Venezuela's military today arrested  the country's former oil minister and the ex-chief of state  oil company PDVSA after both men were sacked as part of an  anti-corruption crackdown.
Attorney General Tarek William Saab told journalists that  the former minister Eulogio del Pino and ex-PDVSA boss Nelson  Martinez were picked up in a dawn operation by the country's  Military Counterintelligence Unit.
Both former officials were arrested at their homes, four  days after they were axed from their jobs by President Nicolas  Maduro.
State television images showed black-clad security  forces, their faces covered and armed with rifles, knocking on  the door of Del Pino's apartment.
When he emerged, dressed in shorts and a Venezuela  football shirt, the powerful former official was handcuffed  and later fingerprinted.
Saab said Del Pino was accused of "intentionally altering  oil production figures" and said the arrests were part of an  operation "to dismantle the cartel that has been hitting 

XVenezuela arrests former oil bosses in corruption purge

PTI Automatic

The Dow finished above 24,000  points for the first time today, surging with the S&P 500 to  fresh records as the Senate tax cut plan moved closer to  passage.
At the closing bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was  at 24,261.06, jumping 1.3 per cent.
The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.8 per cent to close at  2,647.23, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index advanced  0.8 per cent to 6,875.42, falling short of its prior record.

US stocks end at records, Dow closes above 24,000 for 1st time

US Secretary of State Rex  Tillerson enjoys his job as Washington's top diplomat and  intends to stay on, his spokeswoman said today, after reports  suggested President Donald Trump plans to force him out.
Spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters that White  House Chief of Staff John Kelly had called the State  Department to assure officials that the reports that he was to  be replaced were untrue.
"Secretary Tillerson enjoys this job. He has a lot of  work to do," Nauert said, confirming that the secretary has a  week of meetings planned next week with European ministers in  Brussels, Stockholm, Vienna and Paris.
"Chief of Staff Kelly called our department this morning  and said that the rumours are not true, that those reports are  not true. That is what I've been told, and that's what we've  been told, and you heard from the White House today that they  have no personnel changes announce."
As Nauert spoke at the State Department, Tillerson was at  the White House for a meeting ...

Tillerson committed to job: US State Department

More civilians have died in US-  led air and artillery strikes in Iraq and Syria, officials  acknowledged today amid criticism the American military is  being less cautious about killing innocents.
The US-led coalition said that in October, an ongoing  review of civilian casualty reports showed at least 801  civilians had been unintentionally killed since operations to  defeat the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria began in late  2014.
The toll is up 15 from 786, when the coalition in late  October last announced its findings.
As operations against IS wind down, the number of new  strikes has shrunk dramatically, and on Thursday the Pentagon  said 400 Marines who had been supporting local forces in the  operation to recapture Raqa in Syria were coming home.
But critics say the US-led coalition has been taking  greater risks with civilian lives since President Donald Trump  took office and gave the military far greater leeway in how it  conducts strikes compared to when Barack Obama 

Civilian toll in US-led strikes climbs again

Prime Minister Theresa May repeated  today that US President Donald Trump was wrong to retweet  anti-Muslim videos posted by a British far-right group, but  stressed that the US-UK's "special relationship" would endure.
May's initial condemnation prompted an extraordinary  rebuke from the US leader, who told her on Twitter: "Don't  focus on me, focus on the destructive Radical Islamic  Terrorism that is taking place within the United Kingdom."
Speaking to reporters during a trip to Jordan, the prime  minister stood her ground, defending her record on tackling  extremism -- including by the far-right -- while emphasising  the strength of British-US ties.
"I'm very clear that retweeting from Britain First was  the wrong thing to do," May said, describing the group as a  "hateful" organisation that "seeks to spread division".
But she stressed that Britain and the United States have  "a long-term special relationship... it is an enduring  relationship that is there because its is in both .

Trump 'wrong' on tweets but relations will endure: May

Negotiations in Geneva aimed at  ending Syria's devastating civil war have started in a  "professional and serious" atmosphere and will be extended  another two weeks, the UN mediator said today.
The meetings, which began yesterday, were initially  expected to last only two to three days, United Nations  special envoy Staffan de Mistura told reporters.
"The atmosphere... compared to the past was professional  and serious on both sides," he said, adding that the talks  were now expected to last until December 15.
De Mistura said they would take a break over the weekend  and would return to Geneva to continue the negotiations next  Tuesday.
In seven past rounds on his watch the envoy has not  managed to get representatives of Syria's warring sides to sit  at the same table, instead of shuttling back and forth between  delegations.
But today he said talks were heading in the right  direction, with the two sides arriving at the UN in Geneva  around the same time, and holding parallel ...

