Dozens of civilians have died in  artillery fire and Russian bombardment of two displacement  camps and surrounding territory in eastern Syria, a monitor  said today in a new toll.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said ongoing  heavy bombardment in the Deir Ezzor province had killed 50  civilians, including 20 children, since late Friday night.
The new toll was nearly double the Britain-based  monitor's count on Saturday of 26 dead.
The bombardment has targeted territory along the  Euphrates River, as well as villages and displacement camps  full of people fleeing fighting in the Syrian border town of  Albu Kamal.
Russian-backed Syrian regime forces and allied militia  seized Albu Kamal from the Islamic State group on Thursday but  the jihadists retook it late yesterday.
Today, Russian air strikes on two river crossings along  the Euphrates killed 11 civilians, according to Observatory  chief Rami Abdel Rahman.
"Five civilians, including two children, were killed in  the ...

At least 50 dead in artillery fire, Russian strikes in Syria:

PTI Automatic

Six members of a cargo ship kidnapped  last month off the coast of Nigeria's Port Harcourt have been  freed, their German employer said today.
"Peter Doehle Schiffahrts-KG are pleased to report that  the six crew members of her container vessel Demeter who were  taken hostage on October 21 and have spent the past two and a  half weeks in captivity, were released and are now safe," the  Hamburg-based group said in a statement to AFP.
"Peter Doehle Schiffahrts-KG wishes to thank all the  relevant authorities for helping to secure the release of our  much valued seafarers," added the statement, which did not  elaborate on the rescue mission.
The group, which would not comment on the nationalities  of the six, said they were in good health.
Nigerian authorities had not commented on the rescue by  mid-afternoon.
The six were abducted when the Demeter was attacked by an  armed criminal gang off the southeastern port of Onne.
The Liberian-registered vessel had been sailing from the  ...

Six kidnapped cargo crewmen freed in southern Nigeria

More than  20 people were injured when grenades were thrown into a  concert in the capital of the chronically unstable Central  African Republic, while revenge attacks later left three  people dead, the UN peacekeeping force and a local official  said today.
The grenade assault yesterday saw two unidentified  attackers hurl a grenade at a cafe called "On the Crossroads  of Peace" during a concert by local singer Ozaguin, said Herve  Verhoosel, spokesman for the UN peacekeeping force MINUSCA.
The cafe is located near the PK5 majority Muslim district  of Bangui, once a Muslim rebel bastion, and now home to  several armed groups.
Even though relative peace has been restored in Central  Africa following the civil war that erupted in 2013, inter-  communal tensions remain.
Among those injured in Saturday's attack were several  musicians from Ozaguin's group, Verhoosel said.
A doctor at the hospital where the injured were rushed  for treatment said 21 people had been admitted.
Seven others .

Attacks in C.Africa capital leave 3 dead, over 20 injured

Former CIA chief John Brennan  hit back at Donald Trump today, saying the president should be  "ashamed" after he attacked as "political hacks" the  intelligence leaders who concluded Russia meddled in the 2016  election.
"Considering the source of the criticism, I consider that  criticism a badge of honor," Brennan told CNN's State of the  Union, where he appeared alongside former Director of National  Intelligence James Clapper.
"I found it particularly reprehensible that on Veterans  Day Donald Trump would attack and impugn the integrity and the  character of Jim Clapper, who served in uniform for 35 years,"  said the ex-CIA chief.
"I think it's something Mr. Trump should be ashamed of,"  he added.

Trump should be ashamed of attacks on ex-intel chiefs: ex-CIA

Desperately needed humanitarian  assistance entered a besieged rebel-held town near Syria's  capital today, the Red Cross said, in the first aid deliveries  there in nearly three months.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said a joint  operation with the United Nations had brought in 24 trucks  full of humanitarian relief to Douma.
ICRC spokeswoman Ingy Sedky told AFP the deliveries  included medicine, food parcels and nutrition items for 21,500  people.
"The last delivery to Douma was on August 17," Sedky  confirmed.
Douma is the main town in the Eastern Ghouta region, an  opposition-held enclave that is home to up to 400,000 people  and which has been under a crippling government siege since  2013.
The blockade has caused serious food and medicine  shortages, and pushed the prices for what remains beyond the  reach of impoverished residents.
Jan Egeland, the head of the UN's humanitarian taskforce  for Syria, dubbed Eastern Ghouta "the epicentre of suffering"  in the ...

