Russian opposition leader Alexei  Navalny and his supporters geared up for a showdown with  authorities today as Vladimir Putin's top enemy urged  nationwide rallies to protest "pseudo-elections".
The 41-year-old charismatic politician called on Russians  across the country to defy authorities and stage rallies  calling for an active boycott of March 18 presidential  elections despite the prospect of mass arrests.
Ratcheting up tensions, Navalny urged Russians to show up  at unsanctioned rallies in the centre of Moscow and Saint  Petersburg with placards and leaflets, a move that will likely  lead to confrontations with police.
Rallies were planned in more than 100 cities across the  country. In most cities, permission to stage rallies had been  received, Navalny said.
"Your life is at stake," he told supporters in a video  address.
"How many more years do you want to live with these  thieves, bigots and perverts in power? We've already endured  this for 18 years."
Navalny also warned 

Russia's Navalny urges rallies in show of defiance against

PTI Automatic

A Royal Australian Air Force  electronic warfare plane has caught fire on takeoff during an  exercise in the United States but there were no serious  injuries, the military said.
Australia's Department of Defence confirmed "an incident  involving an EA-18G Growler at Nellis Air Force Base during  Exercise Red Flag" yesterday.
It said RAAF personnel are safe "and no serious injuries  have been sustained" during the incident which occurred in  Nevada and is under investigation.
The EA-18G Growler, a variant of the F/A-18F Super  Hornet, can fly into a combat zone before other aircraft,  using its jammers to suppress ground defences ahead of a bomb  strike.
A statement from Nellis Air Force Base said the "incident  during takeoff" occurred at about 10:45 am (1845 GMT)  Saturday.
"The aircraft was required to abort its takeoff and  subsequently caught fire. However, all personnel are safe,"  the Nellis statement said without identifying the plane as  being from Australia.
Exercise Red ...

Australia warplane catches fire during US training: military

Japan's foreign minister called on  China to increase cooperation on curbing North Korea's nuclear  weapons programme today during a meeting with his Chinese  counterpart in Beijing.
The meeting between Japan's Taro Kono and China's Wang Yi  comes as the rival nations aim to improve relations held back  by longstanding and seemingly intractable disputes over  territory and Japan's war-time legacy.
While ties between Asia's two largest economies have  shown signs of warming, China's president Xi Jinping and  Japan's PM Shinzo Abe have yet to meet on their own soil.
In remarks at Beijing's Diaoyutai State Guest House, Kono  praised the progress between the countries towards improving  ties, while calling on Beijing to do more to curb Pyongyang's  weapons programme.
"I believe it is important not only to discuss issues  related to our two countries, but for Japan and China to stand  side by side to deal with global issues," he said.
"In particular, the North Korea issue is now an urgent  

Japan calls on China to up N. Korea cooperation

Finns today were expected to re-  elect the charismatic and cautious president Sauli Niinisto to  navigate their country across an increasingly tense political  landscape between the West and their powerful neighbour  Russia.
Finland's most popular president in more than three  decades, the 69-year-old who campaigned as an independent has  skillfully shifted the EU member state closer to NATO without  antagonising Russia, with whom the Nordic country shares the  longest border in the bloc.
Finns "want stability and don't want change right now,"  Juhana Aunesluoma, research director at the University of  Helsinki Network for European Studies, told AFP.
The latest opinion polls credit Niinisto with between 51  and 63 per cent of votes, losing ground but still far ahead of  the seven other candidates. His main rival, Pekka Haavisto of  the Green party, is seen garnering around 13-14 per cent  support.
Polling stations are to open at 0700 GMT and close at  1800 GMT today. Niinisto has ...

Finns set to re-elect wary president Niinisto to ease Russia

Japan-based virtual currency exchange  Coincheck said today it will refund about USD 400 million to  customers after hackers stole hundreds of millions of dollars'  worth of digital assets.
The company said it will use its own funds to reimburse  about 46.3 billion yen to all 260,000 customers who lost their  holdings of NEM, the 10th biggest cryptocurrency by market  capitalisation.
On Friday, the company detected an "unauthorised access"  of the exchange, and later suspended trading for all  cryptocurrencies apart from bitcoin.
The resulting 58 billion yen (USD 530 million) loss  exceeded the value of bitcoins which disappeared from MtGox in  2014.
The major Tokyo-based bitcoin exchange collapsed after  admitting that 850,000 coins -- worth around USD 480 million  at the time -- had disappeared from its vaults.
The high-profile demise of MtGox failed to douse the  enthusiasm for virtual currencies in Japan, which in April  became the first country in the world to proclaim it as ...

