European stocks and the euro rebounded sharply today as investors were reassured by the speed of Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's resignation after losing a crunch referendum.
	The region's markets began the day in negative territory, with Milan tumbling two per cent, but recovered somewhat with sentiment soothed also by the defeat of the far right in Austria's presidential election.
	"The Italian referendum is the major story that will dominate market moves throughout Monday... After Renzi left his position after a bruising defeat," said GKFX analyst James Hughes.
	"The initial market reaction was to the downside, but Renzi's decision to leave so quickly after the result meant that added clarity drove the euro and European equity markets to the upside."
	Renzi stood by his promise to resign after his attempt to change the constitution was overwhelmingly rejected in yesterday's poll, leading to fears about the future of one of the eurozone's biggest economies.
	The referendum ...

European markets bounce back from Renzi-sparked losses

PTI Automatic

A Jordanian air force pilot was killed today after his F-16 jet crashed due to a technical fault during a training exercise, the army said.
	The army statement did not specify the location of the accident, which happened as the jet took off.
	In 2015, a Jordanian pilot and an Iraqi trainee were killed when a light training aircraft - a T67 Firefly - crashed during a routine military exercise.
	In 2013, another Firefly crashed in the north of the kingdom because of technical problems, killing the pilot and a trainee.
	Jordan is part of the US-led coalition of Arab and Western countries carrying out air strikes against the Islamic State jihadist group, which controls parts of Iraq and neighbouring Syria.

Jordan military plane crash kills pilot

British lawmakers have tabled a change in the law to enable the government to freeze British assets of international human rights abusers, following a campaign in memory of late Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.
	The amendment to the Criminal Finances Bill, which became public today and is due to be debated in parliament this month, would give a judge the power to seize property and bank accounts of anyone involved in "gross human rights abuses".
	William Browder, a former Moscow financier turned anti-Kremlin campaigner, said the amendment sent a message to "human rights violators around the world that their blood money is no longer welcome here".
	The US-born British citizen is the founder of the Hermitage Capital hedge fund where Magnitsky worked when he went public with details of massive fraud by state officials.
	Shortly afterwards Magnitsky himself was charged with tax evasion. Magnitsky died in detention on November 16, 2009 after having spent 11 months on remand in squalid ...

British MPs back UK asset freeze for human rights abusers

Forces loyal to Libya's UN-backed government said today they had seized full control of Sirte from the Islamic State group, in a major blow to the jihadists who battled for months to retain their bastion.
	The battle for the coastal city, which was the last significant territory held by IS in Libya, cost the lives of hundreds of loyalist troops as well as an unknown number of IS fighters.
	"Our forces have total control of Sirte," Reda Issa, a spokesman for pro-government forces, told AFP. "Our forces saw Daesh (IS) totally collapse."
	Forces allied with the country's unity government launched an offensive to retake the city on May 12, quickly seizing large areas of the city and cornering the jihadists.
	But IS put up fierce resistance with suicide car bombings, snipers and improvised explosive devices.
	"Daesh has totally collapsed and dozens of them have given themselves up to our forces," said a statement on the loyalist forces' official Facebook page.
	The capture of Sirte boosts .

IS loses Libya bastion in major blow to jihadists

The French Grand Prix is returning to the Formula One calendar in 2018 after a decade-long absence at Le Castellet's Paul Ricard circuit near Marseille, organisers announced on Monday.
	   "The French Grand Prix is making its comeback," Christian Estrosi, president of the Provence-Alpes-Cotes d'Azur region told a press conference in Paris.
	   Estrosi made the announcement at the Automobile Club de France which helped stage the first ever grand prix in 1906.
	   Felipe Massa in a Ferrari won the last F1 race staged in France in 2008 at Magny-Cours, when a major budget deficit was shouldered by the French state and local authorities.
	   The Paul Ricard venue has held 14 F1 races in all between 1971 and 1990 when French four-time champion Alain Prost was victorious.
	   The circuit has received 80 million euros ($85.6mn) worth of investment since 2002 to bring it up to scratch.
	   "It's a venue that is both recognised and appreciated," Estrosi declared.
	   He said the cost of staging 