Aid enters devastated rebel town near Syria capital: Red Cross

An unmanned cargo ship packed  with 3,350 kilogrammes of food and supplies for the astronauts  living at the International Space Station blasted off today  from Wallops Island, Virginia.
Orbital ATK's barrel-shaped Cygnus cargo ship launched  atop an Antares rocket at 7:19 am (1219 GMT), a day after a  last-second delay due to an unexpected aircraft in the area.
"Five, four, three, two, one, and we have ignition," said  Orbital ATK's mission control operator, as the rocket's  engines lit up the chilly, gray morning and cheers erupted  from spectators near the launchpad.
The mission is the eighth for Orbital ATK, which has a  USD 1.9 billion contract with NASA to resupply the orbiting  outpost. SpaceX also sends its Dragon cargo ship to regularly  re-stock the space lab.
Among the experiments on board is a satellite that will  test how bacteria grows in microgravity, and determine the  minimum amount of antibiotic needed to stop its growth.
Knowing how bugs will act during ...

Orbital ATK launches eighth cargo mission to space

LO Queen Elizabeth II took a  significant step back from official duties today, leaving heir  to the throne Prince Charles to lay a tribute to Britain's war  dead on her behalf.
The queen traditionally lays a wreath at the Cenotaph  national war memorial in London, but for the first time she  observed the annual Remembrance Sunday service from a balcony.
Her eldest son Charles instead stepped forward following  a nationwide two-minute silence, placing a wreath of poppies  at the monument close to parliament.
Other members of the royal family, including princes  William and Harry, also took part in the ceremony along with  senior politicians and veterans.
Prime Minister Theresa May and opposition leader Jeremy  Corbyn also placed wreaths at the Cenotaph, while the ceremony  was attended by former premiers including Tony Blair.
The queen has missed the ceremony only six times in her  65-year reign and handing over her role to Charles is a  visible sign to her subjects that she is ...

Britain's Queen steps down from Remembrance Sunday role

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano  Rajoy today urged businesses not to abandon Catalonia after  hundreds of firms moved their legal headquarters away as  uncertainty over the region's independence drive drags on.
On his first visit to Catalonia since his government took  direct control of the region in response to lawmakers  declaring independence, Rajoy asked "all businesses that work  or have worked in Catalonia not to go".
Rajoy last month dismissed Catalonia's government and  parliament and called for new elections in the turbulent  region for December 21.
"We have to recover the sensible, practical, enterprising  and dynamic Catalonia... that has contributed so much to the  progress of Spain and Europe," Rajoy told members of his  Popular Party in Barcelona.
Catalonia's independence crisis has pushed more than  2,400 firms to re-register their legal headquarters outside  the wealthy northeastern region.
The International Monetary Fund last month warned that  Catalonia could face ...

Spain PM Rajoy calls on companies not to leave Catalonia

Kylian Mbappe insisted his Paris  Saint-Germain team-mate Neymar is "human like everyone else"  after the Brazilian was reduced to tears on Friday by the  controversy that has followed him since his arrival from  Barcelona.
A tearful Neymar pleaded with the media to stop the  "false stories" about his alleged frosty relations with PSG  coach Unai Emery and fellow striker Edinson Cavani following  Brazil's 3-1 international friendly win over Japan in Lille.
The 25-year-old said he was "hurt" by the issue, before  adding that he was "really happy" in Paris following his  world-record 222-million-euro ($264 million) transfer in  August.
Mbappe, Neymar and Cavani have linked up to devastating  effect this season, with the trio combining to score 24 goals  through PSG's first 12 league matches.
But Mbappe conceded Neymar was just as susceptible to  criticism as anyone else.
"It just simply proves that he's human like everyone  else. He's like us, he has two arms, two legs, a heart, so he  .

Neymar not immune to criticism, says Mbappe

Myanmar soldiers "systematically  targeted" Rohingya women for gang-rape during violence against  the minority Muslim community which triggered an exodus to  Bangladesh, an UN special envoy said today.
Pramila Patten, a special representative of the UN  Secretary-General on sexual violence in conflict, made the  comments after visiting Bangladesh's southeastern district of  Cox's Bazar where some 610,000 Rohingya have taken refuge in  the last ten weeks.
Many of these atrocities "could be crimes against  humanity", she said.
"I heard horrific stories of rape and gang-rape, with  many of the women and girls who died as a result of the rape,"  Patten told reporters in Dhaka.
"My observations point to a pattern of widespread  atrocities, including sexual violence against Rohingya women  and girls who have been systematically targeted on account of  their ethnicity and religion."
The sexual violence in Myanmar's northern state of  Rakhine was "commanded, orchestrated and perpetrated by ...

Myanmar troops systematically gang-raped Rohingya women: UN

Turkey has rejected as "ludicrous"  allegations that it offered several million dollars to the  United States to extradite a political rival to President  Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
US media reported that investigators in Washington are  probing whether former White House national security advisor  Michael Flynn discussed expelling Muslim preacher Fethullah  Gulen in exchange for a secret payout.
Ankara blames Gulen's movement for the July 15, 2016  failed coup against Erdogan, and has pressed for his  extradition from the United States, where he has lived since  1999.
Gulen, who has a large Turkish following, strongly denies  the charges.
"All allegations that Turkey would resort to means  external to the rule of law for his extradition are utterly  false, ludicrous and groundless", Turkey's embassy in  Washington said on Twitter yesterday.
NBC News and the Wall Street Journal said Friday that US  special prosecutor Robert Mueller is examining a meeting Flynn  had with senior Turkish ...

