Google parent company Alphabet  today reported a quarterly loss of USD 3 billion as it set  aside USD 11 billion for taxes on its overseas profits being  brought back to the United States.
The California tech giant said revenues in the last three  months of 2017 rose 24 per cent from a year ago to USD 32.3  billion and cited "great growth" for the company.
Shares in Alphabet slid 2.4 per cent to USD 1,139.05 in  after-hours trade, amid concerns over profits below  expectations.
Google remained the key driver of revenue and profit for  the company, which has reorganized into new divisions for  self-driving vehicles, life sciences and other so-called  "moonshot" projects.
The Google segment accounted for USD 31.9 billion in  revenue and delivered an operating profit of USD 8.8 billion.
Excluding the tax provision -- following the lead of  other multinationals taking advantage of a favorable rate to  repatriate earnings -- Alphabet would have posted a profit of  USD 6.8 billion.
"Our ...

Google parent Alphabet reports USD 3 bn loss on tax provision

PTI Automatic

Myanmar's government has told  the Security Council that this month was "not the right time"  for a visit by the top UN body to see first-hand the Rohingya  refugee crisis, the council president said today.
Kuwait's Ambassador Mansour al-Otaibi said Myanmar  authorities were not opposed to such a visit, which could take  place in March or April.
"They just think that this is not the right time for a  visit," Otaibi, who holds the council presidency for February,  told reporters at UN headquarters.
The council has demanded that hundreds of thousands of  Muslim Rohingya who were driven out of Rakhine state during an  army crackdown be allowed to return.
The ambassador said Myanmar authorities were trying to  organize a visit for diplomats based in the country, and had  emphasized that "tensions are high in Rakhine state at the  moment."
Nearly 700,000 Rohingya have crossed into Bangladesh and  are living in refugee camps since August following the  campaign that the United Nations has ..

Myanmar turns down UN Security Council visit

The Maldives' top court ordered the  release of nine key political prisoners today, clearing the  way for exiled former leader Mohamed Nasheed to run for  president.
The atoll nation's joint opposition welcomed the surprise  ruling, which has also granted them a parliamentary majority,  and demanded that President Abdulla Yameen step down.
"The Supreme Court's verdict effectively ends President  Yameen's authoritarian rule," the opposition said in a  statement.
The Maldives' popular image as an upmarket holiday  paradise had been severely damaged by a major crackdown on  dissent under Yameen, who has overseen the jailing of almost  all the political opposition.
Nasheed, who is living in self-imposed exile, was  sentenced to 13 years in jail on a terrorism charge widely  criticised as politically motivated.
In its order, seen by AFP, the Supreme Court said the  "questionable and politically motivated nature of the trials  of the political leaders warrant a retrial".
The court ordered ..

Maldives court orders release of political prisoners

Central Intelligence Agency  Director Mike Pompeo today defended meetings in Washington  with top Russian espionage counterparts despite one being  under US sanctions.
Pompeo told Senator Chuck Schumer in a letter that the  meetings reportedly held last week with Sergey Naryshkin, the  head of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service, and FSB  Director Alexander Bortnikov, were normal business in the  process of the CIA's mission to "keep Americans safe."
"While Russia remains an adversary, we would put American  lives at greater risk if we ignored opportunities to work with  the Russian services in the fight against terrorism," Pompeo  said.
Naryshkin's visit, first reported in the Russian media,  raised eyebrows because he is on a US sanctions blacklist,  which normally would have prevented him from travelling to  Washington.
After the news came out, Schumer, the leading Democrat in  the Senate, asked for clarification on why he came and with  whom he had met.
The secret meetings ...

CIA chief defends meetings with Russian spymasters

A Zimbabwean opposition leader and  her entourage were today attacked with stones by suspected  ruling party activists in Harare, her party said.
Joice Mujuru, a former vice president of the country who  is now leader of the National People's Party (NPP), and her  supporters were pelted while on the campaign trail.
Zimbabwe is due to hold general elections before July --  the first polls since independence hero Robert Mugabe was  ousted after 37 years in power.  Mujuru is one of the  prominent contenders.
Mujuru was hit on the cheek with a stone and later  addressed a rally in the working class suburb of Glen Norah  after she received medical treatment, her spokesman said.
Mujuru "was going to address a rally ...she passed  through a shopping centre and when people realised it was her,
they came out of the shops to cheer her," Jeffryson Chitando  told AFP.
"She got out of her car and greeted the people, and that  is when ZANU-PF (activists) started throwing stones."
He said 10 of her .

