Four Palestinians have been found dead in a smuggling tunnel linking the Gaza Strip to Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, local officials said today, accusing the Egyptian military of flooding it.
	The four men aged 22 to 45 "were found dead after the tunnel they were working in was flooded nine days ago by the Egyptian army," local authorities in the Gazan city of Rafah near Egypt's border said in a statement.
	Egypt had not confirmed the information, though it has destroyed hundreds of tunnels in the area, alleging they are used to transport arms and militants.
	Gazans use such tunnels to smuggle goods into the Palestinian enclave run by Islamist movement Hamas and under an Israeli blockade for a decade.
	The border between Egypt and Gaza has also remained largely closed since the 2013 overthrow of Egyptian Islamist president Mohammed Morsi.
	While the tunnels into Egypt have been used for smuggling, Gazan tunnels into Israel have been used for attacks, particularly in the 2014 war between ...

4 Gazans killed in 'flooded' tunnel to Egypt

PTI Automatic

The Philippines has asked Bangladesh to share details of its investigation into an USD 81 million cyber-heist from the Bangladesh central bank after the proceeds ended up in Manila, the finance department said today.
	The money was shifted electronically from the Bangladesh central bank's account with the US Federal Reserve to a Manila branch of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corp, from where it was funnelled into local casinos in February.
	Officials from both countries met in Manila last week to discuss efforts to recover the rest of the funds.
	The Bangladeshi delegation  thanked the Philippines for returning USD 15 million, the finance department said in a statement.
	Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez and other Philippine officials "strongly recommended that Bangladesh share with the Department of Justice and the Anti-Money Laundering Council the results of their investigation into the cyber-heist," the statement added.
	This would help speed up  recovery efforts in the courts, it .

Philippines seeks Bangladesh help on USD 81 million heist

Skipper Steve Smith smashed 164 Sunday, the highest one-day international score at the Sydney Cricket Ground, to lead Australia to 324 for eight against New Zealand.
     Smith struck 14 fours and four sixes in his seventh ODI century after winning the toss in the first match of three in the Chappell-Hadlee Series to put his side in a strong position.
     The innings, the seventh highest by an Australian, surpassed South Africa's AB de Villers 162 at the same ground in last year's World Cup.
     Smith's top-ranked team suffered a 5-0 ODI series drubbing in South Africa in October and looked shaky again when reduced to 92 for four in the 21st over.
     But Smith, who was could have been out three times, took advantage to lead a swashbuckling recovery as he flailed the Black Caps bowlers and put his side in the ascendancy.
     "I had a bit of luck, but you have to take that and make the most it," Smith said after his innings.
     "Nice to get a big score on my home ground. I love ..

Smith slams 164 in Australia's 324-8 against NZ

Scoreboard in the first
Chappell-Hadlee Trophy one-day international between Australia and New Zealand at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday.
     Australia innings
     D. Warner    b Ferguson              24
     A. Finch     b Henry                  0
     S. Smith     c Munro b Boult        164
     G. Bailey    c Watling b Neesham     17
     M. Marsh     run out (Neesham)        1
     T. Head      c and b Boult           52
     M. Wade      b Henry                 38
     P. Cummins   not out                  0
     M. Starc     c Watling b Neesham     11
     A. Zampa     not out                  2
     Extras (lb1, w9, nb5)                15
     Total (8 wickets, 50 overs)         324
     Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Finch), 2-47 (Warner), 3-89 (Bailey), 4-92 (Marsh), 5-219 (Head), 6-302 (Smith), 7-311 (Wade), 8-322 (Starc)
     Bowling: Henry 10-0-74-2 (1nb, 1w), Boult 10-1-51-2 (2w), Ferguson 9-0-73-1 (4nb, 2w), De Grandhomme 6-0-27-0, Santner 9-0-40-0, Neesham 6-0-58-2 (4w).

Sydney, Dec 4 (AFP) Scoreboard in the first

Cuban President Raul Castro pledged to uphold his brother Fidel's socialist revolution at a massive rally in honor of the communist icon before his burial.
	Tens of thousands of flag-waving supporters recited the oath with Raul Castro at the Revolution Plaza of Santiago de Cuba, the cradle of Fidel's guerrilla struggle.
	"He demonstrated that yes we could, yes we can, yes we will overcome any obstacle, threat, turbulence in our firm resolve to build socialism in Cuba,"he said.
	"In front of Fidel's remains ... We swear to defend the fatherland and socialism," said Castro, who took over when his brother fell ill in 2006.
	"Fidel! Fidel! Until victory, always!" Castro said at the evening rally attended by a few foreign leaders, including Cuba's leftist Latin American allies from Venezuela, Bolivia and Nicaragua, but also figures such as Argentine football legend Diego Maradona.
	Capping a nine-day mourning period, Castro's ashes will be interred today during a "simple" ceremony at Santa 

