Onlookers gather at the scene of an accident involving a tanker near Naivasha. Photo: PTI

The accident comes as Kenya is in the throes of a nationwide doctors' strike

30 dead as Kenya petrol tanker crashes, explodes

Press Trust of India

Vietnam has arrested five former bank employees for alleged mismanagement, including an ex-managing director and his deputy, the latest executives to be punished in the scandal-hit sector.
	Tran Phuong Binh, his deputy Nguyen Thi Ngoc Van and three others were arrested for "violating laws on financial and banking activities", according to a statement from the partially state-owned Dong A Bank yesterday.
	The statement did not elaborate on what crimes the five are accused of, but state-run Thanh Nien newspaper said Binh is suspected of causing major financial losses as a result of poorly managed loans.
	All five were originally dismissed in August 2015, Dong A Bank's statement added, when the bank was put under special supervision for suspected illegal activities, according to reports.
	   Dong A Bank, one of the country's smaller banks and based in Vietnam's financial hub Ho Chi Minh City, was established in 1992 and lists the city's communist party office as one of its major ...

Vietnam arrests five bankers for 'mismanagement'

PTI Automatic

Islamic State group fighters withdrew from Syria's Palmyra at dawn today following heavy Russian air strikes, only hours after they had re-entered the famed ancient city, a monitor said.
	"Intense Russian raids since last night forced IS out of Palmyra, hours after the jihadists retook control of the city," said Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.
	The raids killed a large number of the jihadists in the desert city in central Syria, Abdel Rahman said, without being able to give a precise number.

IS withdraws from Syria's Palmyra after heavy Russian raids

Scoreboard at lunch on day four of
the fourth cricket Test between India and England here.
     England 1st innings 400
     India 1st innings (overnight 451-7; V Kohli not out 147, J. Yadav not out 30)
     L. Rahul b Ali                24
     M. Vijay c & b Rashid        136
	C. Pujara b Ball              47
	V. Kohli not out             212
	K. Nair lbw b Ali             13
	P. Patel c Bairstow b Root    15
	R. Ashwin c Jennings b Root    0
	R. Jadeja c Buttler b Rashid  25
	J. Yadav not out              92
	Extras: (B-5, LB-7, W-3)      15
     Total: (7 wickets, 171 overs) 579
     Fall of wickets: 1-39, 2-146, 3-262, 4-279, 5-305, 6-307, 7-364
     Bowling: Anderson 20-5-63-0, Woakes 10-2-43-0, Ali 53-5-174-2 Rashid 50-5-177-2, Ball 18-5-47-1, Stokes 10-2-32-0, Root 10-2-31-2.

Mumbai, Dec 11 (AFP) Scoreboard at lunch on day four of

Suicide bombing 'kills 16' in Somali capital: ambulance

China has slammed Tokyo for targeting its military aircraft with "decoy flares" over a waterway near Japan, calling the actions "dangerous and unprofessional".
	Two Japanese F-15s fired the projectiles as the Chinese planes passed through the Miyako Strait between Japan's Miyako and Okinawa Islands, the defence ministry said in a statement on its website yesterday.
	The incident took place Saturday morning as the Chinese planes carried out "routine far seas training", the statement said, adding the aircraft were in international airspace when the encounter occurred.
	"The actions of the Japanese fighters was dangerous and unprofessional and smashed the freedoms of navigation and overflight provided by international law," it said.
	The statement gave no details about the Chinese aircraft.
	Contacted by AFP, neither the Japanese defence ministry nor the prime minister's office could confirm the incident.
	In September, China sent more than 40 military planes -- including fighters and ...

China slams Japan after jets targeted with 'decoy flares'

Citizens in ex-Soviet Kyrgyzstan went to the polls today to vote on a raft of amendments to the country's constitution promoted by the country's leader, several of which have been slammed by rights groups.
	The Central Election Commission said that polls had opened across the Central Asian country at 0200 GMT for a vote analysts say is likely to see the changes passed.
	Kyrgyzstan, a mountainous majority-Muslim republic of six million, is the most democratic of the so-called "stans" but also the most politically volatile.
	In just 25 years of independence the country has experienced two revolutions unseating presidents in 2005 and 2010 as well as ethnic violence.
	In October, two parties exited the coalition government headed by Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev's Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan in opposition to the proposed changes.
	If passed, the country's prime minister will gain new powers over budget-related legislation and will not need parliamentary or presidential ...

