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  ...

Thousands to gather in Yemen capital after rebel clashes

PTI Automatic

Two Israeli cabinet ministers  said today that they hoped US President Donald Trump was about  to move his country's embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, as a  decision deadline neared.
The issue is deeply controversial.
Shifting the building could be seen as a de facto  recognition of Israel's claim over the whole city, including  predominantly Palestinian east Jerusalem.
Foreign countries, including the United States, currently  have their embassies in the Israeli commercial capital Tel  Aviv since they do not recognise Israel's unilateral claim of  control over all of Jerusalem.
"I hope that an absurd situation will end," Energy  Minister Yuval Steinitz of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's  right-wing Likud party told public radio.
He argued that when US presidents came to Israel, they  went to Jerusalem and not Tel Aviv.
Environment Minister Zeev Elkin, who also holds the  Jerusalem affairs portfolio, told army radio that there was  "no logical reason for this transfer to be ...

Israeli ministers hope Trump about to move embassy to

Russia today rejected a US call to  cut ties with Pyongyang, suggesting Washington has been doing  everything to prompt North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un to "lose  it".
Yesterday, Washington warned that North Korea's  leadership will be "utterly destroyed" if war breaks out as it  called on countries to cut all diplomatic and trade ties with  North Korea.
The latest threat came after North Korea tested its third  ICBM, which it claimed was capable of striking anywhere in the  United States.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov poured scorn on  Washington's call to cut ties with North Korea and introduce  new sanctions against it.
"We see this negatively," he told journalists in the  Belarusian capital Minsk. "We have repeatedly stated that the  pressure of sanctions has been exhausted."
He accused the United States of seeking to provoke Kim  Jong-Un's regime and demanded to know whether Washington was  plotting to destroy the isolated country.
"It's as if the recent actions of the United ...

Russia rejects US call to cut North Korea ties

Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry  Medvedev today said poverty remained a "glaring problem" in  the country, where presidential elections are due to be held  next year.
"Poverty is, of course, one of the glaring problems of  our modern economy," Medvedev said in an annual end-of-year  interview with Russian television channels.
"When the economy is weak, it's impossible for there not  to be any poor people," Medvedev said, adding that the  government would "consolidate our efforts to take real steps  towards fighting poverty".
A World Bank report published on yesterday said that  while the Russian economy returned to modest growth in 2017 on  the back of global growth, trade and rising oil prices, the  level of poverty remained high.
"Declining inflation and growing real wages led to a  modest decline in Russia's poverty rate in the first half of  2017, compared to the same period last year," Andras Horvai,  World Bank Country Director for Russia was quoted as saying in  the ...

Russian PM says poverty is 'glaring problem' in country

Malaysia today defended  striking a deal with Barcelona footballer Luis Suarez to help  boost tourism after an opposition MP criticised the move to  sign up a player notorious for biting rivals.
Government agency Tourism Malaysia inked the one-year  deal in early November, hoping that using the Uruguayan in its  marketing campaigns would attract more visitors to the  tropical country.
While the striker is recognised as one of the world's  best players, he has also been the subject of controversy for  sinking his teeth into rivals.
He was suspended from all football-related activity for  four months after biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini  during the 2014 World Cup. He also faced bans in 2010 and 2013  for biting players.
Lawmaker Hee Loy Sian from the opposition People's  Justice Party today asked Tourism Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz in  parliament why the decision had been taken given Suarez's  controversial track record.
He later told AFP he had no problem with using foreign  ...

Malaysia defends tourism role for 'biting' Suarez

British Prime Minister Theresa May  has implored Saudi leaders to ease a blockade on Yemen to  "avert a humanitarian catastrophe", her office said today,  echoing urgent appeals from the United Nations.
May met both King Salman and powerful Crown Prince  Mohammed bin Salman on a brief visit to Riyadh late on  Wednesday, with a worsening crisis in Yemen topping her  agenda.
May had promised to raise concerns over Yemen where a  military coalition led by Saudi Arabia has only partially  lifted a crippling aid blockade.
"The prime minister made clear that the flow of  commercial supplies... must be resumed if we are to avert a  humanitarian catastrophe," May's office said.
"They agreed that steps needed to be taken as a matter of  urgency  to address this."
Saudi Arabia is Britain's largest trading partner in the  Middle East, and London has signed off on more than 3.3  billion (USD 4.4 billion/3.7 billion euros) worth of arms  sales to Riyadh since March 2015.
That was the month that ...