French Grand Prix returns in 2018

Britain is beginning work on becoming an independent member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) after Brexit, using the EU's current terms as the template, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox said today.
	Britain is currently represented in the 164-member body through its membership of the European Union, but when it leaves the bloc it will need to establish its own terms, or schedules.
	"In order to minimise disruption to global trade as we leave the EU, over the coming period the government will prepare the necessary draft schedules which replicate as far as possible our current obligations," Fox said in a written statement to parliament.
	"The government will undertake this process in dialogue with the WTO membership.
	"This work is a necessary part of our leaving the EU. It does not prejudge the outcome of the eventual UK-EU trading arrangements."
	Prime Minister Theresa May has promised to begin formal exit talks with EU leaders by the end of March, but has refused to give a 

Britain moves to change WTO terms after Brexit vote

Sergio Aguero's four-match suspension has been confirmed by the Football Association following his dismissal in Manchester City's loss to Chelsea.
     City striker Aguero was shown a red card for a dangerous two-footed foul on Chelsea defender David Luiz, which led to a bust-up between players and coaches from both teams in the final moments of Saturday's Premier League clash at Eastlands.
     The Argentina international, who has scored 16 goals this season, will now miss league fixtures against Leicester, Watford, Arsenal and Hull.
     Aguero has already missed three games through suspension this term for elbowing West Ham's Winston Reid and his latest absence is a major blow to City's title challenge.
     Fernandinho was also sent off for shoving Cesc Fabregas during the incident, with City's Brazilian midfielder banned for three matches, as indicated on the disciplinary pages of the FA website on Monday.
     Chelsea won the game 3-1 to move three points clear at the top, but ..

Aguero's four-match ban confirmed

Russia said today it would hold talks with Washington on a total rebel withdrawal from Syria's Aleppo, where the army has made sweeping advances, but opposition factions rejected any evacuation.
	President Bashar al-Assad's forces have seized two-thirds of the former rebel bastion in east Aleppo since they began an operation to recapture all of the battered second city in mid-November.
	The rapid gains for regime forces have left opposition fighters reeling and today Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said talks would be held on a rebel evacuation.
	"During the Russian-American consultations the concrete route and timeframe for the withdrawal of all fighters from eastern Aleppo will be agreed upon," Lavrov said, adding that the discussions in Geneva would likely start on Tuesday or Wednesday.
	"As soon as these routes and timeframes are agreed on, a ceasefire can come into effect," Lavrov said.
	But rebel groups swiftly rejected any talk of an evacuation.
	Yasser al-Youssef of the 

Syria rebels reject Aleppo exit as army advances

Authorities in Russia's Siberian region of Tuva today were examining several pieces of the Progress cargo spaceship found after it crashed last week having failed to reach orbit.
	Two pieces, including a large spherical object, were found by herders over the weekend, while another was discovered in the courtyard of a residential house on Monday, said the region's head Sholban Karaa-ool, warning people not to touch any metal debris.
	Regional sanitation officials "inspected the spot where two pieces of the spacecraft were found in the Ulug-Khem district, on the side of the mountain and near a yurt," Kara-ool said on his official website.
	"Another small piece was found in the yard of a house in the Eilig-Khem village," he said.
	The regional leader added that "no dangerous substances were found" but advised people against touching the debris.
	"Compatriots, if you find metal objects, don't touch them," he said.
	Geochemist Tatyana Koroleva, who heads the environmental safety laboratory 

Russian authorities inspecting crashed spacecraft debris

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said his goodbyes today after a ruinous referendum defeat that was cheered by populist leaders and sent shockwaves rippling around Europe.
	"My experience of government finishes here," said a downcast Renzi after accepting a defeat of almost 60-40 percent over his constitutional reform bid.
	The result, coming on the coattails of Brexit and Donald Trump's US election win, has plunged Italy into a period of political uncertainty and cast a shadow over the short- and long-term future of the eurozone's third-largest economy.
	After a first meeting with President Sergio Mattarella to discuss his departure, Renzi posted a link on his Facebook page defending his record since he came to power in February 2014.
	"1,000 difficult but wonderful days. Thanks to everyone. Viva l'Italia," he wrote.
	Renzi, 41, was expected to formally tender his resignation to Mattarella after a final cabinet meeting set for 6.30 pm (1730 GMT).
	Mattarella will then be charged ..

