Angry protesters and police clashed  in Niger's capital Niamey today as a demonstration against  financial reforms in the West African nation turned violent.
Local civil society organisations have for weeks been  denouncing the 2018 budget for one of the poorest countries on  the planet.
More than 1,000 demonstrators rallied near the city  centre to protest against the government's financial plan that  they branded "anti-social" and said created new taxes.
The protest began quietly but quickly degenerated when a  group of people defied a ban and headed to a square opposite  the country's parliament.
Police used tear gas to stop the group from reaching  parliament, an AFP correspondent said.
The protesters responded by throwing stones and bricks,  building barricades and lighting tyres on fire.
"The new budget is going to squeeze the poor," said  Nouhou Arzika, a prominent activist and one of the protest  leaders.
Instead of creating new taxes, Arzika suggested that the  authorities ...

Clashes erupt at Niger protest over financial reforms

PTI Automatic

US President Donald Trump's  administration opposed a planned vote on a controversial  Israeli bill that critics say would amount to de facto  annexation of Jewish settlements surrounding Jerusalem, a US  official said today.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu postponed a  vote on the bill by a ministerial committee that was scheduled  to take place today, with an Israeli official saying  "diplomatic preparation" was needed.
It was a signal that Netanyahu was under pressure not to  move forward from the White House, which has been seeking ways  to restart long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
"I think it's fair to say that the US is discouraging  actions that it believes will unduly distract the principals  from focusing on the advancement of peace negotiations," a US  official said on condition of anonymity.
"The Jerusalem expansion bill was considered by the  administration to be one of those actions."
The bill would absorb major Israeli settlements currently  in the .

White House opposed vote on Israel annexation bill:US official

The brother of Burkina Faso's ousted  ex-president Blaise Compaore was arrested in Paris today in  connection with the 1998 murder of an investigative journalist  in the west African country, his lawyer told AFP.
Francois Compaore, 63, was detained at the French  capital's Charles de Gaulle airport over the killings of  journalist Norbert Zongo and three companions whose charred  bodies were found in a burnt-out car near Zongo's home.
Burkina Faso had in July issued an international arrest  warrant for him on charges of "inciting murders", according to  Zongo's family.
His lawyer Pierre-Olivier Sur and an airport source  confirmed his arrest off a flight arriving from Ivory Coast's  commercial capital Abidjan.
Compaore was a powerful economic adviser in the regime of  his older brother. He was nicknamed the "little president" for  his influence over the government, army and business world.
Zongo, editor of L'independant daily, was looking into  the murder of the younger Compaore's ...

Ex-Burkina leader's brother held over reporter's murder

Massud Barzani, the president  of the autonomous Kurdish region in Iraq, told a closed-door  session of parliament Sunday he was stepping down amid the  fall-out from a controversial independence referendum.
"After November 1, I will no longer exercise my  functions, and I reject any extension of my mandate," the 71-  year-old said in a letter read out to parliament in the  Kurdish capital Arbil, a copy of which was obtained by AFP.
"Changing the law on the presidency of Kurdistan or  prolonging the presidential term is not acceptable," said the  architect of the September 25 independence vote, which led to  the Kurds losing to Baghdad's forces disputed territory to  which they laid claim.
"I ask parliament to meet to fill the vacancy in power,  to fulfil the mission and to assume the powers of the  presidency of Kurdistan", said the letter.
Barzani also said he would continue "remain a peshmerga  (Kurdish fighter) among the ranks of the people of Kurdistan  and I will continue to ...

Barzani says to step down as Kurdish leader in Iraq

A Russian helicopter that went down  off the coast of Norway's Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic  this week has been found and the eight Russians on board are  presumed dead, Norwegian rescue crews said today.
The Mil Mi-8 chopper, carrying five crew and three  scientists, went missing on Thursday as it was flying to  Barentsburg from Pyramiden, a former mining community in  Svalbard that is now a tourist site.
It went down two or three kilometres from Barentsburg, a  Russian mining community in the archipelago.
"The wreck of the Russian helicopter has been located...  northeast of Heerodden, at a depth of 209 metres," the rescue  services said in a statement.
"The search has now concluded, and has moved into a  search phase for the presumed dead."
A sea patrol plane, a Danish aircraft, two Norwegian  helicopters and several vessels had been searching the area  since Thursday.
No contact had been made with the chopper before or after  it went down.
A small robot submarine located the 

Missing Russian chopper found on Arctic seabed, eight presumed

Turkish police today rounded up  dozens of Islamic State suspects including Syrian nationals in  a security sweep on the country's national day holiday, local  media reported.
Twenty-two suspects were arrested in the eastern province  of Erzurum including alleged senior members of the jihadist  group, and 39 suspects in the northwestern Bursa province, the  official Anadolu news agency reported, citing security  sources.
The suspects included two Azerbaijanis and 28 Syrians, it  added.
The operation comes a day after police arrested 49  alleged IS members in Ankara -- some of whom were suspected of  planning an attack on Republic Day on Sunday.
Turkey has been hit by a series of attacks blamed on IS  jihadists over the past two years, including a New Year attack  this year on an elite Istanbul nightclub during which 39  people were killed by an IS gunman.
There has been a lull in attacks since, but tensions  remain high and Turkish police launch raids almost daily  against suspected ..

