Qatar today formally announced the end of its controversial "kafala" system, arguably the biggest ever labour reform undertaken by the 2022 football World Cup host nation.
	In a long-expected announcement, Labour Minister Issa bin Saad al-Jafali al-Nuaimi said the "kafala" rules would be abolished from tomorrow, December 13.
	He said a contract-based system to govern the gas-rich Gulf emirate's 2.1 million foreign workers would take its place.
	Under "kafala", all foreign workers working in Qatar currently require a local sponsor, in the form of an individual or company, and need their permission to switch jobs or leave the country.
	The system was compared to modern-day slavery, and left vulnerable workers with little protection and open to abuse, critics said.
	"The new law is the latest step towards improving and protecting the rights of every expatriate worker in Qatar," Nuaimi said.
	"It replaces the kafala system with a modernised, contract-based system that safeguards workers' .

Qatar abolishes dreaded 'kafala' labour system

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All children in Syria's battered Aleppo are suffering from trauma after enduring some of the worst violence in their country's war, the UN children's agency said.
	"All children in Aleppo are suffering. All are traumatised," Radoslaw Rzehak, UNICEF's field office head in Aleppo, told AFP inside the devastated city yesterday.
	"I have never seen in my life such a dramatic situation (as) what is happening to children in Aleppo," said Rzehak, who has been working for UNICEF for the past 15 years.
	Tens of thousands of children in Syria's northern city have borne witness to one of the bloodiest phases of the country's nearly six-year war.
	UNICEF estimates that there are between 200,000 and 230,000 children in Aleppo.
	The city's east had been a rebel stronghold since mid-2012, but government forces in recent weeks have overrun more than 85 percent of that area.
	An estimated 120,000 people have fled the city's east, many heading towards displacement centres in government-controlled areas 

'All children' in Syria's Aleppo suffering trauma: UNICEF

World oil prices surged today after non-OPEC producers struck a deal to cut output, while Europe's main stock markets were subdued before a key Fed meeting due this week.
	Indices in London, Frankfurt and Paris pulled back after soaring last week when the European Central Bank decided to extended its massive quantitative easing (QE) stimulus to December 2017.
	At the same time, markets are on tenterhooks before a widely-expected interest rate hike from the US Federal Reserve on Wednesday.
	"Markets are taking a breather after a strong run... And Fed risk this week," City Index research director Kathleen Brooks told AFP.
	"Oil is in focus, so too is central bank risk, but overall we think it is low (trading) volumes as markets wait for the Federal Reserve before piling back in -- or not, depending on the outcome."
	Oil prices surged over two dollars per barrel after 11 non-OPEC countries agreed to huge cuts in crude production, while OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia also signalled a bigger ...

Oil prices surge on output deal

Arsenal were once again drawn against Bayern Munich in the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League today, while Barcelona will also come up against familiar foes in the shape of Paris Saint-Germain.
     Arsene Wenger's side had hoped winning their group for the first time in five years would spare them a tie against one of the continent's giants in the first knockout round. But instead they must face Carlo Ancelotti's German champions, who came second in their section, with the first leg in Bavaria.
     Bayern eliminated Arsenal en route to winning the trophy in 2012/13 and repeated the feat a year later, while the teams also met in the group stage last season -- the Gunners won 2-0 in London but lost 5-1 at the Allianz Arena.
     "It's an interesting and difficult draw. We know Arsenal from the last few years when we often played against them, twice already in the last 16, when we had a good experience and got through," said Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.
     "Arsenal are a strong .

Arsenal get Bayern again, Barcelona return to Paris

Mickey Arthur said today he wants to prove Cricket Australia erred by sacking him as he returns as coach of Pakistan for this week's day-night Test in Brisbane.
     South African Arthur, who was fired by Cricket Australia on the eve of the 2013 Ashes after a run of defeats and replaced by current national coach Darren Lehmann, will be plotting Pakistan's strategy for the three-Test series that starts at the Gabba on Thursday.
     Arthur, 48, said there was a part of him that still had a point to prove to his former employers.
     "I wouldn't be honest if I said otherwise," he told reporters.
     "That's what happens. It's a ruthless world out there.
     "I always maintain that I loved the first year and a bit of it, it was outstanding and I felt we made some significant progress.
     "This series isn't about me against Australia. It's about two very good cricket teams going head to head, I hope that can be the focus."
     Arthur said he was coming to terms with his anticipated .