Japan's crypto exchange to refund to customers after theft

Defective wiring is suspected to have  caused the deadly South Korean hospital fire that killed  dozens and injured more than 150, police said, as public anger  swelled over the country's worst fire disaster in a decade.
The huge blaze that erupted at the hospital in the  southeastern city of Miryang on Friday killed at least 38  people including 35 patients -- mostly elderly women -- and  three medical staff.
The fire came only a month after 29 people were killed in  an inferno at a fitness club in Jecheon, a disaster blamed on  insufficient emergency exits, flammable building materials and  illegally parked cars blocking access for emergency vehicles.
Authorities are still investigating the exact cause of  the hospital fire but preliminary on-site inspection has  suggested possible defects in the wiring in the first-floor  ceiling of what used to be an office pantry.
"There were no traces of burns on the floor, but clear  signs of fire spreading toward the bottom from the top," an  .

Defective wiring suspected cause of S Korea hospital fire

Seven people were found drifting  in a dinghy today near the remote Pacific island nation of  Kiribati where a ferry with 50 people on board went missing 10  days ago.
The dinghy was spotted in an area of the central Pacific  where a New Zealand military aircraft is searching for the MV  Butiraoi.
According to New Zealand Rescue Coordination Centre  officer John Ashby, the dinghy was believed to be one of two  carried on the Butiraoi.
"The group seem very relieved to have been found when the  NZ Air Force Orion dropped supplies, including water and a  radio, to them," Ashby said in a statement.
A fishing vessel was diverted to pick up the seven while  the aerial search continued for more survivors.
The New Zealand Defence Force said today the fishing  vessel was 92 kms northeast of the dinghy's location and  expected to reach the survivors mid-afternoon.
The Butiraoi was last heard from on January 18 when it  set out on an expected two-day voyage from the island of  Nonouti to Betio ..

Search for Kiribati ferry finds seven in a dinghy

At least five police officers were  killed and 41 others wounded when alleged drug traffickers  detonated a remote controlled bomb at a station in the  northern city of Barranquilla, officials said.
The attack yesterday was one of the deadliest on security  personnel in recent years, in one of Colombia's most important  cities.
It comes as the government of President Juan Manuel  Santos seeks to bring the armed conflict that has wracked  Colombia for 50 years to an end. Much of the violence has been  financed by drug trafficking.
The bombing also casts a pall over preparations for the  annual carnival, a major attraction in the Caribbean port  city.
Mariano Botero, the Barranquilla police commander, said  that the bomb detonated as the officers gathered for morning  formation.
A police source told AFP that 49 officers were at the  site when the bomb exploded. Of those, five officers aged  between 24 and 31 were killed and 41 were wounded.
A 31-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of 

Five killed in bomb attack on Colombia police station

A Pakistani UN peacekeeper was  killed by "members of an armed group" in the Democratic  Republic of Congo yesterday, a United Nations spokesman said.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres "condemns the  killing of a peacekeeper from Pakistan... following an ambush"  in the troubled eastern province of South Kivu, a UN spokesman  said.
He reaffirmed the UN's willingness to continue to address  the country's security challenges, despite tensions with the  government.
On Friday Congolese President Joseph Kabila claimed the  UN's peacekeeping mission in the country MONUSCO had  "eradicated" no armed group in nearly 20 years.
He warned the mission not to consider the country "under  the care of the United Nations" and said he would "clarify in  the coming days our relations" with the world body.
MONUSCO, the largest of the UN missions, has been present  in the country since 1999.
Sprawling, mineral-rich but mired in poverty, DR Congo is  in the grip of overlapping political and ethnic ...

Pakistani peacekeeper killed in DR Congo

Two women died and many others are  presumed drowned after a migrant boat carrying dozens of  people sank in the Mediterranean, rescue services in Italy  said.
Among the 83 people rescued were three babies who were  revived by medical teams.
"A tragic day in the Mediterranean. The Aquarius was  mobilised for a rescue of a deflated boat," the rescue charity  SOS Mediterranean said on Twitter.
"People were already in the water, 83 people saved and  safely on board. Two women could not be revived, leaving two  children orphaned."
Doctors Without Borders (MSF), who also helped in the  rescue operation, said "many people are missing and presumed  drowned, including children."
Italian coast guards yesterday said a total of 800 people  were rescued in five separate operations.
According to the Italian home office, around 2,730  migrants from Libya have landed on the Italian coast since the  start of the year.
The numbers have dropped significantly since Italy forged  a controversial ...