Opposition claims attacked during campaign in Zimbabwe

Arab foreign ministers today called  for the creation of a UN-backed "multilateral mechanism" to  help revive the peace process between Israel and the  Palestinians.
The appeal was issued at the end of a two-day meeting to  discuss US President Donald Trump's December 6 recognition of  Jerusalem as Israel's capital which has sparked Arab anger.
Trump's decision also to relocate the US embassy to  Jerusalem from Tel Aviv triggered deadly clashes in  Palestinian territories and was rejected in a non-binding UN  General Assembly resolution.
The Palestinians have frozen contacts with the Trump  administration over the decision and said the United States  can no longer mediate in the Middle East conflict following  Trump's decision.
Meeting at Arab League headquarters in Cairo, the foreign  ministers called for the "creation of an international and  multilateral mechanism under the aegis of the United Nations  to sponsor the peace process".
They also asked for an international conference ..

Arabs seek 'multilateral' process to revive Mideast peace

President Donald Trump is set to  approve the release of an explosive memo alleging abuse of  power in the FBI's probe of his election campaign, a White  House official said today.
"The president is OK with" the memo's publication, the  official said, adding that Trump would "probably" give  Congress a green light tomorrow to release the document, which  purports to show the Justice Department and FBI as  politicized, anti-Trump agencies.
"It's in Congress's hands after that," the official  added.

Trump to approve release of explosive memo: White House

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson  warned that China and Russia are assuming "alarming" roles in  Latin America and urged regional powers to work with the  United States instead.
"Latin America doesn't need new imperial powers that seek  only to benefit their own people," Tillerson said, in a major  policy address yesterday before his first tour of South  American capitals.
"China's state-led model of development is reminiscent of  the past. It doesn't have to be the hemisphere's future," he  said, warning that "unfair trading practices" would cost local  jobs.
"Russia's growing presence in the region is alarming  too," he said, complaining that Moscow sells arms to  "unfriendly regimes who do not share or respect democratic  process."
Tillerson was addressing staff and students at the  University of Texas before he was to fly out on a six-day  five-nation tour of Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Colombia and  Jamaica.

Tillerson: China, Russia roles in Americas 'alarming'

US ally Jordan has cut diplomatic  ties with North Korea "in line with the policies of its  allies", a government source said today.
The decision comes months after similar moves by  Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, who are also key  regional allies of the US.
In November, the US called on all countries to cut off  trade and diplomatic ties with North Korea after it carried  out a series of weapons test, including intercontinental  ballistic missiles that brought the US mainland into range.
The Jordanian government source acknowledged that  relations between Pyongyang and Amman were "never very strong"  but said ties were cut "in line with the policies of Jordan's  allies".
The decision was ratified by a royal decree, according  to the government's website.
Jordan is a key recipient of American financial and  military aid.
Last year, the US allocated USD 470 million to  Jordan's army and air force, the American embassy said.
Three years ago, Washington said it would ...

US ally Jordan cuts ties with NKorea

The US is not ruling out fresh  military action against the Syrian regime as Washington dials  up pressure in a bid to stop sustained chemical weapons  attacks, senior administration officials said today.
In the wake of suspected sarin and chlorine attacks --  including one unconfirmed attack in the rebel-held town of  Douma on Thursday -- Washington said it wants to send a  message to Bashar al-Assad's regime and its Russian backers  that enough is enough.
"The Assad regime and ISIS continue to use chemical  weapons," one senior official said. "They just continue to  commit really unspeakable atrocities."
A second official told AFP that military options  against Damascus similar to those launched in April 2017 were  always on the table and "always feasible."
"He hasn't excluded anything," the official said of  President Donald Trump, "using military force is something  that is still considered.

