Emmanuel Macron, France polls

Iraqi security forces backed by paramilitaries responded by seizing the oil-rich Kurdish-held city of Kirkuk in October and other disputed territory.

Macron calls for dialogue between Iraqi government and Kurdish leaders

Press Trust of India

Kraigg Brathwaite was leading a  West Indies survival effort today after Tom Blundell's debut  ton put New Zealand in a seemingly unbeatable position in the  first Test in Wellington.
Faced with a 386-run first innings deficit, at tea on day  three the West Indies had reached 107 for one with Brathwaite  on 34 and Shimron Hetmyer on 27.
They still need a further 279 to make New Zealand bat  again, with conditions much to the liking of the batsmen.
The wicket has browned off from the green cover on day  one when the West Indies were rolled for 134 in their first  innings.
Despite the Herculean task ahead to save the match,  Brathwaite and his opening partner Kieran Powell were both  prepared to take risks and attack the bowling.
Powell on 15 had an edge fall just short of Ross Taylor  at first slip and a chip from Brathwaite on 19 fell short of  Jeet Raval at short cover.
When the West Indies reached 41 after 15 overs, New  Zealand's first innings destroyer Neil Wagner was brought into 

West Indies battle after Blundell ton sets up New Zealand

PTI Automatic

Real Madrid remain eight points  adrift of Barcelona at the top of La Liga after failing to  break down Athletic Bilbao in a 0-0 stalemate as captain  Sergio Ramos saw the 24th red card of his career.
Earlier, Celta Vigo became the first team this season to  take points off Barcelona at the Nou Camp in a thrilling 2-2  draw yesterday.
Atletico Madrid took advantage of Barca's stumble as  Antoine Griezmann's winner against his former club two minutes  from time earned a hard-fought 2-1 win over Real Sociedad to  move to within six points of the leaders.
Real are now tied for fourth with Sevilla, who beat  Deportivo la Coruna 2-0 on the day their coach Eduardo Berizzo  was released from hospital just four days after undergoing an  operation on a cancerous prostate tumour.
- Umtiti blow for Barca -
=========================
Celta have been a bogey side for Barca in recent years,  beating the Catalans once in each of the past three seasons.
A positive start from the Galicians on Celta ...

Barca, Real Madrid held, Griezmann gives Atletico hope

Honduras experienced a moment of  calm after a wave of violent clashes between Honduran  authorities and opposition supporters claiming fraud in the  country's presidential election shook the country.
One woman was left dead amid the riots, with the vote  count at a standstill yesterday. The country's top electoral  authority could not definitively name a winner.
Kimberly Dayana Fonseca, 19, was killed by military  police in the Colonia Villanueva area east of the capital  Tegucigalpa, according to her father Carlos Fonseca.
He told AFP that his daughter had left their house to  search for an uncle who  she thought was taking part in an  opposition protest to warn him that authorities were about to  begin a crackdown.
"Some of the military police came out of a bush, shooting  like crazy and they shot her in the head," added Luisa,  Kimberly's sister.
A spokesman from the public prosecutor's office told  journalists it had launched an investigation, while the  military police released .

Honduras calms after violence sparked by electoral uncertainty

The administration of  President Donald Trump has withdrawn the United States from a  United Nations pact to improve the handling of migrant and  refugee situations, deeming it "inconsistent" with its  policies, the US mission to the global body announced.
"Today, the US Mission to the United Nations informed the  UN Secretary-General that the United States is ending its  participation in the Global Compact on Migration," the  Americans said in a statement.

US pulls out of UN's Global Compact on Migration: official

A 49-year-old US female tourist was  killed by a tiger shark this week while diving off a Costa  Rican island in the Pacific Ocean, the government and local  media reported.
The attack also badly injured the 26-year-old male Costa  Rican diving guide leading the group that included the  American woman.
The shark savaged the two on Thursday as they were  surfacing after a dive off Coco Island, a pristine national  park located 500 kilometres off the Costa Rican mainland, the  environment ministry said in a statement.
It stressed the attack was "an isolated incident" and the  first one of such seriousness recorded for the island.
According to the Costa Rican newspaper La Nacion, the  guide noticed the shark approaching his group underwater and  tried to scare it away.
But as they surfaced, the shark went for the American  woman, tearing at her legs.
The guide, too, suffered leg injuries.
Park rangers came to assist, as did doctors who happened  to be diving in the area and who declared .