Turkey arrests IS suspects in nationwide raids: report

The death toll from a deadly  weekend attack on a hotel in Mogadishu has risen to 27, the  Somali government said today, announcing the dismissal of the  country's police and intelligence chiefs.
The move came after Al-Qaeda aligned Shabaab gunmen  staged coordinated bomb attacks outside a hotel in the north  of the Somali capital yesterday before storming the building.
The latest toll was given by Security Minister Mohamed  Abukar Islow at a cabinet meeting at which ministers approved  the dismissal of intelligence agency boss Abdillahi Mohamed  Sanbalooshe and police chief Abdihakim Dahir Said.
The two were "fired for the purpose of serious  accountability," said a statement read by Information Minister  Abdirahman Omar Osman after the meeting.
The sackings come two weeks after Somalia suffered its  deadliest-ever terrorist attack in which at least 358 people  were killed in a huge truck bombing in Mogadishu.
Osman said five people had so far been arrested in  connection with the ...

Somalia sacks security chiefs as attack toll hits 27

Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor  Lieberman said today he wants to expand the controversial  policy of demolishing homes of Palestinians involved in fatal  attacks to include perpetrators who seriously wound Israelis.
The minister has instructed the army and defence ministry  to "examine the possibility to demolish the homes of  terrorists who carried out attacks in which Israeli civilians  were seriously wounded," Lieberman said in a statement.
"Destroying the homes of terrorists who carried out  murderous attacks is an effective and proven means in the  fight against terror and deters those planning attacks," the  statement said.
"There's no difference between an attack that ends in  murder and one that ends in a serious injury," Lieberman said.
"In both cases the homes of the terrorists must be  demolished."
Israel says the demolition policy, in place since 1967,  is a means of deterring future attackers.
Critics of the policy say it is a form of collective  punishment, forcing ...

Israel looks to expand demolitions of Palestinian attackers'

At least three people died in a  windstorm that hit central Europe today, causing widespread  power outages and traffic disruptions, rescuers said.
In the Czech Republic, falling trees killed a woman near  the central city of Trebic and an elderly man in Jicin  northeast of Prague.
A driver died in his car in Poland after crashing into a  branch that had fallen on the road near the northwestern city  of Szczecin, firefighters said.
The strong winds halted traffic on dozens of railways and  several roads across the Czech Republic. Some rivers in the  north of the country reached the highest flood-alert levels.
"At present, hundreds of thousands of households are left  without power," Sona Holingerova Hendrychova, spokeswoman for  the state-run power producer CEZ, said in a statement.
About 200,000 people were also grappling with power  outages in western Poland.
In Austria, the organisers cancelled the men's World Cup  season-opening giant slalom at Solden scheduled for today.
In ...

At least three dead as storm hits central Europe

The head of the United Nations  atomic agency today said Iran was carrying out its commitments  made under a landmark nuclear deal with world powers.
"As of today, I can state that the nuclear-related  commitments made by Iran under the JCPOA (nuclear deal) are  being implemented," Yukiya Amano said at a press conference in  Tehran broadcast by state television.
The 2015 accord, signed by the Islamic republic as well  as Germany, Britain, China, France, Russia and the United  States, saw economic sanctions on Iran lifted in exchange for  it curbing its nuclear activities.
This month, US President Donald Trump said a "total  termination" of the deal remained possible, after refusing to  certify the accord and leaving its fate to the US Congress.
Today, Amani met Iran's President Hassan Rouhani, Foreign  Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Iran's Atomic Energy  Organisation chief Ali Akbar Salehi.
According to the government's website, Rouhani told the  head of the International Atomic ...

IAEA says Iran implementing its nuclear deal commitments

Taliban insurgents, some wearing  night-vision goggles, killed 22 Afghan policemen in separate  attacks on checkpoints over the weekend in the latest blow to  the country's beleaguered security forces.
Militants wearing the googles launched a pre-dawn assault  on a police post in Khan Abad district in the northern  province of Kunduz today and killed 13 officers, said  provincial police chief Abdul Hamid Hamidi.
Only one policeman survived the attack, he told  reporters.
The attackers destroyed the checkpoint and stole a  Humvee, according to district governor Hayatullah Amiri.
Yesterday Taliban fighters killed nine policemen and  wounded two others stationed at checkpoints in Ghazni, the  capital of the southeastern province of the same name, said  provincial governor's spokesman Mohammad Arif Noori.
Twelve of the militants were killed and four wounded,  Noori said.
The Taliban claimed the attacks in statements to media.
The insurgents have stepped up attacks on security  ...

