The US economy continues to expand nationwide with only slight upward price pressures despite reports of tightening labor markets and higher wages, the Federal Reserve's Beige Book survey said today.
	All but two of the 12 Fed districts reported at least a slight increase in economic activity, with only New York seeing no expansion at all, and six reporting "moderate" growth and four describing it as "modest." But the strong dollar is weighing on manufacturing in some districts.
	The report, which collects views of economists, business contacts and others in the 12 Federal Reserve districts in preparation for the monetary policy meeting next month, noted improved retail sales and home construction in most regions.
	However, the manufacturing situation was mixed "with the strong dollar being cited as a headwind to more robust demand in a few Districts," the report said.
	In addition, vehicle sales fell in most regions, which some said "might be attributed to uncertainty surrounding the 

US economy growing, price gains slight: Fed survey

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The OPEC oil cartel defied expectations today and nailed down its first joint output cut since 2008 after tough talks in Vienna, sending oil prices soaring.
	In late London trade Brent North Sea crude for January delivery was up usd 3.71 at USD 50.09, the first time it has risen above USD 50 in a month. West Texas Intermediate was up USD 3.85 at USD 49.08.
	The accord announced by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is aimed at reducing a global supply glut that has kept prices painfully low.
	It represents a dramatic reversal from OPEC's Saudi-led strategy, introduced in 2014, of flooding the market to pressure rivals, in particular US shale oil producers.
	The cartel will lower its monthly output by 1.2 million barrels per day (bpd) to 32.5 million bpd from January 1, Qatar's energy minister and president of the OPEC conference said.
	"This is a major step forward and we think this is a historic agreement, which will definitely help rebalance the market and reduce .

OPEC boosts oil price with output cut

The Somali student who plowed his car into a crowd and slashed several people with a knife in Ohio had no ties to terror groups, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said today.
	Although Abdul Razak Ali Artan professed support for radical Islamists on his Facebook page and an Islamic State-linked news agency claimed he was an IS "soldier," Johnson said the probe had not thus far revealed any direct communications between Artan and such groups.
	"At this point we see no direct links to any terrorist organisation," Johnson said.
	"The indications are right now that this was an act of someone who was self-radicalised."
	On Monday, the Somali immigrant, a new Ohio State University student, injured 11 people before he was shot dead by a university security officer.
	Officials have not declared the attack a terror attack, but the IS-linked news agency Amaq yesterday said the rampage was inspired by IS calls to action.
	"He carried out the operation in response to calls to target ...

US: Ohio attacker had 'no direct links' to terror group

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak, responding to a decision by OPEC today to reduce crude output to lift prices, said Russia was ready to cut its own oil production by 300,000 barrels a day next year.
	"Russia will progressively reduce its oil production by 300,000 barrels a day in the first half of 2017," Novak was quoted by the state agency Ria-Novosti as saying, adding the move was conditional on the OPEC decision being "upheld.

Russia ready to cut oil output by 300,000 barrels per day

Residents in Pakistani Kashmir are racing to build underground bunkers for the first time since the 1990s, frightened by what they say is the worst cross-border violence since a ceasefire was agreed in 2003.
	Months of tension between India and Pakistan have erupted into shellings and gunfire across the disputed Kashmir frontier, claiming the lives of dozens of people, including civilians.
	People in Azad Kashmir's Neelum Valley say the attacks come once or twice a week, and they never know when they might have to dive for cover.
	Chand Bibi has concrete and steel rods waiting to be transformed into an underground bunker where her terrified family can take shelter as the monstrous boom of shelling reawakens old nightmares.
	"You are talking about fear," the 62-year-old says. "We are near to dying at the moment we hear the boom.
	"The voice of the guns is horrible."
	When it comes, Bibi and her relatives pile blankets, quilts and clothes on top of their children to muffle the noise and 

Rush to build bunkers in Pakistani Kashmir as fears grow

Prime Minister Theresa May hit back today at the European Union's refusal to open talks on the future of EU citizens in post-Brexit Britain before formal divorce talks begin.
	EU President Donald Tusk yesterday rebuffed a call by British lawmakers to put the status of Europeans in the UK and Britons living elsewhere in the EU on the agenda of the next EU summit in December.
	"I had hoped -- would hope that this is an issue that we can look at at an early stage of the negotiations," May told parliament, saying it was "right that we want to give reassurance" to expatriates.
	She added: "But I think the reaction that we've seen shows why it was absolutely right for us not to... Give away the guarantee for rights of EU citizens here in the UK, because as we've seen that would have left UK citizens in Europe high and dry."
	May has refused to guarantee the rights of an estimated three million EU citizens living in Britain after Brexit until a reciprocal deal is struck for British ...