American tourist killed in Costa Rica shark attack

Greece said it had reached a  preliminary agreement with international creditors that it was  meeting its commitments to unblock the latest tranche of a  third bailout programme.
"We achieved the agreement with the institutions on a  staff level on all issues,", Greek Finance Minister, Euclid  Tsakalotos told journalists yesterday.
"We are satisfied," he said.
Greece was expected to fulfil 95 commitments by December,  including reforms to the civil service and social benefits as  well as measures to free the energy market and speed up  privatisation.
"The European institutions have reached a staff level  agreement with the Greek authorities... This will be presented  to the Eurogroup next Monday 4 December 2017. The Greek  authorities plan to implement the prior actions necessary to  conclude the third review as soon as possible', the team of  creditors in Athens said separately in a statement.
The final agreement is expected to be ratified at the  meeting of Eurozone finance ...

Greece reaches preliminary agreement with creditors

The  Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas which controls Gaza called  Saturday for a new "intifada" if Washington recognises  Jerusalem as the capital of Israel or moves its embassy to the  disputed city.
Reports in Washington have suggested US President Donald  Trump may on Monday fulfil a campaign pledge on the  American  embassy, which like all other foreign missions is currently  located in the coastal city of Tel Aviv.
"We warn against such a move and call on the Palestinian  people to revive the intifada if these unjust decisions on  Jerusalem are adopted," Hamas said in a statement.
Any decision to move its embassy there would be "a  flagrant attack on the city by the American administration"  and give Israel "a cover for continuing its crime of Judaising  the city and emptying it of Palestinians," it said.
The status of Jerusalem is a key issue in the Israeli-  Palestinian conflict.
Both Israelis and Palestinians claim the city as their  capital and previous peace plans have ...

Hamas threatens 'intifada' over US moves on Jerusalem

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today  said Turkey could never be "condemned by virtual courts" in  the US after he was implicated in a scheme allegedly designed  to subvert US sanctions on Iran during a trial in New York.
Turkish-Iranian gold trader Reza Zarrab had been due to  go on trial over the accusations but, to Turkey's chagrin, he  agreed to cooperate with US prosecutors and told a court on  Thursday that Erdogan authorised two Turkish banks to  circumvent the sanctions and launder money from Iran.
The case has angered Erdogan, who accused the trial of  being linked to the network of Fethullah Gulen, the US-based  Muslim cleric blamed by the Turkish government for last year's  failed coup.
"My country can never be condemned by virtual courts set  up by FETO scoundrels, fake representatives," Erdogan said  during a televised speech in the eastern city of Kars,  referring to Gulen's group that Turkey has dubbed the  "Fethullah Terrorist Organisation".
"Someone has got up and ...

Erdogan says Turkey cannot be 'condemned by courts' in US

South Korea's Hyundai Rotem signed a  720-million-euro (USD 856 million) deal with Iran today to  manufacture 450 railbuses for suburban trains, Iranian state  media reported.
The deal was signed in Tehran between Hyundai Rotem, a  unit of Hyundai Motors, and Railways of Islamic Republic of  Iran at a ceremony attended by Iranian Transport Minister  Abbas Akhoundi.
The deal, financed by the South Korean side, will create  1,000 direct jobs and 1,700 indirect jobs in the Islamic  republic, state news agency IRNA quoted Akhoundi as saying.
Iranian Rail Industries Development Company will build  300 rail buses, under Hyundai supervision, with the remaining  150 to be manufactured in South Korea, IRICO executive  director Nasser Soufi told state television.
The project is to last last six years and a half with the  first batch of self-propelled suburban rail buses to be  "delivered in a year and a half," according to Said  Mohammadzadeh, CEO for the state railways.
In August, Iran secured 

Iran signs 720 mln euro rail deal with SKorea firm

Zimbabwe's President Emmerson  Mnangagwa today dropped two ministers he had appointed to his  new cabinet just a day earlier, a move widely seen as a  response to a public uproar over the nominations.
Mnangagwa, 75, named his cabinet overnight Thursday, and  is expected to appoint two vice presidents following a special  ZANU-PF congress in mid-December.
But he quickly replaced education minister Lazarus Dokora  with Paul Mavima, a professor and also a lawmaker in the  governing ZANU-PF party.
Professor Clever Nyathi was dropped as labour minister in  favour of Petronella Kagonye, also a ZANU-PF lawmaker, though  Nyathi will remain as special advisor on national peace and  reconciliation.
A government statement said the changes were necessary to  "ensure compliance with the constitution and considerations of  gender, demography and special needs."
But Mnangagwa has come under fire for recycling officials  from the era of ousted president Robert Mugabe, and for naming  two military ...