Arthur back with point to prove to Australia

Chinese swimmer Chen Xinyi has been banned from competition for two years, the swimming federation FINA announced, after she failed a doping test at the Rio Olympics.
     The 18-year-old tested positive for hydrochlorothiazide, a diuretic, on August 8, the same day she took part in the women's 100m butterfly final, finishing fourth.
     She is banned from competing for two years, from August 11 this year to August 10, 2018, FINA said in an announcement Saturday.
     Diuretics increase urination rates and can be used as "masking agents" to hide the presence of performance-enhancing substances that are screened for in doping tests.
     Chen first made headlines when she won gold in the 100m butterfly and 50m freestyle events at the 2014 Asian Games, with times that set championship records.
     She also won gold at the 2015 World Championships with the Chinese 4x100m medley relay team.
     The country's swimmers have previously been embroiled in doping controversy, with athletes ..

Chinese swimmer banned two years for doping

Donald Trump announced today he will nominate retired general John Kelly to head the Department of Homeland Security, the third ex-military man tapped for a top job in his presidential administration.
	"General John Kelly's decades of military service and deep commitment to fighting the threat of terrorism inside our borders makes him the ideal choice to serve as our Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security," Trump said in a statement.
	"He is the right person to spearhead the urgent mission of stopping illegal immigration and securing our borders, streamlining TSA (Transportation Security Administration) and improving coordination between our intelligence and law enforcement agencies," Trump said.
	Kelly led the US Southern Command, covering US military operations in Central and South America and the Caribbean, including efforts to stem the flow of illegal drugs across the US southern border and end human trafficking.
	"I am humbled and grateful to be nominated to serve in ...

Trump taps retired general Kelly for Homeland Security chief

Turkey detained over 200 people including dozens of officials from pro-Kurdish parties and struck Kurdish militants in Iraq Monday in response to this weekend's twin bombings claimed by a radical Kurd separatist group.
	The toll from Saturday's attacks, which struck an Istanbul football stadium and a nearby park, rose to 44 today, Health Minister Recep Akdag said -- 36 of them police officers.
	Turkish jets pounded targets in northern Iraq, with the military saying it had hit "separatist terrorist organisation members", referring to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
	The armed forces said they struck targets in the Zap region of northern Iraq, destroying militant headquarters as well as nearby shelters and gun positions.
	In total, 235 people were detained in operations in 11 Turkish cities accused of acting on behalf of the PKK or producing propaganda for the group, some via social media, the interior ministry said.
	The ministry did not give specific numbers of how many ..

Turkey detains Kurds, hits militants after twin blasts

Myanmar has called an emergency ASEAN meeting to discuss the Rohingya crisis, a diplomat said today, as regional tensions deepen over a bloody military crackdown on the country's Muslim minority.
	More than 20,000 Rohingya have flooded into Bangladesh over the past two months, fleeing a military campaign in Myanmar's western Rakhine state.
	Their stories of mass rape and murder at the hands of security forces have galvanised protests in Muslim nations around the region, with Buddhist-majority Myanmar facing diplomatic pressure from its neighbours.
	Last week Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak lashed out at Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi for allowing "genocide" on her watch, speaking before thousands of angry protesters in Kuala Lumpur.
	Myanmar, which has vehemently denied the accusations, responded by angrily summoning Malaysia's ambassador and banning its workers from going to the country.
	A diplomatic source in the Philippines confirmed Myanmar had invited them for ..

Myanmar calls ASEAN talks over 'Rohingya issue': diplomat

Taiwan's defence minister called on youths to join the army today after Chinese military aircraft came near the island over the weekend during a drill for the second time in the past month.
	Saturday's incident saw more than 10 Chinese aircraft pass through the Miyako Strait in Japan's Okinawa chain as well as the Bashi Channel to the south of Taiwan, according to the defence ministry.
	Officials gave no further detail on how close the planes had come to the island, but they did not enter Taiwan's airspace.
	It comes as tense cross-strait relations have been further rattled by United States president-elect Donald Trump's unprecedented phone call with Taiwan's Beijing-sceptic president Tsai Ing-wen, and his suggestion yesterday that he could drop Washington's "one China" policy which guides relations with self-ruling Taiwan.
	Taiwan's defence minister Feng Shih-kuan called the timing of China's air drill a coincidence, but warned the island is still at risk of military ...