Kyrgyzstan votes in controversial constitutional referendum

A church roof collapsed in southeastern Nigeria causing "many deaths and injury" the country's president has said, with state media reporting that up to 200 people could have been killed.
	The evangelical Reigners Bible Ministry in Akwa Ibom state was packed with worshippers when the roof -- which was still under construction -- collapsed, local media said, with the state-run Nigerian News Agency saying "between 50 and 200" people were believed killed.

Nigeria president says "many deaths" in church collapse

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un conducted a large scale military drill targeting South Korea's presidential Blue House, state media said today.
	The military exercise of the North's special operation forces -- carried out as Kim watched with binoculars at an observation post -- was aimed at "destroying specified targets of the enemy," including the South's Blue House, KCNA said.
	The ruling Workers' Party newspaper Rodong Sinmun also carried a two-page report of the drill, showing several pictures of a building resembling the Blue House being invaded by the North's troops and set on fire, as well as one of Kim roaring with laughter as he watched the simulated attack.
	"Through the combat drill, our forces extended the sea of fire of the Yeonpyeong Island to the sea of fire of Cheong Wa Dae," KCNA said, referring to the South's border island which was bombarded by the North in 2010.
	No date was given for the military exercise.
	"Well done, the enemy troops will have no space to hide ..

N Korea military drill targets South's presidential office

There were growing calls for Russia to be banned from the Winter Olympics and other major international events after the latest startling revelations of state-sponsored doping across Russian sport.
     Richard McLaren described on Friday how Russia "hijacked" sport by involving more than 1,000 athletes in an "institutional conspiracy" to win by mass doping at the Sochi 2014 Winter and London 2012 Olympics and other global competitions.
     The Canadian lawyer, who detailed in a previous report how Russian security services were involved in the nefarious scheme, said in a second report for the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) that at least 30 sports were implicated and that salt and instant coffee were used to manipulate Russian samples.
	Russia's sports ministry -- said to be central to the ruse to cheat its way to success over several years -- again denied state backing for doping, saying that it "will continue the fight against doping with zero tolerance".
	Russia's track and field 

Russia faces ban calls after damning doping revelations

Come 8 p.M. (1900 GMT) tomorrow, what looks to be a poorly kept secret will officially be out -- Cristiano Ronaldo will bag his fourth Ballon d'Or as the world's top footballer.
     The Real Madrid and Portugal star won the Champions League for the second time in three seasons and third time overall after one title with Manchester United in 2008.
     He then led Portugal to their first major title at Euro 2016 -- albeit he went off early through injury in the win over France.
     As has been the case for almost a decade now, the 31-year-old's main rival will be Lionel Messi of Barcelona -- but the Argentine maestro has had by his own exalted standards a less than stellar year both for club and country with the top prizes eluding him on both fronts.
	Ronaldo was spotted midweek in training having dyed his hair gold in advance and for his club coach, there can only be one man for the crown this year.
	"For me there is no debate. The Ballon will be for him," Zinedine Zidane said after 

Ronaldo awaits fourth Ballon d'Or coronation

Lionel Messi struck twice as Barcelona recorded their first win in four La Liga games to close to within three points of Real Madrid at the top of La Liga with a 3-0 win at Osasuna.
     Barca should have killed the game off in the first half as Luis Suarez and Messi missed two big chances each against La Liga's bottom side.
	However, Suarez rounded off a fine team move to break the deadlock just before the hour before Messi's double in the final 17 minutes moved him ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo as La Liga's top scorer with 11 for the season.
	Real can extend their lead once more and set a new club record unbeaten run of 35 games when they host Deportivo la Coruna later on Saturday.
	"We are Barcelona and we know we can never give up," Suarez told BeIN Sports Spain.
	"We are candidates to win the league, it doesn't matter if we are four, five, six or seven points behind, we won't give up."
	Barca were in desperate need of a lift after conceding in the last minute to Real in last ...

Messi double brings Barca relief

Jamie Vardy broke his three-month goal drought with a hat-trick as Premier League champions Leicester City sensationally inflicted a humiliating 4-2 defeat on Pep Guardiola's Manchester City.
     At a rain-sodden King Power Stadium, Vardy hit his first top-flight treble and Andy King also found the net to ensure Leicester atoned for their 5-0 Champions League mauling by Porto.
     "We wanted to make sure we were competitive today and see the team fighting for the cause and we have done that," Vardy, whose side climbed to 14th place, told BT Sport.
     City, who replied through Aleksandar Kolarov and Nolito, had previously fallen to a stormy 3-1 loss at home to Chelsea and lie four points below new leaders Arsenal, who beat Stoke City 3-1.
	Nolito's late goal spared Guardiola from his joint-heaviest league defeat as a manager, but the game exposed huge flaws in a defence that has registered just one clean sheet in 17 matches.
	"Long balls, second balls, they won the second balls and 