Zimbabwe's new leader drops 2 ministers after public outcry

UAE officials today took former  Egyptian premier and presidential hopeful Ahmed Shafiq from  his Abu Dhabi home to be deported back to Egypt, two of his  aides told AFP.
The move comes days after Shafiq, in exile in the UAE  since 2012, announced his candidacy in next year's election  and then said he was being prevented from leaving the country,  angering his Emirati hosts.
Shafiq, a former army general appointed as prime minister  by Hosni Mubarak, had narrowly lost an election to Islamist  president Mohamed Morsi in 2012, a year after Mubarak's  overthrow.
He was placed on trial after the polls on corruption  charges and acquitted, and one of Shafiq's lawyers said last  year that he was free to return to Egypt.
One aide said she witnessed officials arriving at the  house and was told that Shafiq, seen as a main challenger to  President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, would be deported to Egypt on  board a private plane.
"They took him from the house and put him on a private  plane. They ...

UAE 'deporting' Egypt presidential hopeful Shafiq to Cairo:

England snared the prized wicket of  their nemesis Steve Smith as Australia toiled under the lights  in a feisty opening day of the first-ever day-night Ashes Test  here today.
It was debutant Craig Overton who claimed the huge scalp  of the world's top-rated Test batsman for 40 and his first  Test wicket in the 63rd over of a grimly-fought contest  between bat and ball.
But the Australians, leading the series after a 10-wicket  first Test win in Brisbane, only lost four wickets after being  surprisingly sent into bat by England skipper Joe Root.
At the close, the home side were 209 for four with Peter  Handscomb unbeaten on 36 and Shaun Marsh on 20 before an  Adelaide Oval record 55,317 crowd.
"It was a pretty nice one, obviously," Overton said of  his dismissal of Smith.
"He's one of the best players in the world to get that  one to start with and hopefully I can carry on with that  tomorrow."
Overton angled one in between bat and pad to scatter  Smith's stumps to the unbridled ...

England dismiss Smith as Aussies dig in under lights

Scoreboard at the close on day one  in the second Ashes Test between Australia and England here  today:
Australia 1st innings:
C Bancroft
run out (Woakes)
10
D Warner
c Bairstow b Woakes  47
U Khawaja
c Vince b Anderson
53
S Smith
b Overton
40
P Handscomb
not out
36
S Marsh
not out
20
Extras: (LB-3)
3
Total: (For 4 wkts; 81 overs)
209
Fall of wickets: 1-33, 2-86, 3-139, 4-161.
Bowling: Anderson 20-3-45-1, Broad 19-7-39-0, Woakes 15-  2-50-1, Overton 17-3-47-1, Moeen 10-1-25-0.

Adelaide, Dec 2 (AFP) Scoreboard at the close on day one

Pope Francis wrapped up a high-stakes  Asia tour today after meeting Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh  in a highly symbolic gesture of solidarity with the Muslim  minority fleeing violence in Myanmar.
The Catholic leader flew out of Dhaka after visiting a  hospital run by the order of Mother Theresa and addressing  thousands of students on the final day of a visit to  Bangladesh and Myanmar that has been dominated by the plight  of the Rohingya.
Pope Francis is known for championing the rights of  refugees and has repeatedly expressed support for the long-  suffering Rohingya, describing them as his "brothers and  sisters".
The usually forthright pontiff walked a diplomatic  tightrope during his four days in Myanmar -- the first papal  visit to the country -- avoiding any direct reference to the  Rohingya in public while appealing to Buddhist leaders to  overcome "prejudice and hatred".
In Bangladesh he addressed the issue head-on, meeting a  group of Rohingya refugees from the squalid 

Pope Francis ends Asia tour after meeting Rohingya

Iraqi paramilitary forces have  uncovered two more mass graves containing the bodies of 140  civilians, including women and children, in an area home to  the Yazidi religious minority, they said today.
In 2014, IS killed thousands of Yazidis in Sinjar and  kidnapped thousands of women and girls from the community to  abuse them as sex slaves.
The Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary alliance said it had  found "a mass grave with the bodies of 20 women and about 40  children in the village of Kabusi, south of Sinjar."
Elsewhere, "in the Jazira residential complex, also south  of Sinjar, 80 other bodies, mostly Yazidis, were discovered,"  it said.
Kurdish fighters backed by the US-led coalition against  IS captured Sinjar from the jihadists in November 2015 before  Iraqi security forces took control of the region in October.
As government troops have advanced across Iraq they have  uncovered dozens of mass graves holding hundreds of bodies in  areas that fell under the jihadists' brutal ...