Syria peace talks in Geneva extended until December 15

France is asking the Security  Council to allow the UN mission in Mali to support the  struggling African force fighting jihadists in the Sahel  region, but at no extra cost to the United Nations, according  to a draft resolution.
The United States has pledged up to USD 60 million to the  five-nation force but has resisted appeals from France and  African leaders to allow the United Nations to shore up the  military operations, said the draft resolution seen by AFP  today.
The draft resolution, which could be voted on as early as  next week, specifies that MINUSMA, the UN peacekeeping mission  in Mali, would provide fuel, water, rations and other services  to the Sahel force that would be repaid in full.
MINUSMA would provide medical evacuation services and  engineering units to help prepare the Sahel force in Mali  known as the G5 -- with troops from Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali,  Mauritania and Niger.
The logistical support would be "subject to full  financial compensation to the United 

France asks UN to help Sahel force but at no cost

Chancellor Angela Merkel has opened  talks with Social Democrat chief Martin Schulz hoping to end  Germany's political stalemate, but the atmosphere has already  been poisoned by disobedience within her ranks.
Held at the invitation of President Frank-Walter  Steinmeier, the talks started at 8:00 pm (1900 GMT) yesterday  as the party leaders sought to explore if they are ready to  launch negotiations on forming Germany's next government.
Steinmeier put his office at the disposal of his guests,  then decamped to a literary function in Berlin, where he  declared that "I am experiencing the most relaxing part of my  day."
After September's elections left Merkel without a  majority, the Social Democrats (SPD) firmly ruled out renewing  an alliance as they had suffered a humiliating loss at the  polls.
But as Merkel's bid at forming a coalition with the  ecologist Greens and pro-business FDP fell apart earlier this  month, the SPD came under pressure to relent and avert snap  ...

Merkel, Schulz open talks aiming to break govt impasse

Huthi rebels fired a ballistic  missile today that hit a military target in Saudi Arabia,  rebel media in Yemen said, after the leader of the group  threatened Riyadh with retaliation over a blockade.
"We confirm the success of our ballistic missile trial,  which hit its military target inside Saudi Arabia," the  Huthi-run Al-Masira television channel said.
Earlier, rebel chief Abdulmalik al-Huthi warned against  "prolonging the blockade" imposed on Yemen following a  November 4 Huthi missile attack that was intercepted near  Riyadh international airport.

Yemen rebel ballistic missile 'hits target' in Saudi: Huthi TV

German Chancellor Angela Merkel  and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today discussed  bilateral relations in their first phone conversation since  tensions plunged to an all-time low this summer, Turkish media  reported.
According to state-run news agency Anadolu, Erdogan and  Merkel are committed to "giving fresh impetus to bilateral  contacts at the highest level", once a German government has  been formed.
The call came a day after a similar call between Erdogan  and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Anadolu said.
Ties between the two countries -- NATO allies with strong  historic ties -- have nosedived over Ankara's arrest of German  citizens and Berlin's strong criticism of the Turkish  crackdown following last year's failed coup, which has seen  over 50,000 people arrested.
The Turkish government has however sent several  reassuring signals in recent weeks, including the conditional  release of two German nationals who had been detained in  Turkey.
A week after ...

Merkel and Erdogan hold first phone call in months

Marco Marais slammed the  fastest triple century in first-class cricket to become the  second South African in just over a week to claim a world  record.
Marais, 24, went on a hitting spree to smash 300 not out  off 191 balls for Border against Eastern Province in East  London in South Africa's three-day provincial competition, the  country's second tier of first-class cricket.
The previous fastest recorded triple century in terms of  balls faced was off 221 deliveries by Charlie Macartney for  the touring Australians against Nottinghamshire in 1921.
Denis Compton made 300 for MCC against North-Eastern  Transvaal in 181 minutes in 1948/49 but the number of balls  faced was not recorded. The England batsman went in at 61 for  two and the total innings lasted for 71 eight-ball overs.
The previously unheralded Marais hit 35 fours and 13  sixes after arriving to bat with his side in trouble at 82 for  four.
He and Bradley Williams (113 not out) added an unbeaten  428 runs before Border ...