Turkey denies offering money for US extradition of Erdogan

A grenade  attack on a concert in Bangui, the capital of the chronically  unstable Central African Republic, injured around 20 people,  the UN peacekeeping force and witnesses said.
The assault late yesterday saw two unidentified attackers  hurl a grenade at a cafe named "On the Crossroads of Peace"  during a concert by local singer Ozaguin, said Herve  Verhoosel, spokesman for the UN peacekeeping force MINUSCA.
The cafe is located near the PK5 majority Muslim district  of Bangui, once a Muslim rebel bastion, and now home to  several armed groups.
Even though relative peace has been restored in Central  Africa following the civil war that erupted in 2013, inter-  communal tensions remain.
Among those injured in yesterday's attack were several  musicians from Ozaguin's group, Verhoosel said.
A doctor at the hospital where the injured were rushed  for treatment said 21 people had been admitted.
A witness who did not give his name said the attackers  had launched four grenades at the ...

Around 20 concertgoers injured in C Africa grenade attack

Emirates Airlines today agreed to  purchase 40 Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners for USD 15.1 billion at  list price, its chief Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum said.
Emirates is already the world's largest client for  Boeing's 777, with 165 jets and another 164 on firm order.
Sheikh Ahmed said the deal raises total outstanding  orders from US aerospace giant Boeing, the global competitor  of Europe's Airbus Industries, to as high as USD 90 billion.
Delivery of the Dreamliners is scheduled to start in  2022, he said on the first day of the Dubai Airshow.
Emirates, the largest carrier in the Middle East, is also  the world's biggest client for Airbus 380 superjumbo jets with  100 planes. It has firm orders for another 46 jets.
"We have reached a conclusion that the Boeing 787-10 jets  are the best choice for us," Sheikh Ahmed said.
"Emirates' orders today will be delivered from 2022,  taking the airline well into the 2030s," he said in a  statement.
"Some of these will be replacements so that 

Emirates orders 40 Boeing 787 Dreamliners for $15.1 bn

Hong Kong police have raided a  crack cocaine laboratory sited in an upmarket apartment and  seized narcotics ingredients and drugs worth some USD 7.6  million, a statement said today.
The ingredients were thought to have been imported from  Peru and could have been used to produce 40 kilogrammes of  cocaine.
This, plus another 10 kilogrammes of suspected crack  cocaine found in the apartment, would together have been worth  about USD 7.56 million, police said in a statement.
It was believed to be the first time a luxury apartment  had been used as a base for manufacturing drugs, police said.
The four-bedroom flat in Hong Kong's New Territories  measured 1,000 square feet -- large by the city's cramped  standards.
"What's special about this case is the relatively  upmarket apartment... I believe the drug syndicate was hoping  to use it as a cover," Superintendent Ng Wing-sze of the  narcotics bureau told reporters.
Ng said the operators were probably able to bring the  ingredients and 

Hong Kong cocaine lab in luxury flat busted

What is the only Da Vinci painting  on the open market worth? A Russian billionaire believes he  was swindled when he bought it for USD 127.5 million. This  week he'll find out if he was right.
"Salvator Mundi," a painting of Jesus Christ by the  Renaissance polymath Leonardo da Vinci circa 1500, is the star  lot in New York's November art auctions that will see  Christie's and Sotheby's chase combined art sales of more than  $1 billion.
It goes under the hammer at Christie's on Wednesday,  something of an incongruous lot in the post-war and  contemporary evening sale, which attracts the biggest spenders  in the high-octane world of international billionaire art  collectors.
The auction house, which declines to comment on the  controversy and identifies the seller only as a European  collector, has valued it at $100 million.
"Look at the painting, it is an extraordinary work of  art," said Francois de Poortere, head of the old master's  department at Christie's. "That's what we should 

Controversial Da Vinci is New York auction season star

Iconic American industrial  behemoth General Electric, which has lost investor confidence  amid bad investment decisions, is preparing to slice up its  empire again, selling major business segments and laying off  thousands.
Hammered by financial markets, with its market  capitalization down more than $100 billion since January, the  maker of jet engines and power turbines is paying dearly after  making losing bets that the energy sector, in particular oil  and gas, would grow indefinitely.
Shareholders appear resigned to a cut in dividends, the  first since 2009, as GE had only $7 billion in cash flow at  the end of September, but was due to pay out $8 billion.
"There is no scared cow," newly installed CEO John  Flannery has said repeatedly about the need to cut costs and  restructure.
To rebuild trust, Flannery, who has been CEO for only  three months, will roll out plans to revive the company on  Monday.
Deutsche Bank analyst John Inch said there was no way to  sugarcoat the ...