British PM presses Saudi to avert Yemen 'catastrophe'

A Chinese court has handed a death  sentence to a "master" tomb raider from northern China who  made a 30-year career out of robbing historical burial sites.
A native of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, 55-  year-old Yao Yuzhong was found guilty of "digging ancient  cultural sites and ancient graves" and "reselling cultural  relics", his lawyer, Bi Baosheng, told AFP.
He was given a suspended death penalty with a two-year  period in which to appeal the sentence or have it decreased  through good behaviour.
The Paper, a Chinese news website, noted that Yao was  considered the "kingpin" of a gang of 225 grave-robbing  suspects rounded up by authorities in 2015.
Though Yao had only an elementary school education, he  was an avid reader and picked up the tradition of trawling  tombs from his father, according to local media in northeast  Liaoning province, where Yao was tried.
The practice is a timeworn one in China, a country whose  long history and elaborate burial customs have ...

China's 'master' tomb raider gets death penalty

Turkish police today detained 50  people including soldiers and air force pilots in raids in 11  cities against those accused of links to the group blamed for  last year's failed coup, state media reported.
Prosecutors in the northwestern city of Eskisehir issued  arrest warrants for 66 people as part of a probe into  followers of US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen in the  Turkish air force, state-run news agency Anadolu reported.
Those targeted include an unknown number of air force  pilots and serving soldiers, as well as civilians suspected of  being so-called "secret imams" who are alleged to be in charge  of Gulenists in the military.
The agency said raids are continuing to find the 16 other  suspects.
The operation comes after police staged an operation on  Wednesday to detained 360 people, including 333 soldiers, as  part of a probe into the Gulen network in the armed forces.
Ankara claims Gulen ordered the July 15, 2016 attempted  overthrow of President Recep Tayyip ...

Turkey detains 50 over links to group blamed for coup bid

Heavy floods swept into  southern Thailand this week killing five people, authorities  said today as photos of waterlogged and damaged roads spread  on social media.
The worst-hit provinces are located in the deep south on  the border with Malaysia, a restive hotspot where Muslim  insurgents have engaged in clashes with the central  government.
The flooding from the annual monsoon rains prompted  residents to use small boats for transportation in Pattani  province, according to an AFP photographer on site.
All five victims drowned, an official with the disaster  management hotline told AFP.
Nearby in Songhkla province, a road collapsed under a  car, forming a small ravine with the car stuck at the bottom.  The driver was not injured.
More than 380,000 people from eight southern provinces  have been affected by the rising waters in the southern  Thailand but no formal evacuation plan has been announced.
Southeast Asia is frequently affected by seasonal  downpours. In October, Vietnam ..

Floods in southern Thailand kill five

The far-right Alternative for  Germany gathers on Saturday for a special meeting looking for  ways to make the most of the political impasse that has left  Chancellor Angela Merkel hamstrung.
Around 600 delegates will assemble in the northern city  of Hanover for the two-day event, with pro-refugee protests  and police on hand.
The AfD won nearly 13 percent in September's general  election, taking almost 100 seats in parliament on an anti-  immigration and anti-Muslim platform.
Its main rallying cry was "Merkel must go" following her  decision to let in more than one million asylum seekers since  2015.
The AfD has relished the chancellor's woes since the poll  left her without a clear ruling majority and now tied up in  protracted coalition talks.
However the AfD has growing problems, with a power  struggle emerging between hardliners and more moderate forces  in the four-year-old party which could spill over at the  weekend meeting.
The main order of business will be the election of .

Germany's far-right AfD meet to capitalise on Merkel woes

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 south of the tense border with  North Korea.
The annual military exercises, codenamed Key Resolve/Foal  Eagle, usually start 

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

Pope Francis today wraps up a visit  to Myanmar defined by his decision not to address the Rohingya  crisis in public, and flies to Bangladesh, where huge numbers  of refugees from the Muslim minority languish in refugee  camps.
Christians make up less than 0.5 percent of mainly Muslim  Bangladesh, but have in recent years come under attack from  Islamist radicals.
Just days before Francis' arrival, a Catholic priest  disappeared in a village in northern Bangladesh.
In Myanmar the pontiff walked a diplomatic tightrope,  staying silent on allegations that the army is waging an  ethnic cleansing campaign against Rohingya Muslims.
He also refrained from mentioning the minority by name  during his four-day trip.
Myanmar's government denies the Rohingya are an ethnic  group, insisting they are "Bengali" immigrants who are not  entitled to full citizenship.
But the Vatican rejected suggestions the decision not to  confront the issue publically represented a failure of moral  leadership.
A ..