South African hits fastest 300

A French mother was charged today  with murdering five of her babies in a case solved by DNA  evidence obtained years later after a brawl between  neighbours.
Fourteen years after the bodies of four of the babies  were found in a forest, Sylvie H., aged 53, has admitted to  murdering five children, the public prosecutor in the eastern  city of Mulhouse told a press conference.
The killings are believed to have taken place from 1993-  1995 and 2003-2005. The body of a fifth baby was found at the  suspect's home.
The mother, who has three other children aged 18, 27 and  32, revealed this week that she gave birth alone at home each  time, without the father's knowledge.
Investigators had for years puzzled over who was behind  the infants' deaths.
An autopsy showed at least two were strangled with cords.
But with no DNA evidence linking the babies to a parent,  the case went cold until September 2016 when Sylvie H., her  partner and her eldest son were involved in a fight with their  ...

French mother confesses to killing five babies

Two people were killed when Boko Haram  fighters attacked a remote village in the latest attack in  Adamawa state, northeast Nigeria, a local elder said today.
The attack happened in Wanu village, some three  kilometres (just under two miles) from the town of Gulak, at  about 7:30 pm (1830 GMT) yesterday.
"They killed two people and injured one other. They went  about burning homes, crops and livestock," said Maina Ularamu,  a former head of the Madagali local government area.
Boko Haram has repeatedly targeted Madagali and the  surrounding area in recent weeks as part of an increase in  activity in Adamawa state.
Adamawa was declared "cleared" of the jihadists in late  2014 but there have still been raids and suicide attacks in  the far north of the state, where it borders neighbouring  Borno.
Ularamu said the attackers came on foot -- an indication  they did not intend to loot -- via the Waga Chakawa forest,  which leads to the Sambisa Forest in Borno.
Boko Haram fighters used the ..

Two dead in Boko Haram raid in NE Nigeria

Breaking with tradition, nearly all  ambassadors of the world's nuclear powers will not attend this  year's Nobel Peace Prize ceremony which honours efforts to ban  atomic weapons, the Nobel Institute said today.
Russia and Israel will be the only exceptions, with their  ambassadors due to attend.
"They clearly received instructions to express their  reservations towards ICAN (International Campaign to Abolish  Nuclear Weapons) and the global treaty" to ban weapons of mass  destruction, the head of the Nobel Institute, Olav Njolstad,  told AFP.
The Peace Prize was awarded on October 6 to ICAN, a  coalition of non-governmental organisations lobbying for a  historic treaty banning atomic weapons, which was signed in  July by 122 countries.
The treaty remains nonetheless largely symbolic, as none  of the nuclear powers have agreed to sign it.
ICAN will formally receive its prize at a lavish ceremony  in Oslo on December 10.
During a meeting in the Norwegian capital last week, the  United 

Ambassadors of Western nuclear powers to snub Nobel ceremony

Pope Francis will forego his trusty  popemobile for a cycle rickshaw in Bangladesh, Catholic  officials said today, as the famously frugal pontiff began a  three-day visit to the country.
A spokesman for the Catholic Church said the pope had  asked to ride in a cycle rickshaw to a park where he will lead  an open-air mass tomorrow, which is expected to draw around  100,000 worshippers.
"There is a rickshaw ready for him," Kamal Corraya told  AFP, adding that the pope would likely forego the glass-sided  popemobile that he usually travels in for a basic Toyota car  to save money.
The 80-year-old Argentine pontiff has established a  reputation for his down-to-earth manner, vowing to stamp out  extravagance among the clergy and bring the Catholic Church  closer to the poor.
Dhaka is famous for its cycle-pulled rickshaws, which are  usually decorated in bright colours.
But in recent years they have started to fade away,  replaced by new battery-driven autorickshaws.
Corraya said the last .

Bangladesh readies rickshaw for down-to-earth pope

US President Donald Trump said  today China appears to have had little impact on North Korean  leader Kim Jong-Un, expressing wonder that his people and  military "put up" with conditions there.
Trump's comments, in an early morning tweet, followed a  stern US warning yesterday that Kim had brought the world  closer to war by testing a missile thought to be capable of  hitting Washington.
"The Chinese Envoy, who just returned from North Korea,  seems to have had no impact on Little Rocket Man," Trump said.
"Hard to believe his people, and the military, put up  with living in such horrible conditions. Russia and China  condemned the launch."
In a phone call after the missile test, Trump urged  China's President Xi Jinping to cut off oil supplies to  Pyongyang, US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley,  said Wednesday.
"If war comes, make no mistake: The North Korean regime  will be utterly destroyed," Haley said.

