

U.S. President Donald Trump waves at the conclusion of a joint press conference with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.

U.S. President Donald Trump waves at the conclusion of a joint press conference with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.   | Photo Credit: REUTERS

 

U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Wednesday they had agreed to intensify trade consultations between the two longtime allies, with an aim to expand investment and trade between their countries.

“President Trump and I agreed to start talks for free, fair and reciprocal trade deals,” Abe said at a joint news conference with Trump.

9.00 am

Jack Ma in Thailand

Jack Ma, founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, meets Thailand's Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha in Bangkok, Thailand, April 19, 2018.

Jack Ma, founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, meets Thailand's Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha in Bangkok, Thailand, April 19, 2018.   | Photo Credit: REUTERS

Jack Ma, founder of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, is in Bangkok to announce the group's investment in the Thai government's Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC) scheme.

8.30 am

Ecuador will no longer host Colombia peace talks

A Colombian soldier guards the border with Ecuador in Narino, Colombia.

A Colombian soldier guards the border with Ecuador in Narino, Colombia.   | Photo Credit: REUTERS

Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno said that he is suspending his country's role as a mediator in peace talks between Colombia's government and that nation's last major rebel army.


Moreno told Colombia's RCN network on Wednesday that he made the decision because the National Liberation Army continues to carry out terrorist acts even while negotiating an end to hostilities.