Two dead, dozens saved in latest migrant boat rescue

Las Vegas casino billionaire  Steve Wynn stepped down today as Republican National Committee  finance chairman, following allegations of decades of sexual  misconduct.
The 76-year-old former business rival turned political  ally of President Donald Trump had assumed the RNC position  after Trump took office in January 2017.
Wynn has denied the allegations, first published in The  Wall Street Journal on Friday, and accused his ex-wife Elaine  of instigating the accusations as part of a "terrible and  nasty lawsuit" seeking a revised divorce settlement.
"Today, I accepted Steve Wynn's resignation as Republican  National Committee finance chair," RNC chair Ronna Romney  McDaniel said in a statement to US media on Saturday.
Politico said McDaniel had discussed Wynn's case with  Trump early Saturday. The president returned from the World  Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, late Friday.
A towering figure in the gambling world, Wynn has been a  prolific Republican donor whose empire ...

US casino mogul resigns from Republican finance post

Separate outbreaks of  violence attributed to a Boko Haram attack and clashes between  Muslim herders and Christian farmers left at least six people  dead in Nigeria, police and local authorities have said.
At least three people were killed late Friday when Boko  Haram attacked the Hyambula village in northeast Adamawa  state, police and a community leader told AFP after the latest  in a spate of jihadist raids targeting civilians.
"There was an attack at Hyambula last night. Three people  were killed and three others kidnapped," Adamawa state police  spokesman Othman Abubakar said, blaming Boko Haram for the  attack.
The suspected jihadists had shot dead one man, before a  suicide bomber blew himself up among residents gathered at the  scene, killing two and leaving five injured.
"They shot a resident who was resting under a tree  outside his house," Community leader Maina Ularamu said.
"When residents had gathered around him a suicide bomber  hiding in the tree jumped off and ...

Boko Haram, farmer-herder violence in Nigeria leaves 6 dead

Spain's constitutional court today  announced it was blocking Catalonia's ousted separatist leader  Carles Puigdemont from returning to power in the region while  he remains the subject of legal action.
The court said in a  statement that its 12 magistrates  had decided unanimously "to provisionally suspend the  investiture of Puigdemont unless he appears in the (regional)  parliament in person with prior judicial authorisation".
Puigdemont, who fled to Belgium after the Catalan  parliament declared independence in October, was earlier this  week chosen as candidate to lead Catalonia again, with the  regional parliament set to vote on the issue on Tuesday.

Spanish court suspends Puigdemont's return to power in

At least four police officers were  killed and 42 others wounded when alleged drug traffickers  detonated a remote controlled bomb at a station in the  northern city of Barranquilla, officials said.
The attack yesterday was one of the deadliest on security  personnel in recent years in one of Colombia's most important  cities.
It comes as the government of President Juan Manuel  Santos seeks to bring the armed conflict that has wracked  Colombia for 50 years to an end. Much of the violence has been  financed by drug trafficking.
The bombing also casts a pall over preparations for the  annual carnival, a major attraction in the Caribbean port  city.
Mariano Botero, the Barranquilla police commander, said  that the bomb detonated as the officers gathered for morning  formation.
One suspect was captured, he said.
A police source told AFP that 49 officers were at the  site when the bomb exploded. Of those, four were killed and 42  were wounded.
The toll is considerably higher than the ...

Four killed in bomb attack on Colombia police station

Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards  force said three of its soldiers were killed and 16 Islamic  State jihadist group militants arrested in clashes in the  south of the country.
Its Sepahnews website, citing General Mohammad Pakpour,  head of the Guards' land forces, said "16 members of the  terrorist group were arrested and several of them killed", as  well as three Guards in the clashes in Fars province  yesterday.
"The terrorists wanted to carry out attacks on border  towns and in the centre of the country," he said.
Sepahnews reported earlier that the IS militants had  infiltrated from western Iran's border with Iraq.
Iran is one of the main international backers of the  Syrian regime, and has sent military advisers and thousands of  "volunteers" to battle IS in both Syria and Iraq.
Last June, IS claimed responsibility for two attacks on  Iran's parliament and the shrine of revolutionary leader  Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini that killed 17 people and wounded  dozens.
Iran has since ..

Iran says 3 Guards dead, 16 IS suspects arrested

Pro-Russian incumbent Milos Zeman  was re-elected Czech president today, narrowly outpacing his  pro-European liberal rival Jiri Drahos in a knife-edge run-off  that underscored deep divisions in the EU and NATO state.
The populist ex-communist Zeman took 51.36 per cent of  the vote against 48.63 per cent for Drahos, Czech Television  reported quoting full official results.
Political analyst Jiri Pehe told AFP the outcome  reflected the "very deep polarisation" of Czech society which  is "split down the middle" along rural-urban and populist-  liberal lines, echoing divisions elsewhere in Europe and in  the US.
A former leftist prime minister, the 73-year-old Zeman  represents poorer and rural voters with a lower level of  education, while academic and political novice Drahos, 68,  appeals to wealthier, well-educated urbanites.
"It's not only between Prague and other big cities on one  side and the rest of the country, but also a polarisation of  world views, between people open to ...