Raul Castro vows to defend Fidel's revolution

Chelsea manager Antonio Conte lauded Diego Costa after the striker made a decisive contribution -- and kept his cool -- in the Premier League leaders' tempestuous 3-1 win at Manchester City.
     Costa cancelled out Gary Cahill's own goal opener and set up Willian for Chelsea's second goal as Conte's men came from behind on Saturday to record an eighth successive victory.
     The combative Spain international even acted as a peacemaker during an injury-time melee in which City pair Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho were sent off, belying his reputation as a firebrand.
     "Diego is showing he is using his passion in the right way and I'm very happy about that," said Conte, whose team put four points between themselves and Pep Guardiola's City.
     Costa has frequently fallen foul of England's football authorities since joining Chelsea from Atletico Madrid in 2014.
     His form slumped last season as Chelsea's title defence disintegrated, but he is the Premier League's joint-top scorer 

Conte hails reformed match-winner Costa

Russia's FSB security service today said it had killed an "emir" of the Islamic State group in the North Caucasus along with four other militants in a raid in the Dagestan region.
	The FSB said in a statement that "among the neutralised bandits was the head of the Caucasus region's branch of the Islamic State Rustam Aselderov, and four of his close associates."
	The FSB said that Aselderov was involved in 2013 blasts in the southern Russian city of Volgograd which killed 34. He was fighting for another Caucasus insurgent group at the time. It also linked him to twin car blasts in Dagestan in 2012 that killed 14 and injured at least 120.
	The 35-year-old warlord pledged allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi in December 2014, the first major militant to do so in the Caucasus.
	IS has since claimed responsibility for a number of attacks on police in Dagestan.
	In 2015 the US Department of State imposed sanctions on Aselderov as a "foreign terrorist fighter" after the jihadist ...

North Caucasus IS 'emir' killed: Russian security service

Isolated Uzbekistan today headed to the polls to elect a president to replace late strongman Islam Karimov, with all signs pointing towards a comfortable victory for his long-serving prime minister Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
	Voting at over 9,300 polling stations throughout the Muslim-majority Central Asian country with no tradition of competitive elections began at 0100 GMT and is expected to continue until 1500 GMT.
	Mirziyoyev, who was appointed prime minister in 2003, became interim president following Karimov's death aged 78 in September after he suffered a reported stroke.
	The heavy-handed autocrat's 27-year reign began in 1989 at the tail-end of the Soviet era, and was often criticised for abuses of human rights.
	Representing the Liberal-Democratic Party that Karimov represented in the last presidential vote in 2015, Mirziyoyev is facing three other challengers in a bid to secure a five-year term.
	But analysts note the other candidates are not critical of Mirziyoyev or the regime ..

Uzbekistan votes to elect second ever president

At least 59 people have been killed in two separate Chinese coal mine blasts, according to death tolls reported by state media.
	An explosion on yesterday at a colliery in the northern Inner Mongolia region killed 32, Xinhua news agency said.
	A total of 181 people were working underground when the gas explosion struck the mine in the city of Chifeng, with 149 managing to escape.
	In a separate incident, a blast occurred late Tuesday at a private mine in Qitaihe City, in northeast Heilongjiang province, trapping 22 workers, Xinhua said.
	Twenty-one were confirmed dead on Friday night, it said, citing provincial authorities.
	Rescue efforts were hampered by debris from the blast in some of the tunnels, according to an earlier report.
	China is the world's largest coal producer and deadly accidents are common.
	A further 33 miners were killed in a colliery explosion on October 31 in the southwestern municipality of Chongqing, and in September at least 18 were killed in a mine blast in ..

China coal mine blasts kill 59: report

Up to 40 people were feared dead in a huge fire that tore through a rave party held in a warehouse near San Francisco, authorities said, warning that the initial death toll of nine would likely rise once crews swept the stricken building.
	Oakland Fire Chief Teresa Deloach Reed said most of those who perished in the blaze that started about 11:30 pm (1300 IST) yesterday were thought to have died on the upper floor of the two-story warehouse known as Oakland Ghostship.
	"It must have been a very fast-moving fire," she told reporters.
	It was not immediately known what sparked the inferno at the electronic dance music party attended by an estimated 50 to 100 people.
	By mid-day today, fire crews had not yet been able to fully sweep the scene and officials braced for more casualties once rescuers entered the building.
	"We are prepared for several dozen fatalities," Sergeant Ray Kelly, of the Alameda County Sheriff's department, told reporters. "We are prepared to deal with 30, 40 ...

