Bulgaria is facing fresh elections next spring after outgoing Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, leader of the largest party in parliament today refused to form a new cabinet.
	The tough-guy premier resigned in November after his candidate was beaten by a Moscow-friendly general in presidential elections, sparking renewed political instability in the EU's poorest country, where no other party can currently form a government without the support of Borisov's conservative GERB party.
	"I will not propose to form a new government and I hand back the mandate," Borisov told President Rosen Plevneliev at a ceremony in Sofia.
	Under Bulgaria's constitution, the outgoing president will hand another mandate next Thursday to the second largest party, Socialist BSP, and then pick a third party for a final attempt to avert a snap vote.
	The Socialists have already said they would also return the mandate and go for elections.
	"The road to early elections is clear," analyst Dimitar Ganev said, adding ...

Bulgaria facing fresh elections after PM cabinet refusal

PTI Automatic

Saudi authorities have detected fresh attempts by hackers to disrupt government computers, a report said today, after security firm Symantec warned of a revival of malware used in previous cyberattacks.
	The National Cyber Security Centre "detected destructive electronic strikes against several government agencies and vital establishments", Arab News reported.
	The NCSC had warned on November 19 of "organised threats aimed at disabling the services provided by some agencies," the paper said.
	Hackers based outside the kingdom were trying to implant malware or a virus to disrupt users' data, it added.
	Symantec said on Tuesday that the aggressive disc-wiping malware Shamoon "has made a surprise comeback and was used in a fresh wave of attacks against targets in Saudi Arabia."
	Shamoon was employed in attacks against the Saudi energy sector in 2012 and "is largely unchanged from the variant used four years ago," the US-based firm said.
	"The attackers appear to have done a significant ..

New hacking attempt on Saudi government computers

A Cambodian opposition leader who has spent months holed up in his party headquarters in a bid to avoid arrest was pardoned by the king today, breaking a lengthy political stalemate.
	   Kem Sokha, the acting head of Cambodia's biggest opposition group, has refused to leave the headquarters of the Cambodia National Rescue Party since late May over a prosecution he says is politically motivated.
	He was sentenced to five months in jail in September for refusing to appear in court over an investigation into an alleged mistress of his.
	Cambodia has been ruled for more than three decades by strongman premier Hun Sen, who critics and rights groups say has used the courts to jail opponents or tie them up in debilitating legal cases.
	But today the palace published a pardon from King Norodom Sihamoni.
	A government spokesman said Hun Sen had requested a royal pardon for his political opponent after Kem Sokha wrote a letter admitting guilt.
	"It's originally because Mr. Sokha acknowledged ...

Holed-up Cambodian opposition leader pardoned by king

Fifty-five out of a total of 1,052 heritage sites around the world feature on the UN cultural organisation's World Heritage in Danger list.
	By listing such sites, UNESCO is seeking to mobilise the international community to protect them.
	During its 40th session in July, 2016, in Istanbul, UNESCO's World Heritage Committee added sites in Mali and Uzbekistan to the list, along with Libya's five world heritage sites which have already been damaged by conflict in the North African country.
	Conflict, earthquakes and other natural disasters, pollution, poaching, uncontrolled urbanisation and unchecked tourism development pose major problems to world heritage sites, UNESCO says.
	It lists two categories of dangers: either "ascertained" -- specific and proven imminent threats -- or "potential", when property faces threats which could negatively affect its world heritage value.
	Adding a site to the list allows the allocation of immediate World Heritage Fund assistance to the endangered ...

55 world heritage sites in danger

The Great Barrier Reef is "not dying", Australia insisted today, as it updated UNESCO on efforts to protect the natural wonder while scientists blasted a lack of urgency in dealing with climate change.
	   Canberra last year narrowly avoided the UN body putting the site on its endangered list and was ordered to report to the World Heritage committee by December 1 on its "Reef 2050" rescue plan.
	   The giant ecosystem is under pressure from farming run-off, development, the crown-of-thorns starfish and climate change, which led to a mass bleaching event this year that devastated swathes of coral.
	   In the report, the government said 32 of the plan's 151 actions to improve the reef had been achieved. Another 103 were under way, four were delayed, and 12 were not yet due.
	   "When we came to government we inherited a reef on UNESCO's endangered watchlist," Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg told Sky News.
	   "We've done everything possible since that time to put in place a plan, ..