US not ruling out military strikes after new chemical attacks

The most senior career  diplomat in the US State Department has decided to retire,  exactly one year after he oversaw the transition to President  Donald Trump's administration, he said today.
Thomas Shannon will retire as undersecretary of state  for political affairs, after 35 years in which he served as an  ambassador, an acting assistant secretary of state and, for  two weeks last year, acting secretary of state.
Shannon ran the State Department in the interim period  between the departure of former president Barack Obama's  secretary of state John Kerry and the arrival of Trump's  nominee, Rex Tillerson, a period which was marked by reports  of dissent among career staff.
But, in a retirement letter to colleagues, the 60-  year-old Shannon gave no hint of political dissatisfaction,  describing his decision as "personal, and driven by a desire  to attend to my family, take stock of my life, and set a new  direction for my remaining years."
"I want to express my profound gratitude .

Top US career diplomat to retire after year under Trump

Two 15-year-old students in  Los Angeles were shot and wounded in class today, according to  witnesses and local media, in the latest school shooting to  hit the US.
A boy was shot in the head, while a girl was hit in  the wrist, according to reports from the scene. Local news  agency CNS reported that a "young woman," possibly a fellow  student, had been arrested.
Paramedics sent to Salvador Castro Middle School the  central Westlake area at 9:00 am (1700 GMT) said both students  were taken to hospital, with the boy in critical condition and  the girl faring better.
A 30-year-old woman was treated for unspecified minor  injuries, the Los Angeles Fire Department reported.
The shooter's weapon has been recovered, according to  the Los Angeles Unified School District Police Department.
The shooting was in a classroom on campus, according  to local broadcast media, which the middle school shares with  older students at Belmont High School.

Two students wounded in LA school shooting

Washington braced today for  the release of an explosive memo alleging abuse of power in  the FBI's probe of Donald Trump's campaign, which has  magnified tensions between the White House and the  government's premier law enforcement body.
A White House official told AFP that Trump has read  the memo, and Fox News and other media reported Wednesday he  has decided to allow the release of the highly classified  document before the weekend.
The four-page memo was written by Republican lawmaker  Devin Nunes, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, and  purports to show the Justice Department and the FBI as deeply  politicized, anti-Trump agencies.
Its release would amount to an outright rejection of  the FBI's extraordinary warning Tuesday against the memo's  release -- a warning that was unsigned but had to be approved  by agency director Chris Wray.
"We have grave concerns about material omissions of  fact that fundamentally impact the memo's accuracy," the FBI  said.
A decision .

Trump, FBI on collision course as secret memo's release looms

The company said that massive power outage had prevented lifts from bringing the night shift to the surface at the Beatrix gold mine

950 miners trapped in S Africa after power outage, 65 rescued: Company

Press Trust of India

Afghanistan has handed "undeniable"  evidence to Pakistan that it claims shows a recent spate of  deadly attacks were planned on Pakistani soil, Afghan  officials said today, amid growing public anger over their  impotence to protect civilians.
The attacks, including one of the deadliest bombings in  Kabul since the US invasion, came after Washington's recent  decision to freeze nearly USD 2 billion in aid to Pakistan in  a bid to halt its alleged support for militant groups  including the Afghan Taliban and the affiliated Haqqani  Network.
Kabul is on edge after militants stormed a luxury hotel,  bombed a crowded street and raided a military compound in the  past two weeks.
Afghan authorities have blamed the January 20 attack on  the Intercontinental hotel and Saturday's ambulance bombing on  the Haqqani Network, long thought to be linked to Pakistan's  shadowy military establishment.
Both attacks have been claimed by the Taliban. The  Haqqani leader, Sirajuddin Haqqani, is deputy ...

Kabul has 'undeniable' evidence attacks planned in Pakistan

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba  today posted a 35 per cent surge in net profit in the third  quarter, fuelled by a record-breaking sales bonanza during its  annual Singles Day shopping festival.
The company said profit jumped to 24.1 billion yuan ($3.7  billion) between October and December, compared to 17.9  billion yuan in the same quarter in 2016.
Alibaba runs an annual promotion on November 11 that  draws the country's growing consumer class which can buy an  array of products at the click of a button on their  smartphones.
Last year's event recorded 168.2 billion yuan ($25.9  billion) in payments, a 39 per cent increase from the 2016  festival.
Rivals such as JD.com had also reported brisk business on  November 11.
"Alibaba had another great quarter driven by the  continued strength of the Chinese consumer and the wide and  innovative range of services we provide for merchants and  consumers," Alibaba chief executive Daniel Zhang said in an  earnings report.
"We are excited by .