Populists cheer as Italy's Renzi packs his bags

"Nuclear terrorists" can strike anywhere, the head of the UN atomic watchdog warned today at the start of a week-long ministerial conference on preventing misuse of radioactive materials and attacks on facilities.
	"Ensuring effective nuclear security is important for all countries, including those which possess little or no nuclear or other radioactive material," International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano said.
	"Terrorists and criminals will try to exploit any vulnerability in the global nuclear security system. Any country, in any part of the world, could find itself used as a transit point. And any country could become the target of an attack," he said in Vienna.
	Countries all over the world have stepped up their investment in nuclear security with support from the IAEA, and have been working to reinforce staffing levels with more than 10,000 police, border guards and other specialists trained in the past six years, Amano said.
	The IAEA has given countries over 3,000 .

Watchdog warns 'nuclear terrorism' can strike anywhere

Pakistani paramilitary forces today killed five members of a Sunni militant outfit notorious for sectarian attacks and  linked to the Islamic State group, officials said.
	Frontier Corps troops stormed a compound in the southwestern province of Balochistan and killed them in a gunfight, paramilitary spokesman Khan Wasay told AFP.
	The militants belonged to Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), which works both with Islamic State and Al-Qaeda in Pakistan, he said.
	Provincial home secretary Akbar Harifal confirmed the details of the clash in the village of Huramzai in Pashin district, 35 kilometres north of the provincial capital Quetta.
	The LeJ has claimed responsibility for some of the most brazen attacks on minority Shiites in Pakistan's recent history, and had also turned its guns on government forces in recent years.
	Separately, security forces arrested 10 Baloch separatists after a gunfight in Khuzdar district, provincial home minister Sarfraz Bugti told AFP.
	Mineral-rich Balochistan ...

Pakistani forces kill five militants: officials

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls will announce today he is running to become the Socialist presidential candidate in elections next year.
	The prime minister's office announced only that he would make a statement at 6:30 pm (local time) from his political base in Evry, south of Paris, a sources close to him said.
	But his entourage confirmed the 54-year-old Spanish-born premier would end the speculation over whether he would run - seen as highly likely following President Francois Hollande's announcement last week that he will not be a candidate.
	Valls was to have lunch with Hollande today, as usual, ahead of his speech, the source told AFP.
	The French left, in search of a new leader after Hollande's exit, will hold a two-round primary in January to choose a presidential candidate.
	The first round of the presidential election in France is due to be held on April 23 with a run-off on May 7.
	Polls show the far-right Marine Le Pen could triumph in the first round, but would likely .

French PM 'to announce run for president': entourage

Philippine Vice President Leni Robredo vowed today to spearhead national opposition to extra-judicial killings and other flashpoint issues surrounding President Rodrigo Duterte's controversial anti-crime crackdown.
	The announcement, which came a day after she vowed to quit Duterte's cabinet, makes her the highest-ranking official to publicly voice such firm dissent to the president's hardline law-and-order platform.
	"This is not the time for fear. It is a time for conviction. It is a time for courage," Robredo, a lawyer, told reporters.
	Robredo, 51, quit Duterte's cabinet after a top presidential aide told her over the weekend she had been banned from its meetings.
	The president and vice president are elected separately in the Philippines, and the current pair belong to rival parties.
	Robredo accepted a post as a housing czar after Duterte took office on June 30, following a local tradition in which the vice president is given a cabinet position regardless of political ...

Philippine vice-prez to lead opposition to Duterte policies

Twenty-three people died in weekend clashes in Congo's central Tshikapa region between police and local militia, the deputy governor of Kasai province said today.
	Fighting from Friday to Sunday between police and troops and members of a local militia left "13 dead and 14 injured among security forces and killed 10 militia" fighters, Hubert Mbingho N'Vula said on state television.

Clashes in central DR Congo leave 23 dead: Kasai official

Russia's defence ministry said today one of its army medics had been killed and two others seriously injured in rebel shelling of a field hospital in Syria's Aleppo.
	"As a result of a shell directly hitting the reception area of the hospital, one Russian female military medic was killed," Russian news agencies quoted defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov as saying.