Two mass graves found in Yazidi district of Iraq

The rebel alliance controlling Yemen's  capital appeared to be crumbling today as a strongman opposed  to the internationally recognised government reached out to  the Saudi-led coalition fighting the insurgents.
The rift within rebel ranks has raised fears of a new  front in an already devastating three-year war that has  claimed thousands of lives and triggered a major humanitarian  crisis in Yemen.
The overture by former president Ali Abdullah Saleh  follows a wave of deadly clashes between his supporters and  Iran-backed Huthi rebels that has left dozens dead or wounded  in Sanaa.
The former enemies joined ranks in 2014 to seize the  capital and drive out Saudi-backed President Abedrabbo Mansour  Hadi, whose government has taken refuge in the country's  south.
But their fragile alliance has shown signs of unravelling  for months and talks between them on Friday failed to broker a  truce.
Saleh said today that he was ready to talk to the Saudi-  led coalition if it lifts a ...

Yemen rebel alliance teeters as strongman turns to Saudis

German police said today that it was  "unlikely" a Christmas market in Potsdam was the target of a  package found nearby that was initially believed to contain an  explosive device.
The device was discovered late yesterday at a pharmacy  just off the market in central Potsdam, a picturesque city  near Berlin, reviving fears of a repeat of last year's deadly  terror attack at a Christmas market in the German capital.
"Investigations are continuing in all directions,"  Brandenburg state police said on Twitter.
But "according to the first element of the  investigation," it appears "unlikely" that the Christmas  market was the target, the police said.
A pharmacist sounded the alert after finding a canister  with wires inside the package.
After initial reports that it was an explosive device,  local authorities said the cylindrical canister was filled  with nails, powder, batteries and wires -- as well as a  powerful firework of a type not allowed in Germany -- but  there was no sign of a .

German police search for clues after Christmas market bomb

Shervin Pishevar, one of  Silicon Valley's most powerful venture capitalists, has denied  claims by several women of sexual harassment, saying he is the  victim of an "organized smear campaign".
Five women told the Bloomberg News agency that Pishevar  sexually assaulted or harassed them while meeting them in a  professional context. Some of the alleged events took place as  early as 2013.
Pishevar allegedly groped a sixth woman, Austin Geidt, an  executive at the Uber ride-sharing company.
The other women requested anonymity, citing Pishevar's  proclivity toward filing lawsuits and worries he would use his  position of power to ruin their careers.
"Shervin Pishevar is the victim of an organized smear  campaign... We are confident that these anecdotes will be  shown to be untrue," Mark Fabiani, a crisis management expert,  said in a statement sent on Pishevar's behalf on Friday.
Pishevar, co-founder and managing director of Sherpa  Capital, is considered one of the most powerful ...

Silicon Valley investor Shervin Pishevar denies sexual

As many as 512 died in an October  truck bombing in the Somali capital Mogadishu, an emergency  committee investigating the terrorist atrocity has found.
An earlier death toll of 358 already made the October 14  bombing the deadliest terrorist attack in Somalia's history.  No group claimed responsibility, but the Al-Qaeda-aligned  Shabaab militant group has been blamed.
"The overall number of people we have recorded involved  in the casualty are 869 persons: 512 are dead, 295 wounded and  about 70 others are not yet confirmed if they were dead and or  missing," Abdulahi Mohamed Shirwac, chairman of the Somali  Emergency Operation Centre told AFP today.
The 11-member board was established to look into the  October 14 bombing. The government has not commented on the  report, which it received this week.
The Shabaab has been fighting to overthrow successive  internationally-backed governments in Mogadishu since 2007 and  frequently deploys car and truck bombs against military,  ...

Report finds 512 died in deadliest Somalia bombing

Usman Khawaja was back in the runs  and Steve Smith threatened another big score as Australia  recovered from losing both openers on the first day of the  second Ashes Test against England in Adelaide on Saturday.
Khawaja stepped up from his scratchy batting in Brisbane  with a half-century as the tourists claimed the wickets of  Cameron Bancroft and David Warner after surprisingly sending  the Australians into the bat after winning the toss.
At the dinner break in the first-ever Ashes day-night  Test, Australia were 138 for two with Khawaja on 53 and  skipper Steve Smith unbeaten on 25.
Smith, the bane of England's bowlers at the Gabba with  his match-defining unbeaten 141, was soon engaged in a war of  words with Stuart Broad as the tourists looked for a way to  unsettle the imperious Australian skipper.
Khawaja, searching for a confidence-restoring innings  after an uncertain 11 in Brisbane, showed improved technique  against the spin of Moeen Ali and grew in confidence the  longer 

AFP

AFP

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