Alibaba net profit soars 35% as Singles Day pays off

About 950 gold miners were  stuck underground in South Africa today after a power cut, the  mine's owner said, though the workers were not reported to be  in immediate danger.
"We sent rescue teams down, accounted for all the people  and obviously are trying to get them out of there as soon as  possible," James Wellsted, spokesman for the Sibanye-  Stillwater mining company, told ENCA television.

950 miners trapped in S Africa after power outage: company

The International Olympic Committee  said the 28 Russians who had their life bans lifted by sport's  top court CAS today did not "automatically" allow them to  compete at the Pyeongchang Games.
"Not being sanctioned does not automatically confer the  privilege of an invitation" to the 2018 Games in South Korea,  the IOC explained in a statement.
The Olympic rulers said they took note of the Court of  Arbitration for Sport's verdict "with satisfaction on the one  hand and disappointment on the other".
CAS upheld the appeals of 28 of the 43 Russians accused  of doping at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, lifting their  life bans and reinstating their results form Sochi, and  freeing them to possibly compete at Pyeonghcang.
The other 11 had their life bans overturned, but their  Pyeongchang ban maintained.
The court ruled there was "insufficient" evidence that  the athletes had benefited from a system of state-sponsored  doping at Sochi.
The IOC warned that CAS's verdict on the 28 "may ...

No 'automatic' Oly participation for 28 cleared Russians - IOC

How should Facebook decide what's art  and what's pornography? The question comes to a head in a  French court case today with the social network accused of  censoring a 19th-century painting of a woman's genitals.
"L'Origine du Monde" (The Origin of the World), an 1866  oil painting by the realist painter Gustave Courbet, may hang  on the walls of the Musee d'Orsay in Paris.
But its status as a cherished work of art did not stop  Facebook shutting down the account of a French teacher who  shared a picture of it, because of the social network's ban on  nude images.
The teacher, Frederic Durand, accuses Facebook of  deactivating his account "without warning or justification" in  February 2011.
He promptly sued the company in the name of freedom of  expression, but the case is coming to court only on Thursday  after a years-long legal wrangle over jurisdiction.
Durand made repeated attempts to have his account  restored but Facebook is not thought to have done so --  despite rule ...

Facebook in French court for 'censoring' 19th-century vagina

Tajikistan's $4-billion mega dam,  intended to be the tallest in the world, could begin  operations in time for a holiday honouring President Emomali  Rakhmon in November, state media said today.
State television said the first turbine in the Rogun  hydroelectric dam could come online in November, quoting  Pietro Salini, chief executive of the Italian company Salini  Impregilo that has been contracted to oversee the project.
Salini met with Rakhmon on Wednesday.
The November 16 launch date for the first unit coincides  with a holiday honouring the 65-year-old Rakhmon, who has been  president for nearly a quarter of a century and is the subject  of a flourishing personality cult.
There have been calls by public figures in the country to  rename the dam, planned to be 335 metres tall -- which would  make it the tallest hydroelectric dam in the world -- after  Rakhmon.
A former collective farm chief who consolidated control  over Tajikistan following a five-year civil war that ended in  .

Tajikistan says $4bn dam to open in November

Germany's parliament voted after a  heated debate today to resume family reunions for temporary  refugees from mid-year but sharply restrict the number of  relatives arriving at 1,000 a month.
Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere defended the law,  which passed by a margin of 376 against 298, as "a compromise  between humanity and responsibility... between generosity and  realism".
The measure was agreed Tuesday in ongoing coalition talks  between Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative camp and the  Social Democrats, in the hope of launching a new joint  government by late March.
Germany, which has taken in more than a million asylum  seekers since 2015, stopped family reunions for such  "subsidiary" status refugees in March 2016 to slow the mass  influx.
Those with subsidiary status are not considered political  or war refugees, but are temporarily spared deportation on  safety grounds.
An increasingly heated debate on immigration has pitted  left-leaning parties and pro-refugee ...

AFP

AFP

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