Pope wraps up contentious Myanmar visit

Former Argentine navy captain  Alfredo Astiz, known as the "Angel of Death," has received  life in prison for crimes committed at a notorious torture  centre during the country's 1976-1983 military junta.
He, along with ex-navy officer Jorge Acosta, were two of  54 accused in the massive trial probing nearly 800 human  rights abuses carried out at ESMA, a former Argentine naval  school that was one of the regime's most notorious torture  centers.
Both men had already been sentenced to life imprisonment  in prior trials.
In total, 29 people were handed life in prison yesterday,  while another 19 got sentences ranging from eight to 25 years  in prison. Six people were acquitted.
Some 30,000 people were kidnapped, tortured and killed in  what became known as Argentina's "Dirty War," according to  rights groups. Victims included Montonero guerrillas, labor  union leaders, students, leftist sympathisers and in some  instance, their relatives and friends.
The trial is part of an effort to ..

Former military officials convicted in Argentina's 'Dirty War'

Germany will find out who stands  between them and a successful defence of the World Cup as the  draw for the 2018 finals in Russia is held in a glitzy  ceremony within the Kremlin in Moscow tomorrow.
After beating Lionel Messi's Argentina in the final at  the Maracana in Rio to lift the World Cup in 2014, the aim for  Joachim Loew's side now is to become the first nation since  Brazil in 1962 to retain the trophy.
Having already won the Confederations Cup in Russia  earlier this year with a fringe squad, the Germans are leading  favourites for glory in 2018, a status that Loew himself has  said there is no avoiding.
Then again, not everyone agrees.
"I don't like how Germany play. They have a structure and  a well organised project but they don't have the kind of stars  that the other powers do," Argentina coach Jorge Sampaoli said  this week.
Certainly, the Germans can expect stiff competition from  the Brazil of Neymar -- revitalised after their nightmare 7-1  loss to the Germans on 

Kremlin the grand setting for World Cup draw

Joachim Loew is comfortable with  Germany carrying the favourites tag for next year's World Cup,  but the head coach has a few areas to strengthen before his  team's title defence in Russia.
England or Spain are lurking in pot two as potential  group-stage opponents for the world champions in Friday's draw  at Moscow.
Loew talked about the 2018 finals as being "the hardest  tournament so far" of his 12-year reign in charge, because the  Germans will be the team to beat.
"I am completely relaxed and don't have any sleepless  nights," insisted Loew after a 2-2 draw against France in  their final friendly of 2017 a fortnight ago.
Germany are in rude health and unbeaten in their last 21  internationals, dating back to the defeat by France in the  Euro 2016 semi-finals.
"We have worked on building an incredibly good base. We  know what we can do, so I am not nervous anymore about our  preparations," he added.
Loew's goal is to arrive in Russia with every position  covered, but he needs key 

Germany boss Loew embraces World Cup favourites tag

Brazil are full of  confidence ahead of tomorrow's World Cup draw in Russia -- and  it's not all just about Neymar.
Coming back after the mother of all humiliations in that  7-1 defeat to Germany while hosting the tournament in 2014,  Brazil are once more among the top contenders.
The Selecao were the first team to qualify for next  year's showpiece, wrapping up South American qualifying as  runaway leaders with 10 points more than second-place Uruguay.
They have a fiery attack, a solid defence and in Tite a  coach who in a short time has managed to lift the team from  its meltdown and restore the faith of desperate fans.
When he took over in June 2016, Tite inherited a team  that may have a history of five world championships, but under  his predecessor Dunga had slipped to sixth in the regional  qualification. Brazil risked not going to Russia at all.
But under Tite's guidance, the team turned around,  rediscovering its beautiful game and getting the individual  stars to work more ..