UK hits back after EU rejects early Brexit talks on expats

A top UN envoy today pleaded with the Security Council to help break the siege of Aleppo, warning residents of the Syrian city were at risk of extermination.
	"For the sake of humanity we call on -- we plead -- with the parties and those with influence to do everything in their power to protect civilians and enable access to the besieged part of eastern Aleppo before it becomes one giant graveyard," said Stephen O'Brien, the UN under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs.

UN envoy warns Aleppo risks becoming 'one giant graveyard'

The OPEC oil cartel reached a deal today to reduce its output for the first time in eight years, Qatar's energy minister and president of the OPEC conference said.
	The reduction by OPEC will be "1.2 million barrels per day, to bring its ceiling to 32.5 million barrels per day," Mohammed Bin Saleh Al-Sada told a news conference in Vienna.
	He said that non-member Russia has committed to reducing its output by 300,000 barrels per day, half of a hoped-for 600,000 barrels per day from outside the cartel.

OPEC reaches deal to cut output

Russian representatives have held talks in Ankara with Syrian rebels opposed to President Bashar al-Assad over the possibility of a truce in the divided city of Aleppo, a source said today.
	Russia is Assad's main international ally and has intervened militarily to help his forces regain full control of Aleppo in northern Syria.
	But concern is growing over the humanitarian situation in Syria's battered second city as Assad's forces press an offensive, depriving inhabitants of the rebel-held east of aid.
	"Several meetings have taken place in Ankara to discuss the ways to come to such a truce," said a source close to Syria's rebel factions who asked not to be named.
	The last meeting in the Turkish capital took place on Monday, the source said, without saying who had taken part.
	Those involved are linked to the opposition Syrian National Coalition and do not include jihadists from the Fateh al-Sham Front, the new name for Al-Nusra Front after it severed ties with Al-Qaeda.
	The ...

Russia, anti-Assad rebels hold Aleppo talks in Ankara: source

An Israeli court today sentenced a Palestinian to 16 years in prison for a knife attack that wounded an Israeli in Jerusalem in May, the justice ministry said.
	Mohammed Bader, 21 and from Abu Dis in the occupied West Bank on the outskirts of Jerusalem, was accused of having stabbed an ultra-Orthodox Jew on May 16 as he was walking with his wife and two of his children.
	A plea bargain saw him plead guilty to attempted murder.
	Several stiff sentences have been handed out recently to Palestinians convicted for attacks.
	On Monday, an Israeli court jailed a Palestinian for life for the 2015 killing of two Israelis and the wounding of a third in a Tel Aviv knife attack.
	At a separate court hearing Monday in Lod, near Tel Aviv, judges jailed another Palestinian for 16 years and six months.
	Since October, 241 Palestinians, 36 Israelis, two Americans, a Jordanian, an Eritrean and a Sudanese have been killed, according to an AFP count.
	Most of the Palestinians killed were carrying out ...

Palestinian jailed 16 years for knife attack

Turkey today detained eight people over a deadly fire at a dormitory for schoolgirls that left 12 people dead, as anger grew over possible negligence that caused the tragedy.
	The blaze, which officials said was likely caused by an electrical fault, tore through the building's wooden interior on Tuesday night as panicked youngsters tried to jump from windows to safety.
	Some officials suggested many of the victims were killed on the top floors of the dormitory in the southern region of Adana after they were unable to open a fire door to flee the flames.
	"We will learn lessons from this and we will do what needs to be done to ensure this never happens again," said Education Minister Ismet Yilmaz, adding that an inspection in June had not uncovered any issues.
	In Ankara, Turkish police used tear gas to disperse a protest outside the education ministry by activists angered that the devastated dormitory was managed by an influential religious sect.
	Those detained as part of the ...