Great Barrier Reef 'not dying', Australia insists

One of Mongolia's top rappers was beaten up by a Russian diplomat after performing wearing a swastika - a traditional Mongolian symbol - the singer's lawyer and police alleged today.
	Amarmandakh Sukhbaatar, known as Amraa and lead singer of Khar Sarnai - Black Rose - took to the stage at an event in Ulan Bator wearing a red deel, a traditional Mongolian robe, embroidered with a swastika.
	Afterwards he was savagely assaulted by a Russian diplomat, his lawyer and his father told reporters today.
	The broken cross symbol is generally believed to have its origins in India thousands of years ago and its use has been recorded centuries ago in Mongolia, long before it was appropriated by Adolf Hitler.
	Tens of millions of Soviet citizens died fighting against the forces of Nazi Germany in the Second World War, known as the Great Patriotic War in Russia.
	The singer - who speaks Russian and was a guest performer on Mongolia's Got Talent last year - was in a coma for around 10 days after the 

Top Mongolian rapper 'beaten up by Russian diplomat': lawyer

Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter will learn on Monday whether his appeal against a six-year ban from football has been successful, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said today.
	Once the most powerful man in football, Blatter is serving a ban over ethics violations relating to a suspect $2 million payment he authorised in 2011 to former UEFA boss Michel Platini.
	The 80-year-old Swiss served as FIFA chief from 1998 to 2015.
	Both Blatter and Platini were originally banned for eight years by the sport's world governing body, but that was reduced to six years by a FIFA appeals panel in February. Platini had his ban cut by a further two years by CAS in May.
	The result of Blatter's appeal will be made public at 1400 GMT on Monday.
	A CAS statement confirmed: "The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will issue its decision in the arbitration procedure between Joseph S Blatter and the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) at 3.00pm (Swiss time) on Monday, ...

Ex-FIFA chief Blatter set to learn ban appeal

A new body set up by Myanmar's government to investigate allegations of rights abuses against Rohingya in Rakhine lacks credibility, activists said today, as former UN chief Kofi Annan began a visit to the troubled state.
	Myanmar's de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has faced a growing international backlash for failing to probe claims the army is carrying out ethnic cleansing of the Muslim minority.
	But rights groups rejected the new 13-member commission as toothless, noting it includes no Muslims and is led by Vice President Myint Swe, a retired army general formerly blacklisted by the United States.
	A close ally of former junta leader Than Shwe, Myint Swe was head of special operations in Yangon when the military government ordered a bloody crackdown on the monk-led protests of the Saffron Revolution in 2007.
	"We've got little faith in another homegrown commission, particularly if it's headed by a military man," said Matthew Smith, chief executive of Fortify Rights.
	"This new ...

Activists reject Myanmar's new Rakhine body as Annan visits

Three people were killed and four others injured in Malaysia when the bodyguard of one of the victims went on a shooting rampage, the country's police chief said today.
	Gun violence is rare in Malaysia, which has strict firearms laws, and the incident on the northern resort island of Penang late yesterday brought traffic to a standstill for about six hours.
	"Three people were killed and four others injured in the shooting. The weapon has been seized," national police chief Khalid Abu Bakar told reporters.
	The bodyguard, a former military reservist who police did not want to identify, was detained and is being held in police custody.
	"From the initial investigations... The shooter has a mental problem," Khalid added.
	The bodyguard, who police said was in his 40s, initially shot his 32-year-old employer Ong Teik Kwong in his car, Mior Faridalathrash Wahid, Penang district police chief, told AFP.
	He then got out of the vehicle and began firing at random, killing two more people and 

Bodyguard kills three in Malaysia shooting rampage

A former senior manager at Taiwan's technology giant Foxconn has been indicted for stealing and selling 5,700 iPhones in China to pocket around USD 1.56 million, Taiwanese prosecutors said today.
	Foxconn is the world's largest contract electronics maker and assembles products for international brands such as Apple and Sony. It employs about one million workers at its factories across China.
	The Taiwanese manager, identified by his family name Tsai, worked in the testing department and instructed eight employees at Foxconn's factory in the southern mainland Chinese city of Shenzhen to smuggle out about thousands of iPhone5 and iPhone5s, prosecutors said.
	Tsai and his accomplices sold the testing phones, which were supposed to be scrapped, to stores in Shenzhen and made nearly Tw$50 million (USD 1.56 million) from 2013 to 2014, said the New Taipei district prosecutor's office.
	Foxconn reported the case to Taiwanese authorities following an internal audit and Tsai was questioned ...