Neymar's Brazil confident ahead of World Cup draw

Suspended England allrounder Ben  Stokes signed with New Zealand provincial side Canterbury  today, fuelling speculation he is preparing for a dramatic  Ashes call-up.
The 26-year-old inked a deal just a day after arriving in  the country for a trip English cricket officials initially  said was simply a family visit.
Canterbury said in a statement that Stokes had signed as  the team's overseas player and would be eligible for a one-day  match against Otago on Sunday.
"While Ben awaits the outcome of an investigation  underway in the UK, he wants to maintain his fitness and his  connection with the game," coach Gary Stead said.
Canterbury chief executive Jez Curwin played down any  link to Stokes' Ashes ambitions.
"Having spent time with Ben we are very comfortable that  he wants to come to play for Canterbury for all the right  reasons and get back on the park," he said.
"The Ashes series is an obvious connection, however that  has not been a consideration for us or Ben at this time, .

Ashes exile Stokes signs for New Zealand's Canterbury

The West Indies are not dwelling  on their August win over England as they enter a two-Test  series against New Zealand, but captain Jason Holder will use  it for motivation if necessary.
Holder described his side as being "in a pretty good  place" as they go into the first Test at the Basin Reserve in  Wellington on Friday looking for their first away win over New  Zealand since 1995.
While New Zealand have been starved of Test cricket since  hosting South Africa in March, the Calypso cricketers are  riding high after a 1-0 win against Zimbabwe following a  dramatic victory at Headingley during a 2-1 Test series loss  to England.
"We're in a pretty good place at this point in time.  We've built up quite nicely this past year. We're still not  the finished product, but we're heading in the right  direction," Holder said today.
The West Indies' five-wicket upset win over third-ranked  England in August -- when rising star Shai Hope became the  first player to score a century in each ...

West Indies morale high at start of New Zealand series

The number of international  visitors to the US through June fell sharply from last year,  according to government data released.
And the number of business travelers fell by much more  than the drop in tourists, according to the monthly report  from the Commerce Departments National Travel and Tourism  Office.
Total foreign visitors fell four percent compared to the  first six months of last year, with travelers from Mexico down  more than nine percent and from Britain down six percent, but  visits from Canada up nearly five per cent.
Excluding Canada and Mexico, overseas visitors fell  nearly six percent, but business travel dropped nearly nine  per cent compared to a 5.6 per cent decline in tourists.
President Donald Trump in his first year in office  repeatedly promised to build a wall on the border with Mexico,  and has ordered bans on visitors from several Muslim-majority  countries in the Middle East and Africa.
Visits from the Middle East plunged 30 per cent in the  first half 

Foreign visitors to US fall sharply from 2016

The death of a young American  mathematician whose naked body was found at the bottom of a  Sydney cliff was a gay hate crime, a coroner found today  following a string of judicial probes.
The finding in a case that has long fascinated Australia  comes after three inquests, and almost 30 years since Scott  Russell Johnson died in December 1988 aged 27, with police at  that time ruling his death a suicide.
Only one other time in Australian history have three  inquiries been held into a single case -- after the death of  Azaria Chamberlain, a baby snatched by a dingo from a  campground.
"I am of the view that it is very unlikely that Scott  intentionally took his own life," New South Wales state  coroner Michael Barnes said in his ruling.
"Mr Johnson fell from the cliff top as a result of actual  or threatened violence by unidentified persons who attacked  him because they perceived him to be homosexual."
Citing evidence he had reviewed, Barnes said there were  gangs of men in Sydney at 

US mathematician death a gay hate crime, says Australia

New Zealand police today ruled  out laying criminal charges over the catastrophic collapse of  a office block that claimed 115 lives in the 2011 Christchurch  earthquake.
The CTV building crumpled then burst into flames after  the 6.3-magnitude tremor on February 22, 2011, killing those  trapped inside, including 65 foreign students mainly from  Japan and China.
After a four-year investigation, police said they did not  have enough evidence to proceed with negligent manslaughter  charges against the engineers responsible for the building.
"The evidence available is not sufficient to provide a  reasonable prospect of conviction in court," police said in a  statement.
The building's collapse accounted for almost two thirds  of the 185 deaths in New Zealand's worst quake for 80 years,  which flattened the downtown area of the South Island's  largest city.
A royal commission concluded in 2012 that the six-storey,  1980s-era office block was so badly designed it should never  have received 

AFP

AFP

Page 1054 - Afp