Up to 40 feared dead in blaze at California party

Spanish authorities said 92 migrants travelling in five makeshift boats were rescued off Spain's coast today, as an increasing number of migrants seek to reach Europe via the country.
	Among those rescued were 63 people from sub-Saharan Africa, officials said without specifying their nationalities, and 29 Algerians.
	Most of the migrants were taken to the port of Malaga in southern Spain, following a "complicated" rescue operation in rough seas around 49 nautical miles from the coast, a maritime rescue official told AFP.
	The group included three women and a child as well as a boy who had to be hospitalised after suffering from hypothermia.
	Also today, Spanish authorities stopped 22 migrants hiding in a lorry who were trying to enter Melilla, a Spanish enclave in north Africa which, along with another enclave called Ceuta, are the only land borders between Africa and the EU.
	Authorities used a system that detects heartbeats to detect the migrants, said Irene Flores, a spokeswoman ...

Spain rescues 92 migrants off the southern coast

Syria's army advanced in east Aleppo today in a devastating assault that has placed it in control of more than half the former rebel stronghold and sparked a civilian exodus.
	Tens of thousands of civilians have fled eastern neighbourhoods of the battered city since President Bashar al-Assad's regime began its latest offensive in mid-November.
	Overnight, government troops and allied forces seized the district of Tariq al-Bab where heavy fighting had raged a day earlier, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
	Today, regime forces also secured a zone around the road from regime-held west Aleppo to the international airport just east of the city, taking two whole districts while fighting continued in a third.
	The government has now recaptured around 60 per cent of eastern parts of the city that rebel forces seized in mid-2012, the monitor said.
	The advance has prompted more civilians to flee, heading either further south into remaining rebel-held districts or crossing into ...

Syrian army advances in Aleppo as civilians flee

Media silence was imposed across Italy today on the eve of a constitutional referendum crucial for Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, who has staked his future on the government reforms.
	In the frantic final round of campaigning which ended yesterday, Renzi's rivals vowed to defeat referendum proposals to streamline parliament and force the centre-left leader out of office.
	The 41-year-old premier is hoping for a last-minute turnaround in voter sentiment, having pledged to quit in the event of a "No".
	While all media comment on the referendum is now banned until polling ends at 11:00 pm (2200 GMT) tomorrow, the campaign continued on social media.
	But #silenzioelettorale (electoral silence) was the among Twitter's top-trending topics as Italian web users rejoiced at the end of a highly-charged campaign.
	Politically and economically, the stakes are high.
	After Britain's vote to leave the European Union and Donald Trump's presidential triumph in the United States, Renzi is being ...

Media silence on eve of Italy's crunch referendum

The convoy carrying the ashes of Cuba's late communist leader Fidel Castro capped an island-wide journey today, reaching the cradle of his revolution for a final rally before burial.
	Tens of thousands of people cheered as the olive-green jeep that has pulled the cedar urn with Castro's remains across Cuba since Wednesday rolled into Santiago de Cuba.
	The ashes were paraded across the eastern city, stopping in front of a balcony where Castro gave a speech following his revolution's triumph in 1959.
	Like other crowds along the four-day, 900-kilometre trip from Havana, this one chanted "I am Fidel!" after a series of Castro speeches played on a giant screen.
	The caravan passed in front of the Moncada barracks -- scene of his first armed uprising in 1953 -- and headed to Revolution Square for an evening rally.
	President Raul Castro, who took over when his brother fell ill in 2006, will deliver a much-awaited speech during the massive tribute with foreign dignitaries, ranging from ...

Castro ashes arrive in revolution's cradle for burial

Nine people were killed and 25 missing after a huge blaze broke out during a rave party near San Francisco held in a cluttered, maze-like warehouse for artists, fire officials said today.
	Oakland Fire Chief Teresa Deloach Reed said most of those who died in the blaze that started about 11:30 pm (1300 IST) yesterday were thought to have died on the upper floor of the two-story warehouse known as "Oakland Ghostship.
	"It must have been a very fast-moving fire," she told reporters.
	It was not immediately known what sparked the inferno at the electronic dance music party attended by 50 to 100 people.
	By mid-morning today, fire crews had not yet been able to sweep the scene and officials said they feared the death toll could rise significantly once rescuers were able to enter the building.
	"We still have to do a more thorough search of the building and we don't know the potential number of other victims," Reed said.
	The building, which housed artists including several who apparently ..

Nine dead, 25 missing after fire at California rave party

In a driving rain, the small Brazilian city of Chapeco held a massive funeral today for its football team, tragically wiped out in a plane crash in Colombia.
	The bodies of 50 players, coaches and staff from the Chapecoense Real club were taken on a funeral procession from the airport to Conda Arena, the stadium where just 10 days ago the team were thrilling their fans.
	Draped in the club's green and white flag, the coffins slowly wound their way through the city, as family and fans braved the weather to watch with a mix of sobs and cheers.
	Soldiers unloaded the coffins onto the pitch when they arrived at the packed stadium, where the city was expecting a crowd of some 100,000 people -- half its population.
	Chapeco is in mourning for its little team that could, cut down at the height of its glory.
	The unsung club was having a fairytale season until the charter plane flying it to the biggest match in its history ran out of fuel and slammed into the mountains outside Medellin on ...