Eight held over Turkey schoolgirl dorm fire as anger grows

With daily battles between the government forces and Taliban insurgents, the number of people who have fled their homes for safer parts of Afghanistan has hit a record high, the UN said today.
	As of November 30, 2016, more than half a million Afghans -- 515,800 people -- had been internally displaced by fighting, surpassing a previous record of 471,000 set last year, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
	The figure has more than doubled since 2014, pointing to a sharp increase in the number of people leaving their homes due to escalating violence in the war-torn country.
	"I am concerned these record figures show not just an alarming number of new IDPs, but a longer term crisis where increasing numbers of families in Afghanistan are facing prolonged displacement," Mark Bowden UN humanitarian coordinator said in a statement, referring to internally displaced people.
	Combined with the more than 600,000 Afghan refugees who have been forced to return .

UN says record half a million Afghans displaced by war

The United Nations Security Council today voted unanimously to tighten sanctions against North Korea following its most recent nuclear test, placing a cap on Pyongyang's coal exports to China.
	The new sanctions resolution, which was spearheaded by the United States and came after three months of tough negotiations with fellow veto-wielding council member China, passed by a 15-0 vote.
	The resolution aims to curb North Korea's coal exports -- the top external revenue source for the impoverished state -- by more than 60 percent, a US official said earlier.
	The official voiced hope that the resolution would cut USD 700 million from North Korea's coal earnings, dramatically reducing the money it can use on nuclear and ballistic weapons.
	China is North Korea's primary ally and one of the few markets for its coal.
	China has traditionally protected North Korea diplomatically, believing that Kim Jong-Un's regime is preferable to its collapse, but has increasingly grown frustrated by the ..

UN Security Council strengthens North Korea sanctions

Europol admitted today that confidential information on terror investigations were accidentally put online, as it launched a probe into what it called a "very serious incident."
	Dutch investigative TV programme Zembla, which broke the story, said around 700 pages on terror investigations -- particularly analysis on terror groups -- appeared online, including the names and contact details of hundreds of people with terror links.
	The breach happened after the woman, "an experienced police officer... Uploaded Europol data to a private storage device... In clear contravention of Europol policy," Europol spokesman Gerald Hesztera told AFP.
	"A security investigation in coordination with the respective authorities at national level is ongoing...(but) current information suggests that the breach was not ill-intended," he said.
	Hesztera said the sensitive material was around 10 years old and there was "no indication" that any current investigation had been compromised.
	The woman has now ..

Europol red-faced as terror data appears online

Ukraine ratcheted up tensions with Moscow today by warning the Kremlin its military intended to hold two days of rocket launching exercises near the border with Russian-annexed Crimea.
	The tests would begin tomorrow and almost certainly further damage relations between two former Soviet neighbours that treat each other as open foes.
	Rocket exercises near the peninsula would be a first for Ukraine and its was not immediately clear what sparked their preparation.
	Ukraine also failed to say whether the tests would involve specific targets or if the rockets would only be fired into the air.
	But Moscow last week arrested an alleged Ukrainian military spy in Crimea and accused Kiev of abducting two Russian servicemen from the region.
	Kiev accuses Russia of illegally annexing the Black Sea peninsula in March 2014 following the preceding month's ouster of Ukraine's Russian-backed president.
	It also accuses Moscow of backing a 31-month pro-Russian insurgency in Ukraine's industrial east .

Ukraine warns Russia of rocket tests near Crimea

Israel today delayed parliamentary votes on controversial bills that would limit the volume of calls to prayer at mosques and legalise several thousand Jewish settler homes in the West Bank.
	The votes were put off until Monday following a decision by government ministers, a parliament spokesman told AFP.
	Deputies were to take a preliminary vote on a bill to prevent the use of loudspeakers for late night and early morning calls to prayer at mosques, a proposal that has angered Muslims.
	A first reading of a bill to legalise some 4,000 settler homes in the occupied West Bank was also planned, but both were delayed.
	Israeli media reported that the votes were put off because a majority could not be assured. Discussions were continuing on both measures.
	The noise bill would prohibit the use of loudspeakers between 11:00 pm and 7:00 am. It would officially apply to all religions, but it is widely seen as targeting calls to prayer at mosques.
	The bill's backers say it is needed because .