Taiwan Foxconn manager indicted for stealing iPhones

French President Francois Hollande's dramatic decision not to seek a second term next year leaves the leftwing field open in an election that is proving increasingly unpredictable.
	 Hollande announced yesterday he would not seek re-election next April, bowing to historic low approval ratings.
	"I have decided that I will not be a candidate," the 62-year old Hollande said in a solemn televised address from the Elysee Palace in Paris.
	Manuel Valls, who had been a loyal prime minister to Hollande until recently but hinted at the weekend he might run against his boss in planned primaries, is expected to throw his hat in the ring.
	The president conceded he had failed to rally his deeply divided Socialist Party behind his candidacy and keep a promise to slash unemployment, which hovers at around one in 10 of the workforce.
	"In the months to come, my only duty will be to continue to lead my country," he said.
	The Socialist leader has some of the lowest approval ratings for a French ...

French left seeks candidate after Hollande bows out

Clashes between armed groups near the northern Malian city of Gao left at least one person dead and a dozen injured, and the local airport was closed after being hit in a jihadist attack, sources said.
	Fighting erupted yesterday between the towns of Tessit and Intillit among unidentified militias, an elected official who asked not to named said.
	The combattants were believed either to be aligned with the ex-rebel Azawad movement or with an ethnic Touareg group called Imghad or its pro-government ally, the official said.
	The clashes were confirmed by a foreign security source who said the fighters were probably connected to groups involved in a peace process for Mali's volatile north.
	The elected official earlier said that two had died in the fighting, but a number of sources later said that one person had been killed.
	Meanwhile the UN mission to Mali (Minusma) announced that Gao airport -- a key transport hub -- had been shut down following a jihadist suicide attack on Tuesday ...

Clashes in north Mali leave one dead as Gao airport closed

More than 100,000 Indonesian Muslims protested today against Jakarta's Christian governor, the second major demonstration in a matter of weeks as conservative groups push for his arrest on accusations of insulting Islam.
	People in white Islamic robes packed out a massive park in the capital, chanting Islamic verses and singing the national anthem, with over 20,000 security forces deployed to prevent a repeat of violence that erupted at the last protest against Basuki Tjahaja Purnama.
	Purnama, known by his nickname Ahok, is being prosecuted for allegedly committing blasphemy over comments he made about the Koran during an election campaign, which have sparked widespread anger in the world's most populous Muslim-majority country.
	The case is seen in part as a test of religious tolerance in Indonesia, where a reputation for pluralism has been eroded by a surge in attacks on minorities, but critics say it is also about politics as the governor's foes whip up anger to reduce his ...

Indonesian Muslims protest against Christian governor

The French Grand Prix will return to the Formula One world championship in 2018 after a 10-year absence with the race to be staged at the Castellet circuit, sources said.
     An official announcement is set to be made on Monday at a press conference to be held at the Automobile Club de France (ACF) headquarters in Paris.
     The last French Grand Prix was staged at Magny Cours in 2008.
     Castellet staged the race throughout the 1970s and 1980s before the circuit was bought by the sport's commercial ringmaster Bernie Ecclestone.
     He bankrolled the reconstruction of the arena before ceding the circuit to former wife Slavica as part of their divorce settlement.
     The Paul-Ricard du Castellet circuit last year hosted the Bol d'Or, a motorcycle endurance race which attracted 75,000 spectators over two days.

France to 'return to world championship in 2018'

An IAAF secure online portal that can be used to report suspicions of doping in athletics garnered 43 leads in its first two days of operation, according to Sebastian Coe.
     The president of track and field's world governing body hailed the portal, available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish and launched on Tuesday, as "an important platform" in the fight against doping in the sport.
     "Within the first 48 hours we had a total of 43 (leads)," Coe said Thursday.
     "It will confidentially and securely allow people to report on information on doping into a centralised system."
     Coe added: "We must stand tall for clean athletes. The future of our sport relies on the entire athletics community doing everything it can to oppose cheating.
     "Even the smallest piece of information could be vital in helping to protect the integrity of competition and a level playing field."
     Information the IAAF wants to hear about includes evidence or suspicions of ..

Doping portal has 43 leads in first two days - Coe

Russia remains suspended from international athletics competition after the IAAF voted to extend the ban on the country for state-sponsored doping with the next review scheduled for February.
     The IAAF Council, under the presidency of Sebastian Coe, yesterday ruled to uphold the suspension despite Russian President Vladimir Putin having recently approved a law criminalising doping in sports.
     The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) imposed its initial ban on Russia in November 2015 and has twice extended it, in March and June, on the grounds that the criteria set for the track and field powerhouses to be reincluded had not been met.
     The Russian athletics federation (RusAF) "has made further progress towards satisfying the reinstatement conditions since June 2016", said Norwegian Rune Andersen, the head of the IAAF Taskforce looking into the steps Russia is taking to combat doping.
     The reinstatement conditions demand that RusAF comply in full ...