Brazil mourns fallen football team in pouring rain

Egypt's top court has struck down part of a law that allowed the interior ministry to ban all but officially sanctioned protests, a court official said today.
	The 2013 law, which has been used to jail activists for up to two years, required demonstrators to inform the interior ministry that they were planning a protest.
	The ministry could then refuse permission.
	The Supreme Constitutional Court ruled that the article was unconstitutional, barrister Tareq Shibel said.
	The court said in a statement that the constitution guaranteed freedom of association and the right to peaceful protest.
	The authorities have deployed this law to prevent anti-government protests, but groups of people would be able to attend pro-authorities rallies during the same period.
	The constitutional court's verdict is final and cannot be appealed.
	However, today's ruling does not mean the law will be scrapped in its entirety, said two court officials who did not be wish to be identified.
	The verdict is "a .

Egypt court rules part of protest law unconstitutional

A suspected Islamic State group jihadist who delivered instructions to a cell planning to carry out an attack in France has been arrested in Morocco, authorities said today.
	The suspect was linked with a French IS cell that had planned to attack Paris on Thursday but was broken up by French authorities in November, the Moroccan interior ministry said.
	The suspect had met IS operatives on the Syrian-Turkish border and received instructions to be delivered to the cell in France, it charged.
	The orders came from the jihadist group in territory it controls in Syria and Iraq.
	French security services broke up the cell by arresting seven men in Strasbourg and Marseille on November 19 and 20, according to the French interior ministry.
	The public prosecutor for Paris later said the men had been in contact with a commander in Iraq or Syria.
	A year ago, Moroccan intelligence helped put French investigators on the trail of Abdelhamid Abaaoud, a 28-year-old Belgian of Moroccan origin who ...

IS jihadist linked to French plot arrested in Morocco

A radical marxist suspected of belonging to a left-wing extremist group accused of terrorism by Turkey has been arrested in Germany, judicial sources said today.
	The 55-year-old citizen of the Netherlands, whose name was given as Musa A, was arrested in Hamburg, Germany's federal prosecutor said.
	The man is thought to be a "leader" of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP-C) -- a radical marxist group outlawed by Ankara after allegedly staging several attacks and assassinations against police, the security services and US interests in Turkey.
	The prosecutor said he was carrying out several roles in Europe, principally fundraising for the European arm of the DHKP-C.
	German authorities believe that such fundraising could be used to finance terrorist activity and the acquisition of weapons.
	Musa A will appear in court on Monday before a judge who will rule whether to remand him in custody.
	In August 2015, the DHKP-C claimed responsibility for an attack in Istanbul 

Germany arrests marxist militant 'leader'

At least nine people were killed and 25 unaccounted for following a massive fire at a rave party in Oakland, California, fire officials said.
	Fire Chief Teresa Deloach Reed said most of those who died were found on the second floor of the two-story warehouse building, apparently being used as an artists' studio, near San Francisco.
	"It must have been a very fast-moving fire," she told reporters.
	It was not immediately known what sparked the blaze at the electronic dance music party featuring the group Golden Donna and other acts.
	The fire broke out around 11:30 PM (0100 IST) and was brought under control by early morning, with crews sifting through the rubble searching for victims, fire officials said.
	"We still have to do a more thorough search of the building and we don't know the potential number of other victims," Reed said.
	There was no clear entry or exit path in the warehouse building, she told reporters. It was unclear if people were living there.
	"I don't know where ...

9 dead, 25 missing after fire at California rave party

A 17-year-old boy has been charged and held in connection with an attack on police by youths who threw molotov cocktails at officers, leaving two with severe burns, prosecutors said today.
	The boy, who was arrested on Thursday, has been charged with "complicity in the attempted murder of persons of public authority," said Eric Lallement, the prosecutor from Evry, south of Paris.
	The unnamed youth is the first to be charged over the October incident that led to angry wildcat protests by police over mounting attacks on officers.
	On October 8, four officers were injured when a group of around 15 youths from a housing estate in the Paris suburb of Viry-Chatillon swarmed their cars and threw Molotov cocktails at them.
	A 28-year-old male officer suffered very serious burns on his hands and body and is still in hospital, while his 39-year-old female partner was badly burned on the hands and face, police said.
	Two other officers who were deployed as backup suffered minor injuries.
	A ...

AFP

AFP

Page 1277 - Afp