Pro-Russian Zeman scores second term as Czech president

Saudi billionaire Prince Al-Waleed  bin Talal was released today after nearly three months in  detention following a "settlement" with authorities, as a  sweeping anti-corruption campaign targeting the kingdom's  elite winds down.
Prince Al-Waleed, dubbed the Warren Buffett of Saudi  Arabia, was the most high-profile detainee among 350 suspects  rounded up since November 4, including business tycoons and  ministers, who were held in Riyadh's luxury Ritz-Carlton  hotel.
The prince was released following an undisclosed  financial agreement with the government, similar to deals that  authorities struck with most other detainees in exchange for  their freedom.
"The attorney general this morning approved the  settlement with Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal," paving the way  for his release, a government source told AFP without  disclosing figures.
When asked whether the prince was still the head of his  publicly listed Kingdom Holding Company, the source who  asserted he was guilty of ...

Saudi billionaire Prince Al-Waleed freed after 'settlement'

The Eiffel Tower will cut its lights  tonight to commemorate those killed and wounded in a  devastating ambulance bombing in Kabul, Paris Mayor Anne  Hidalgo said on Twitter.
"Tonight at midnight the Eiffel Tower will go out in  hommage to the victims of the horrific attack that struck  Kabul," Hidalgo said.
"The city of Paris and Parisians are with the Afghan  people who are once again facing terrorist barbarity."
At least 95 people were killed and 158 wounded on  Saturday when an explosives-packed ambulance blew up in a  crowded area of Kabul.
A statement from France's foreign ministry condemned  Saturday's attack and offered support for Afghanistan's fight  against "the scourge of terrorism."
The icon of Paris' skyline is often dimmed or made to  display the colours of a country's flag in shows of respect  for those killed or maimed by terror attacks.

Eiffel Tower to go dark after Kabul bombing

At least three police officers were  killed Saturday when alleged drug traffickers detonated a  remote controlled bomb at a station in the northern city of  Barranquilla, officials said.
Fourteen other officers were wounded in the attack,  police General Mariano Botero said.
Botero, head of the Barranquilla police, said that one  suspect was captured.
The bomb was detonated as the officers gathered for  morning formation.
The blast initially wounded 17 police officers, but three  died "due to the gravity of the wounds," Botero added.
Barranquilla Mayor Alejandro Char blamed drug traffickers  for the attack.
"I do not have the slightest doubt that this is a  retaliation" for successful police action against drug  traffickers, he told reporters.
President Juan Manuel Santos blasted the "cowardly  attack" on Twitter.
"We will not rest until we find those responsible, my  solidarity with the families of the victims and the wounded,"  Santos wrote.

Three killed in bomb attack on Colombia police station

Britain's defence minister Gavin  Williamson said a new radar off Scotland's Shetland Islands  would help tackle the "severe and real" threat from Moscow.
In a return to the Cold War days when Shetland had hosted  an early warning radar, the new Royal Air Force facility is  being built to track unidentified military or civilian  aircraft.
"We will always protect our skies from Russian  aggression," Williamson said yesterday, describing the radar  as vital to British defences.
"Russia's actions are not limited to Europe's eastern  borders -- the threat to British livelihoods is severe and  real," he added.
The 10 million pounds radar on Unst, Britain's most  northerly inhabited island, is due to be fully operational  soon, the Ministry of Defence said.
Once launched it will feed into the country's quick  reaction alert system, which in the past has been used to  scramble RAF jets to intercept Russian aircraft.
On January 15 two fighter jets were launched to monitor  two Russian ...

UK to launch new radar against 'severe' Russian threat

Bangladesh Test captain Shakib Al  Hasan was ruled out of the first Test against Sri Lanka after  suffering a finger injury during the tri-nation one-day  international final against the same team in Dhaka on today.
Shakib hurt the base of the little finger of his left  hand during the 42nd over of Sri Lanka's innings in the final  and was unable to continue at the Sher-e-Bangla National  Stadium.
Bangladesh Cricket Board senior physician Debashish  Chowdhury said an X-ray did not find any fracture but the  injury required stitches.
"He has been assessed by a cosmetic surgeon and necessary  repairs have been done," Chowdhury said in a statement.
"The affected finger will have to be immobilised for at  least a week before a further assessment is made, which means  he is out of the first Test in Chittagong."
Shakib was expected to begin his second stint as a Test  captain at the series starting on January 31 after he was  named the skipper in December, replacing Mushfiqur Rahim.
Rahim ..

AFP

AFP

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