Doping-tainted Russia remains banned from athletics

Omar Abdulrahman, arguably Asia's biggest star, was crowned AFC player of the year in a glittering ceremony in his home country of United Arab Emirates.
     The left-sided midfielder and winger is the second Emirati to win the trophy in consecutive years and his award was greeted with a huge cheer in the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi.
     The victory was even sweeter as he was nominated last year but lost out to compatriot, Ahmed Khalil.
     But he said the trophy would not make up for his Emirati league side Al Ain losing the Asian Champions League final last month to South Korea's Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors.
     "My main ambition was to win the Champions League trophy," he said.
     "The trophy is not only for me but it's for all my colleagues at Al Ain and the national team."
     Abdulrahman, who once had a two week trial for English side Manchester City, also admitted he would like to play in Europe.
     "Every player dreams of playing in Europe," he said. "If I get a good 

UAE's Omar Abdulrahman named Asian player of 2016

After pushing a revised peace deal with the FARC rebels through Congress, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos got down to a far bigger challenge Thursday: implementing it.
	The lower house's unanimous vote in favor of the deal set off a countdown to end a conflict that has burned for over half a century and killed more than 260,000 people.
	"Today we can say the war has officially ended," Santos said in a speech.
	"We all have to continue making sacrifices, but I hope we will do so together."
	Interior Minister Juan Fernando Cristo told a news conference that Colombia now faces "an enormous challenge" to implement the accord.
	Within five days, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, must begin demobilizing and surrendering their weapons.
	Under the deal, the process must be complete within six months. The FARC will relaunch as a political party.
	The next step, Cristo said, would be to present Congress with an amnesty for FARC members -- the most contested part of the 

Colombia embarks on challenge to implement peace

FIFA President Gianni Infantino today postponed a trip to Australia so he can attend funeral services for the footballers killed in a plane crash in the Colombian mountains.
     The global football chief had been due in Sydney on Monday after attending the under-20 Women's World Cup final in Papua New Guinea, but called it off.
     "FIFA President Gianni Infantino has postponed his visit to Australia... So that he can attend funeral services in Brazil for those lost in this week's Colombian plane crash," FIFA said in statement.
     The charter plane, carrying Brazilian football club Chapecoense Real, went down late Monday near the Colombian city of Medellin en route to the Copa Sudamericana final against Atletico Nacional.
     Seventy-one of those on board died, including most of the team and 20 journalists travelling with them. Six people miraculously survived.

FIFA chief to attend Brazil plane crash funerals

United States President-elect Donald Trump has spoken to International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach to express his "strong support" for Los Angeles' bid for the 2024 Games, officials said.
     The Los Angeles 2024 bid team said that Trump had spoken to IOC President Bach on Wednesday in a call arranged by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.
     "President-elect Trump spoke with IOC President Bach to express his strong support for the @Olympics & #LA2024's plans to host a great games," LA 2024 revealed on Twitter.
     An IOC spokesman later confirmed the call had taken place but did not provide details of the conversation.
     The call follows assurances from Garcetti that Trump's election as US president will not harm Los Angeles' bid for the games.
     There has been speculation that Los Angeles' hopes could be hurt by the election of Trump, who won the race for the White House after a campaign characterised by rhetoric which included a call for a temporary ban on ...

Trump voices support for LA 2024 bid in call to Bach

Barcelona are the more desperate side as Real Madrid visit Catalonia today for the first El Clasico of the season boasting a six-point lead at the top of La Liga.
     Madrid have won 15 more points in all in La Liga under the guidance of Zinedine Zidane since the sides last met in April and are riding a 31-game unbeaten run in all competitions.
     "On Saturday we have more to play for than Madrid, they can lose, we can't," said Barcelona defender Gerard Pique.
     Barca are off to their worst league start in nine seasons.
     However, coach Luis Enrique believes much of the media criticism of his side has been overblown, citing the institutional crisis that Barca overcame in the January his debut season in 2015 to win the treble.
     "We remain favourites for all the titles, but it is evident we have to improve," said Enrique.
     "We lack consistency, but don't exaggerate. In my first season you (the media) exaggerated and we ended up winning the treble."
     The biggest ...

AFP

AFP

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