'Army medic killed in rebel shelling of Aleppo field hospital'

South Korea lawmakers today kicked off an unprecedented series of hearings that will see the country's business elite grilled over a corruption scandal engulfing impeachment-threatened President Park Geun-Hye.
	The powerful heads of family-run conglomerates, or "chaebols," such as Samsung and Hyundai will be among those testifying before a parliamentary investigation ahead of an impeachment vote to remove the president on Friday.
	The hearings opened on the back of a series of mass anti-Park demonstrations in Seoul that have seen millions of people take to the streets.
	Park is accused of colluding with her long-time friend, Choi Soon-Sil, to strong-arm giant corporations into "donating" nearly USD 70 million to two dubious non-profit foundations.
	Choi has been indicted for coercion and abuse of power, and is accused of syphoning some of the donated funds for personal use. She denies all criminal charges.
	Choi had been summoned for questioning at the televised hearings, but made it .

Scandal hearings put S Korea tycoons in hot seat

Germany is "concerned" by the government crisis in Italy sparked by the resignation of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi following his referendum defeat, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said today.
	"We are watching the result in Italy with concern," Steinmeier, who is visiting Greece, told Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in televised remarks.
	"I think Renzi did the right thing, the necessary thing, but voters did not support him," he said through a translator.
	"This is not of course a state crisis, but it's a government crisis that needs to be resolved... It's not a positive message to Europe at a difficult time," he added.
	Italians voted yesterday against proposed reforms that would have curtailed the size and powers of the Senate and transferred powers from regions to the national government.
	Opposition parties had denounced the proposed amendments to the constitution as dangerous for democracy because they would have removed important checks and balances on executive ...

Germany 'concerned' by Renzi downfall: foreign minister

Dozens are missing and feared drowned after a boat packed with Rohingya fleeing violence in Myanmar and trying to reach Bangladesh sank in a border river today, reports and a Bangladeshi fisherman said.
	Thousands of Rohingya, a stateless ethnic minority, have arrived in Bangladesh after an outbreak of violence in western Myanmar, where the military is alleged to have committed mass rape and murder and burned villages.
	A Bangladeshi fisherman said he had rescued one woman who told him her "overcrowded" boat had sunk in the Naf river after it was chased by a Myanmar army speedboat.
	"We heard a woman's desperate cry for help in the morning while we were fishing in the Naf. We quickly paddled to the spot and saw she was fighting to stay afloat," fisherman Suman Das told AFP by phone.
	"The woman told us that their boat was overcrowded with Rohingya villagers who tried to cross the river to enter Bangladesh."
	The woman did not know what had happened to the others and Das could not say .

Dozens of Rohingya missing as boat sinks near Bangladesh

Uzbekistan's interim leader Shavkat Mirziyoyev has won a crushing victory to become the country's second-ever president following the death of long-reigning strongman Islam Karimov, official results showed today.
	The Central Election Commission said Mirziyoyev scooped 88.6 per cent of the vote in yesterday's election, according to a preliminary count in this Central Asian country of 32 million which has no tradition of competitive elections.
	Mirziyoyev's margin of victory to secure a five-year term echoes those won by predecessor Karimov, who died of a stroke in September after 27 years at the helm of the commodity-rich country.
	An OSCE-led monitoring mission said there were "indications of ballot box stuffing and widespread proxy voting" during the vote.
	"The dominant position of state actors and limits on fundamental freedoms undermined political pluralism and led to a campaign devoid of genuine competition," mission head Peter Tejler said at a press conference broadcast online .

Uzbek interim leader scores landslide win in presidential vote

South Africa's main opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, launched a legal bid today to block government plans to withdraw from the International Criminal Court, saying the move was unconstitutional.
	In October the government notified the United Nations that it would leave the ICC, dealing a major blow to the troubled institution that was set up to try the world's worst crimes.
	The DA lobbied for the High Court in Pretoria to nullify the decision, saying that the government had bypassed and "undermined" parliament, which had ratified South Africa joining the court in 1998.
	"Only parliament can decide to remove South Africa from the treaty," DA lawyer Steven Budlender said.
	"What's going on here is really the usurpation of parliament's legislative powers."
	The withdrawal is set to take effect next October, one year after the government notified the UN, making South Africa the first country to pull out from the court.
	Within weeks of South Africa announcing its withdrawal, ...

AFP

AFP

Page 1273 - Afp