Trump sees no China impact on Kim

Croatia's president said  today that citizens had to admit crimes were committed by  fellow Croats in Bosnia, a day after a Bosnian Croat war  criminal took his own life at a court in The Hague.
"We Croats need to have the strength to admit that some  of our fellow compatriots in Bosnia committed crimes and they  have to be held responsible for them," Kolinda Grabar-  Kitarovic said in a televised address, referring to the bloody  1990s war in Bosnia.
Her statement was more conciliatory in tone than that of  Croatian Prime minister Andrej Plenkovic, who on Wednesday  slammed the "deep moral injustice" of the UN judges' verdict.
Slobodan Praljak, 72, was one of six Bosnian Croat  wartime leaders who had their jail terms upheld by the  International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia  (ICTY), in the court's final judgement before shutting down.
The former military commander swigged liquid from a brown  bottle, which he told his lawyer was poison, just seconds  after UN judges ..

Croatian president says 'we must admit crimes' after court

North Korea could deliver a "fatal  blow" to the 2018 Winter Olympics if it launches a missile or  stages another provocation before the event, a South Korean  minister warned today.
Unification Minister Cho Myoung-Gyon made the remarks as  reports said annual South Korea-US military exercises might be  postponed to avoid coinciding with the winter games and  paralympics in South Korea's Pyeongchang.
"If the North provokes again at a time when the Olympic  Games are imminent, it may deal a fatal blow to the Olympics,"  he said at a forum in Seoul.
"Therefore it is important to stage the Pyeongchang  Winter Olympics in a stable atmosphere", he added.
The world's largest winter sports festival takes place  from February 9 to 25, 2018. The Paralympics are scheduled to  begin on March 9.
Both will be held in the mountainous resort town of  Pyeongchang, 80 kilometres (50 miles) south of the tense  border with North Korea.
The annual military exercises, codenamed Key Resolve/Foal  Eagle, ...

N Korea could deal 'fatal blow' to Olympics: S.Korea minister

Former Australia captain Michael  Clarke says he should have retired a year earlier than he did,  admitting he struggled badly after the death of his friend and  teammate Phillip Hughes.
Clarke quit in 2015 after his 115th and final Test of the  Ashes series against England and said he didn't allow himself  to grieve at the time.
Hughes, who played 26 Tests, died from bleeding on the  brain in November 2014 after being hit on the neck by a rising  ball while batting in a domestic match at the Sydney Cricket  Ground.
"I shouldn't have played another game. My career should  have stopped then. It was too hard for me," Clarke told The  Weekly Review on Thursday.
"It took me a lot longer to grieve his loss than it  should have, or that I would have liked.
"I didn't allow myself to grieve at the time because I  had responsibility to his family, firstly, but then also as  Australia's cricket captain to my teammates and getting us  back out onto the field."
Clarke, who was a pallbearer at ...

Clarke says he should have retired after Hughes died

Australian football is embroiled in  a governance crisis and could face a take-over from FIFA after  Football Federation Australia failed to pass a proposed reform  of its congress on today.
A key resolution at the FFA Annual General Meeting in  Sydney to create a more democratic governance model was voted  down, leaving the way for the world governing body to carry  out its intention to take over the running of the game in  Australia.
FFA Chairman Steven Lowy's motion to reform the FFA  congress fell short of the 75 percent voting threshold and he  said the matter would now be referred to FIFA.
"We will now talk to FIFA about what steps can now be  taken to resolve this issue so that we have a larger, more  representative congress," Lowy said.
"We have all been discussing and debating this for more  than a year.
"We are disappointed that the members were unable to  agree sufficiently on expansion of the congress for the  measure to pass."
FIFA had imposed a November 30 deadline to ...

FIFA intervention likely as FFA fail to pass reform

Thousands of Yemenis were  expected to gather in Sanaa today after deadly clashes between  the Huthi rebels and their allies sparked fears of further  violence in the capital.
The clashes, which erupted late yesterday near Sanaa's  Saleh mosque, killed nine Huthis and five supporters of former  president Ali Abdullah Saleh, medical sources said.
The infighting threatens to unravel the fragile rebel  alliance that has been battling the Saudi-backed government of  President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi in Yemen's war.
Late-night mediation attempts betwen Saleh and the  rebels, who jointly control Sanaa, failed to reconcile both  sides, sources in Saleh's General People's Congress political  party said.
Today, thousands were expected at a rally in the  capital's Sabaeen Square to mark the Prophet Muhammed's  birthday.
Rebel chief Abdulmalik al-Huthi had on Wednesday urged  supporters across the country to head to Sanaa for the event.
Saleh and the Iran-backed Huthis, also known as Ansar  ...

AFP

AFP

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