Vardy shreds Guardiola's City, Arsenal go top

Over 30 dead as Kenya petrol tanker crashes, explodes:

A journalist was shot dead in Mexico's northern city of Chihuahua, and an industry group demanded an investigation into whether the killing was linked to his work.
	Jesus Adrian Rodriguez was attacked yesterday by strangers while getting into his vehicle to go to his workplace, Grupo Radio Divertida, the Forum of Journalists of Chihuahua said.
	"The journalists in Chihuahua and throughout the country are extremely dismayed by the murder of their comrade, who has been working for many years as a reporter," the forum's president Angel Zubia said in a statement, demanding that the Chihuahua state prosecutor launch an investigation.
	Mexico is considered one of the most dangerous countries for journalists, who face threats from both authorities and organised crime.
	The Inter American Press Association has registered 11 murders of Mexican journalists so far this year.
	According to the National Human Rights Commission, 118 journalists have been killed in Mexico since 2000.

Mexican journalist shot dead

The sound of an explosion was heard on the European side of Istanbul today.
	The cause and the location of the blast were not immediately known but CNN Turk television reported that it took place close to the stadium of Istanbul's Besiktas football club.

Sound of explosion heard in Istanbul

Tens of thousands of people have been displaced after a devastating earthquake in Indonesia killed more than 100 people, an official said today, leaving communities in ruins as aid trickled into the disaster-stricken province.
	"We have 45,300 people evacuating in several places as of Saturday morning," national disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told AFP, adding that the number of displaced had almost doubled since Friday due to an influx of new data.
	The shallow 6.5-magnitude quake earlier this week levelled hundreds of homes, mosques and businesses across Aceh province, one of the areas worst affected by the devastating 2004 tsunami.
	More than 700 people were injured in the quake, many seriously, according to the country's disaster agency.
	Most of the displaced spent the night outdoors in tents near their ruined homes as hundreds refused to move into shelters fearing aftershocks, Nugroho added.
	The army has established kitchens, shelters and a field hospital in the .

45,000 left homeless after Indonesia quake

The UN Security Council today demanded that Gambia's leader Yahya Jammeh hand over power to the president-elect after he rejected the election results in a dramatic political U-turn.
	In a unanimous statement, the 15 council members called on Jammeh to "respect the choice of the sovereign people of The Gambia, as he did on December 2 2016, and to transfer, without condition and undue delay, power to the President-elect, Mr Adama Barrow.

UN Security Council demands Gambia's Jammeh hand over power

Democratic Senator Harry Reid today said FBI Director James Comey deliberately withheld information about Russian hacking in order to help elect Republican Donald Trump.
	Comey had information showing that Russia sought to tip the November presidential election in Trump's favor, said Reid, the outgoing minority leader who is retiring at the end of the month.
	"The FBI had this material for a long time," he told MSNBC. "But he, Comey, who's a Republican, refused to divulge this information about Russia interfering with the presidential election."
	Comey "should be investigated by the Senate" and "other agencies of the government, including the security agencies because if there were ever a matter of security, it's this," Reid said.
	However, he added that he does not believe Attorney General Loretta Lynch should try to fire the FBI chief.
	"There's not enough time to do that, that would be a gesture in futility," he said.
	Comey "let the country down for partisan purposes," Reid said, .

FBI director withheld Russia hacking information: US senator

Eleven non-OPEC oil-producing states including Russia agreed today to cut their output by 558,000 barrels per day, OPEC said, in a joint bid to boost a saturated global market.
	"I am happy to announce that a historic agreement has been reached", said Qatar's Energy Minister Mohammed Bin Saleh Al-Sada, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
	The decision, taken at a meeting at OPEC headquarters in Vienna, follows the cartel's announcement on November 30 it would reduce its output by 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) from January, to 32.5 million bpd.
	Under that deal, OPEC sought for oil-producing nations which are not members to lower their output by 600,000 barrels a day.
	Russia had already signalled it would provide half of that production cut in the first half of 2017.

Non-OPEC producers agree to cut output by 558,000 barrels/day

The US-led coalition has killed a key leader of the Islamic State jihadist group in Syria, the Pentagon said today.
	"Coalition warplanes targeted and killed Tunisian Boubaker al-Hakim, in Raqqa, Syria, November 26," Pentagon spokesman Ben Sakrisson said in a statement emailed to AFP. "Al-Hakim was an ISIL leader and longtime terrorist with deep ties to French and Tunisian Jihadist elements.

AFP

AFP

Page 1256 - Afp