Taliban kill 22 Afghan police in multiple attacks

Israeli prosecutors filed charges  today against two Palestinians suspected of murdering their  Jewish employer this month in what authorities have labelled a  "terror attack", the justice ministry said.
According to the indictment, Yousef Kamil, 20, and  Mohammed Abu Elrob, 19, both of Qabatiya in the occupied West  Bank, murdered Reuven Schmerling in a premeditated attack at  their workplace in the Arab Israeli city of Kafr Qasem on  October 4.
Schmerling, 70 and who lived in the nearby Israeli  settlement of Elkana in the West Bank, was stabbed and beaten  to death by the two in his coal warehouse, prosecutors say.
According to the charges, the two had decided to "carry  out an attack for nationalistic reasons and cause the death of  Jews".
They were seeking revenge over the death of a friend in  2015, who was shot dead while attempting an attack,  prosecutors said.
They were also motivated by "the events on the Temple  Mount", the Jewish name for the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, the  .

Two Palestinians charged with murder of Israeli man

Iran's president today said his  country would continue building weapons including developing  missiles as the United States prepares new sanctions over its  ballistic missile programme.
"To defend our nation and territorial integrity, we will  build all the weapons we will need," Hassan Rouhani told  parliament in statements broadcast on state television.
Recent Iranian missile launches have triggered US  sanctions and accusations they violate the spirit of a 2015  nuclear deal between Tehran and major powers.
Signed by Iran, Germany, Britain, China, France, Russia  and the United States, the landmark accord saw economic  sanctions on Iran lifted in exchange for Tehran curbing its  nuclear activities.
"We have built missiles, we are building some and will  continue to do so because it does not violate any  international regulations -- not even the UN Security  Council's Resolution 2231" endorsing the deal, Rouhani said.
Under Resolution 2231, Tehran is "called upon" to refrain  from .

Iran says to continue developing ballistic missiles

Belgium could offer asylum to  Catalan separatist leader Carles Puigdemont, the country's  immigration minister has suggested, as the Spanish political  crisis rages.
Puigdemont was officially deposed by Madrid as president  of the Calatan region on Friday after its parliament  unilaterally declared independence from Spain, and now faces  possible criminal charges of rebellion.
Belgian Immigration Minister Theo Francken, a member of  the Flemish separatist N-VA party, questioned whether  Puigdemont could be sure of a fair trial and said he could be  given asylum in Belgium if he asked for it.
"It's not unrealistic (that Belgium could protect  Puigdemont), looking at the current situation," Francken told  Flemish-language broadcaster VTM yesterday.
"Looking at the repression by Madrid and the jail  sentences that are being proposed, the question can be asked  whether he still has the chance for an honest court hearing."
So far there has been no indication that Puidgemont will  seek to .

Belgium could offer Catalan leader asylum: minister

England are steeled for a sledging  war in the Ashes series with suspended Ben Stokes the expected  focus of Australia's barbs, captain Joe Root said on the  team's arrival here today.
Stokes, the vice-captain and star all-rounder, is not  among the touring party. He remains under investigation after  being arrested on suspicion of causing actual bodily harm  following an incident outside a Bristol nightclub in  September.
The England and Wales Cricket Board has not yet ruled the  26-year-old Stokes, who has a broken finger, out of the series  which starts with the first Test in Brisbane on November 23.
Root, who made it clear before departure that they must  be prepared for Stokes's possible absence for the entire  five-Test series, said his team were ready to deal with any  heat that comes their way.
"Potentially they might (sledge us about Stokes)," Root  told reporters.
"But Ashes cricket -- there's always an edge of  psychological banter.
"Once you've played in a few, you sort of 

Root says England ready for Aussie sledging war

Pro-unity protesters gathered for  a rally in Catalonia's capital Barcelona today, two days after  regional lawmakers voted to break away from Spain, plunging  the country into an unprecedented political crisis.
As protesters gathered for the march, the deputy  president of the region's now-deposed government lashed out  against Madrid over what he called a "coup d'etat".
"The president of the country is and will remain Carles  Puigdemont," his deputy Oriol Junqueras wrote in Catalan  newspaper El Punt Avui.
Junqueras used the word "country" to refer to Catalonia,  whose lawmakers pushed Spain into uncharted waters Friday with  a vote to declare the region independent.
"We cannot recognise the coup d'etat against Catalonia,  nor any of the anti-democratic decisions that the PP (Prime  Minister Mariano Rajoy's ruling Popular Party) is adopting by  remote control from Madrid," Junqueras wrote.
He signed the article as the "vice president of the  government of Catalonia".
The Catalan ...