Israel delays votes on mosques, settler homes

A military jeep carried the ashes of Fidel Castro along streets lined with flag-waving Cubans in Havana today, starting a four-day journey to his final resting place across the island.
	After two days of tributes in Havana, the "caravan of freedom" departed on a 950-kilometer trek retracing the route of the revolution's victory tour of 1959.
	The flag-covered urn rested on a small olive-green trailer, flanked by white flowers and protected by a glass case as Havana bid farewell to the communist icon who ruled the island with an iron fist for almost half a century.
	Hundreds of thousands chanted "I am Fidel!" and "viva Fidel!" as the "caravan of freedom" headed on long trip that will end with a final ceremony in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba on Sunday.
	Senior officials of the government and Communist Party, and Castro's longtime partner, Dalia Soto del Valle, attended the farewell ceremony at the armed forces ministry before the caravan headed out.
	Cubans were observing the ...

'Viva Fidel!': Castro takes final voyage across Cuba

The OPEC oil cartel held tense talks today to try to agree its first output cut in eight years, sending oil prices soaring on hopes it will defy gloomy expectations.
	Brent North Sea crude for January delivery jumped USD 3.83 to USD 50.21, the first time it has risen above USD 50 in a month. West Texas Intermediate won USD 3.59 to USD 48.82 per barrel, the highest level in a week.
	As OPEC ministers began their meeting, Khaled al-Falih, energy minister of the cartel's biggest producer Saudi Arabia, sounded an upbeat note.
	"We don't know (if a deal will be reached)," he said. "We will find out during the meeting. I think the sentiment generally is optimistic and positive."
	In comments likely directed at Iraq and regional rival Iran, more reticent about reducing the flow of crude, Falih said that cuts have to be shared around OPEC "in an equitable way".
	Iraq's Oil Minister Jabbar al-Luaibi said he was "very optimistic we're going to come with very fruitful results... There will be a .

OPEC discusses output cut, sending prices higher

Turkish police tear gassed protesters who tried to rally in Ankara today after 12 people, mostly schoolgirls, were killed in a fire at a dormitory in southern Turkey.
	The blaze, which officials said was likely caused by an electrical fault, tore through the wooden interior of a dormitory in the southern region of Adana last evening.
	Riot police stopped around 150 protesters from different organisations including left-wing groups and women's rights activists from demonstrating outside the education ministry in Ankara over allegations that negligence led to the blaze.
	Police later detained an unknown number of demonstrators as they tried to run away, an AFP photographer said.
	They called for dormitories run by religious sects to be shut down after it emerged the facility belonged to an influential Sunni Muslim group, the photographer added.
	Last month, the Ankara region banned all public gatherings and demonstrations until the end of November after receiving information about ...

Police crack down on Ankara demo after schoolgirl dorm fire

German airline Lufthansa today said it had offered striking pilots a fresh pay deal in a bid to end a long-running and crippling dispute.
	Six days of industrial action over the past week have forced Lufthansa to cancel 4,461 flights, grounding more than half a million passengers.
	Today, around 98,000 customers were affected by 890 cancellations.
	The firm said it would offer pilots a 4.4-per cent pay rise, spread over two years and not linked to any other conditions, as well as a one-off payment.
	"We want to urgently avoid any further damage to our company," Lufthansa board member Harry Hohmeister said in a statement.
	Airline bosses made a similar pay offer at the weekend but tied it to changes to pensions which pilots deemed unacceptable, their union Vereinigung Cockpit said.
	Pilots walked out again yesterday -- for the 15th time since spring 2014 -- after talks during a two-day pause in strikes had failed to find a solution.
	Today's strike extended to some long-haul services ..

Lufthansa offers pay deal to end pilots' strike

UN human rights experts on a fact-finding mission to South Sudan warned today of an escalation in ethnic violence in the war-torn country.
	"Many expect intensified fighting now that the dry season is setting in," said Yasmin Sooka of the UN Commission on Human Rights in South Sudan.
	Sooka was speaking to the press in the capital Juba at the end of a 10-day visit during which the three member team spoke with civilians in the battleground towns of Bentiu, Malakal and Wau, as well as government officials and members of civil society.
	"There are unprecedented levels of violence and ethnic tension all over South Sudan," Sooka said.
	"Any sense of national identity is crumbling and tribal or ethnic identity is taking over. I repeatedly heard of the desire for revenge," she added.
	South Sudan's current conflict began nearly three years ago when President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy and political rival, Riek Machar, of plotting a coup. Since then the world's newest nation has ...

AFP

AFP

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