Taiwan calls on youths to join army as China threat looms

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane looked frazzled after arriving in Japan today but he has promised his side will be ready for the Club World Cup.
     The European champions, chasing a second world title in three years, worked out the kinks as night fell, talisman Cristiano Ronaldo leading the players in a gentle jog around a pitch in chilly Yokohama.
     "We're very tired from the long flight of course," a bleary-eyed Zidane told AFP. "But that's normal. We will untangle ourselves a bit and feel better after a good night's sleep.
     "The serious work starts tomorrow," added the Frenchman, whose side take on Mexico's Club America on Thursday for a place in the final.
     "We are here to win the Club World Cup. It's an extremely important target for Real Madrid."
     Zidane's Spanish table-toppers, who have strung together a club record 35-game unbeaten run, swept into Tokyo before sunrise on Monday and were greeted at the airport by around 300 fans.
     "Personally, I'm ...

Real hot shots ready for Japan test, says Zidane

A British neo-Nazi group will become the first of its kind to be banned under anti-terror laws, with Interior Minister Amber Rudd branding it today as "racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic".
	Britain's interior ministry said the far-right extremist group, National Action, was being banned under the Terrorism Act as it had been assessed to be "concerned in terrorism".
	The move means that supporting or being a member of the organisation will be a criminal offence, carrying a potential 10-year prison sentence, the Home Office said in a statement.
	"National Action is a racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic organisation which stirs up hatred, glorifies violence and promotes a vile ideology, and I will not stand for it," said Rudd, announcing the ban.
	"It has absolutely no place in a Britain that works for everyone."
	Lawmakers will debate the legislation on Wednesday and it will likely come into force two days later.
	The ban follows the conviction last month of far-right extremist Thomas .

UK bans neo-Nazi group under anti-terror laws

The McLaren report reveals the rot in Russian sport but smacks of a political attack because other countries escape similar scrutiny, according to Russian pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva.
     In an interview with L'Equipe French sports newspaper today, three days after the McLaren report disclosed an "institutional conspiracy" of doping in Russia, the two-times Olympic gold medallist said she welcomed the drive to clean up Russian sport.
     "But focusing investigations on one country is a political act," said Isinbayeva, banned from the Rio Olympic along with more than 100 other Russian athletes following revelations of state-sponsored doping.
     "I do not believe there was a conspiracy, and I just want the McLaren investigation to be extended to the whole world," adding that "the doping in Russia is no different to anywhere else."
     Isinbayeva, appointed head of Russia's anti-doping agency last week, said the McLaren report whose final version commissioned by the World .

McLaren report a 'political act' -- Isinbayeva

At least 34 civilians, including 11 children, were killed today in a series of air strikes on villages held by the Islamic State group in central Syria, a monitor said.
	The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a barrage of air raids hit Oqayrabat and other nearby villages in the central province of Hama at dawn.
	"There are dozens of people wounded, and the toll may rise because some of them are in critical condition and because of the lack of medical capacities," the Britain-based Observatory said.
	Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said he could not confirm if the strikes on the east of Hama province were carried out by Syrian or Russian warplanes.
	He noted cases of suffocation but could not confirm accusations of a chemical attack.
	A panel set up by the UN, known as the Joint Investigative Mechanism, has determined during a year-long probe that Syrian government forces carried out three chlorine gas attacks on villages in 2014 and 2015.
	The panel consisting of UN and ...

Raids kill 34 civilians in IS-held Syria villages: monitor

The Kremlin today deplored the lack of cooperation with the United States in Palmyra after Islamic State jihadists re-entered the ancient Syrian city at the weekend.
	"We regret that we have yet to completely neutralise their offensive," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said of the fighters return to the fabled city after an eight-month absence.
	"We also regret that there still is a lack of coordinated action and real cooperation with other states -- with the United States first and foremost -- that do not want to cooperate, and this cooperation could allow us to avoid such attacks by terrorists."
	Peskov added that jihadists from neighbouring Iraq, where a Western coalition is supporting the Iraqi military's efforts to retake the city of Mosul from IS, had been flooding into Syria.
	Russia's defence ministry said Sunday that its war planes had carried out more than 60 overnight strikes on Palmyra, claiming to have "thwarted all terrorist attacks" on the city.
	Russia has carried out .