Pro-unity march in heart of 'independent' Catalonia

A Russian helicopter that went down  off the coast of Norway's Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic  this week has been found and the eight Russians on board are  presumed dead, Norwegian rescue crews said today.
The Mil Mi-8 chopper, carrying five crew and three  scientists, went missing on Thursday as it was flying to  Barentsburg from Pyramiden, a former mining community in  Svalbard that is now a tourist site.
It went down two or three kms from Barentsburg, a Russian  mining community in the archipelago.
"The wreck of the Russian helicopter has been located...  northeast of Heerodden, at a depth of 209 metres (686 feet),"  the rescue services said in a statement.
"The search has now concluded, and has moved into a  search phase for the presumed dead."
A sea patrol plane, a Danish aircraft, two Norwegian  helicopters and several vessels had been searching the area  since Thursday.
A small robot submarine was also used to investigate an  area where an oil patch and bubbles were ...

Missing Russian chopper found on Arctic seabed, 8 presumed

Military songs rang out across  downtown Yangon today as tens of thousands rallied in defence  of Myanmar's army, an institution accused by the global  community of driving Rohingya Muslims from the country.
More than 600,000 Rohingya have fled western Rakhine  state to Bangladesh since late August when raids by militants  from the minority group were met with ruthless army "clearance  operations".
The United Nations has led global condemnation, calling  the crackdown a "textbook" example of ethnic cleansing.
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson phoned army chief Min  Aung Hlaing earlier this week to express his concerns at  alleged atrocities in Rakhine state and urge a swift and safe  return for the Rohingya.
But inside Myanmar support for the army has surged -- an  unlikely turnaround for a once feared and hated institution  that ruled for 50 years and whose lawmakers lost heavily in  2015 polls.
Those elections sent Aung San Suu Kyi's pro-democracy  party into power, but the ...

Big turnout at Myanmar pro-army rally defies Rohingya outcry

Apple will let you unlock the  iPhone X with your face -- a move likely to bring facial  recognition to the masses, along with concerns over how the  technology may be used for nefarious purposes.
Apple's newest device, set to go on sale November 3,  is designed to be unlocked with a facial scan with a number of  privacy safeguards -- as the data will only be stored on the  phone and not in any databases.
Unlocking one's phone with a face scan may offer added  convenience and security for iPhone users, according to Apple,  which claims its "neural engine" for FaceID cannot be tricked  by a photo or hacker.
While other devices have offered facial recognition,  Apple is the first to pack the technology allowing for a  three-dimensional scan into a hand-held phone.
But despite Apple's safeguards, privacy activists fear  the widespread use of facial recognition would "normalise" the  technology and open the door to broader use by law  enforcement, marketers or others of a largely ...

New iPhone brings face recognition (and fears) to the masses

Myanmar police have charged two  foreign journalists working for Turkish state media -- along  with two Burmese locals -- for allegedly breaching import laws  after they flew a drone over the country's parliament.
The men will be held in custody until their first court  hearing on charges that carry up to three years in jail or a  fine for the import and export of "restricted or banned goods"  without obtaining a license.
"We have opened a case against all four -- two foreigners  and two Burmese. They will be held on remand until November  10," deputy police colonel Kyaw Moe told AFP.
The foreigners, Lau Hon Meng from Singapore and Mok Choy  Lin from Malaysia, were arrested on Friday in Myanmar's  capital Naypyidaw while they were on assignment for Turkish  state broadcaster TRT.
The pair was working with well-known Myanmar journalist  Aung Naing Soe and a local driver Hla Tin.
The incident comes as tensions surge between Myanmar and  Turkey, which has led criticism of the Southeast ..

Myanmar police charge foreign reporters over drone use

Anthony Joshua  maintained his 100 per cent knockout ratio by stopping a  bloodied Carlos Takam in the tenth round.
The English boxer retained his International Boxing  Federation and World Boxing Association world heavyweight  titles with a devastating display of his punching power to  finish Cameroon's France-based challenger at the Principality  Stadium.
Takam became Joshua's 20th consecutive knockout victim in  a fourth defence of his IBF belt and first of his WBA title,  but the challenger stubbornly resisted the champion after  being cut by the right eye in the fourth round.
"It was a good fight until the ref stopped it. I have the  upmost respect for Takam," said Joshua, who injured his nose  from a headbutt in the second round.
"Imagine if it's broke and I couldn't breath and he  started catching up in the middle rounds? It would have been a  disaster, so I kept my cool. You have to control these  situations because, if I showed any signs of weakness, the ref  could have ...

AFP

AFP

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