Crisis-stricken GE to unveil painful roadmap to salvation

A Russian extreme sportsman famed  for his record-breaking free-falling stunts has died in a base  jumping accident in the Himalayas, expedition organisers in  Nepal said today.
Valery Rozov, 52, an acclaimed daredevil, was pursuing a  "seven summits" quest -- base jumping from the highest  mountains on all seven continents.
He was jumping from Ama Dablam, a 6,812-metre mountain in  the Everest region when the incident occurred.
"He died while descending on Saturday," Mingma Gelu  Sherpa, from Seven Summits Club that organised his expedition,  told AFP.
"We have sent helicopters and are trying hard to bring  his body back."
It is still unclear how the accident happened.
Rozov set a new world record in 2013 for the highest-ever  base jump when he leapt from Changstse, a peak in the Everest  massif towering at 7,220 metres in a specially-designed  wingsuit.
He broke his own record three years later by jumping from  a height of 7,700 metres on Mount Cho Oyu.
Base jumping is an extreme ...

Russian base jumper dies in Nepal's Everest region

An Israeli general has warned  Palestinian militants against carrying out attacks in revenge  for the blowing up a tunnel stretching from the Gaza Strip  into the Jewish state last month.
Major General Yoav Mordechai, head of a defence ministry  unit responsible for activities in the Palestinian  territories, made the comments in an Arabic-language video  distributed late Saturday.
Referring to the Israeli operation on October 30, he said  that Israel "destroyed a terror tunnel in Israeli sovereign  territory," which resulted in the death of 12 Palestinian  militants from Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
"We are aware of the plot that the Palestinian Islamic  Jihad terror group is planning against Israel," said  Mordechai, whose defence ministry unit is known as COGAT.
"They are playing with fire at the expense of Gazan  residents, the Palestinian reconciliation efforts and the  stability of the entire region.
"Let it be clear: Any attack by Islamic Jihad will be met  with a harsh and ...

Israel warns Gaza militants against revenge attack

Two men have been arrested over the  murder of an elderly Dutch man whose decomposing body was  found at his home on the Indonesian holiday island of Bali.
The corpse of Robert Gilhooad, 80, was found on November  3 at his rental property in Jimbaran, a resort area in the  southern part of the island.
An autopsy concluded the Dutch expatriate had been  murdered, said policeman Aris Purwanto, the region's criminal  investigative chief.
"He had injuries to the left of his head," he told AFP,  adding that the perpetrator had used a steel object.
Two suspects have been detained in connection with the  crime, Purwanto said, without providing names.
Police believe there was a monetary motive for killing  Gilhooad, a long-term Bali resident who lived alone.
The murder is the second in as many months in Jimbaran, a  fishing village famous for its seafood restaurants.
An elderly Japanese couple were found slashed and burned  beyond recognition at their home on September 4.
Petty crime is ...

Two held over murder of elderly Dutch man in Bali

Wang Enlin, an elderly farmer who  left school when he was 10 years old and taught himself law  armed with a single textbook and dictionary, makes for an  unlikely eco-warrior.
Yet the 64-year-old is determined to reap justice as he  readies for a fresh battle in his war with a subsidiary of  China's largest chemical firm, which he accuses of polluting  and destroying his farmland.
"In China, behind every case of pollution is a case of  corruption," he said of his mission to bring Qihua Chemical  Group (also known as Heilongjiang Haohua Chemical) to account.
Wang and others villagers from northeast Heilongjiang  province have sued Qihua accusing it of contaminating their  soil, rendering it untenable for crops, in a case that has  stretched on for more than 16 years.
This February, Wang and his self-styled "Senior Citizen  Environmental Protection Team" earned a rare victory when a  local court ordered Qihua to clear up their chemical waste  site -- adjacent to the farmers' land -- ...

Chinese farmer turned eco-warrior takes on big business

US President Donald Trump told his  Vietnamese counterpart today he is ready to help resolve the  dispute in the resource-rich South China Sea which Beijing  claims most of.
"If I can help mediate or arbitrate, please let me  know... I am a very good mediator," the dealmaking American  leader told Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang during an  official state visit today.
Vietnam has long courted support from Washington in its  dispute with China over the precious waterway, where Beijing  has built military installations and artificial islands.
Beijing's sweeping claims also overlap with those of the  Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.
Trump's comments come ahead of a state visit on Sunday  afternoon by Chinese President Xi Jinping who will meet with  top communist leaders.
Tensions over the sea spiked earlier this year when  Vietnam suspended an oil exploration project in an area of the  waterway also claimed by Beijing, reportedly over pressure  from its powerhouse communist ..

AFP

AFP

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