Kremlin blames lack of US cooperation for Palmyra blow

IMF boss Lagarde in court for start of French trial.

IMF boss Christine Lagarde was in a Paris court today for the start of her trial for negligence over a state payout to a tycoon made while she was French finance minister.
	Lagarde listened to the start of proceedings at the Court of Justice of the Republic, a special tribunal used to try ministers, where her defence team is expected to ask for an adjournment.

IMF boss Lagarde in court for start of French trial

Qatar Airways is renegotiating with Airbus to change an order for up to 80 A320 neo planes to the larger A321 neos, the Gulf carrier's chief executive said today.
	The switch to the larger planes is an option after Qatar Airways refused to accept four A320 neos earlier this year over issues with the aircraft's engines.
	"Yes, we have cancelled a few deliveries," said the airline's chief executive, Akbar Al-Baker, speaking in Doha.
	"We are in negotiation with Airbus, how we can continue our relationship and keep our order on track, minus the ones that we cancelled."
	Baker said Qatar Airways was "renegotiating" the contract to change the A320s to A321s and for the newly ordered aircraft to have engines from a different manufacturer.
	"We are looking at substituting 320s with 321s and substituting those aeroplanes with CFM," he said, referring to engines produced by CFM International, a venture between GE of the United States and France's Safran.
	The engines on the cancelled planes ...

Qatar Airways in talks to change Airbus order

Gambian president-elect Adama Barrow said today that longtime leader Yahya Jammeh should step down immediately after Jammeh reversed his decision to concede defeat following a presidential election.
	"I think he should step down now," Barrow said. "He has lost the election, we don't want to waste time, we want this country to start moving."
	Jammeh's party announced a legal challenge on Saturday over the December 1 election in which he had already conceded defeat to Barrow.
	Barrow is due to welcome a heavyweight delegation of African heads of state and UN representatives Tuesday to persuade Jammeh to go, which the president-elect said gave him confidence he would soon take power.
	"It's giving us confidence and it will give confidence to every Gambian that the world is concerned about Gambia," he said.
	Diplomatic sources told AFP the delegation is likely to include UN West Africa envoy Mohamed Ibn Chambas, Nigerian President Muhammadu  Buhari, and Liberian leader Ellen Johnson ...

Gambia president-elect demands Jammeh step down 'now'

France today accused Russia of constantly lying over its role in Syria, saying it was claiming to battle IS group militants when it was only interested in backing Bashar al-Assad.
	Another round of Russia-US talks on ending the bloody conflict made no progress at the weekend as the Syrian president's forces closed in on the last pockets of rebel resistance in Syria's second city, Aleppo.
	French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said the talks failed "because there is double-talk and a sort of permanent lie" on the part of Russia.
	"On the one hand they say: let's talk, let's talk and get a cease-fire," Ayrault said as he arrived for a regular meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Brussels.
	"On the other hand, they continue the war and this war is a total war, aimed at saving Assad and capturing Aleppo," he said.
	Ayrault said Russia had concentrated so much effort on Aleppo that it had allowed IS jihadis to recapture the ancient city of Palmyra, revealing Moscow's real ...

France accuses Russia of 'lying' about Syria

New Italian premier-designate Paolo Gentiloni raced to put together a cabinet team today as the market welcomed the apparent rapid resolution of the country's political and banking crises.
	Gentiloni, 62, was asked by President Sergio Mattarella yesterday to form a new centre-left government that will guide Italy to elections due by February 2018, following the resignation of outgoing Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.
	Opposition parties slammed the softly-spoken former foreign minister as little more than a Renzi puppet, but Milan's FTSE Mib saluted the move, up 1.22 per cent at 1030 GMT.
	Silver-haired Gentiloni, a one-time student radical from an aristocratic family, is expected to keep the cabinet largely untouched and present his final list to the president by the close of play today.
	He will then seek parliamentary approval of his new government on Tuesday or Wednesday.
	The biggest cabinet seat to fill is the one left vacant by Gentiloni himself, that of foreign ...

AFP

AFP

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