The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting today on the dire humanitarian crisis unfolding in Aleppo, diplomats said.
	The meeting will begin immediately following a Security Council session on the adoption of a resolution reinforcing sanctions against North Korea, which is scheduled to begin at 1400 GMT.
	The 15 ambassadors of the Security Council will get a videoconference briefing on the situation in Aleppo by a UN official in charge of humanitarian operation and the UN mediator in Syria, Staffan de Mistura.
	In east Aleppo, thousands of civilians have fled the fighting and bombings as the Syrian government forces advanced against parts of the rebel-held areas.
	The UN condemned yesterday the "descent into hell" being endured by civilians.
	Up to 20,000 people have fled the regime offensive in the past 72 hours, the International Committee of the Red Cross said.
	"France and its partners cannot remain silent in the face of what could be one of the biggest massacres of ..

UN council sets meeting on Aleppo crisis: diplomats

PTI Automatic

Three people have reportedly died in the US southeast as wildfires bore down on a mountainous tourist region home to a theme park founded by country music legend Dolly Parton.
	The fires, located in the eastern part of Tennessee, have damaged or destroyed hundreds of structures and caused thousands of evacuations yesterday, the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) reported.
	Not only are the fires threatening Parton's Dollywood, but they have also blazed through parts of the tourist hamlet of Gatlinburg, one of the gateways to the area's Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
	Officials in Sevier County, in which Gatlinburg and Dollywood are located, told reporters Tuesday that three people had died, according to multiple US media.
	The fires have been fanned by high winds and fuelled by parched vegetation after the worst drought in nearly a decade. Wind speeds topping 70 miles (110 kilometers) per hour were reported in some parts of the state.
	Hundreds of firefighters have ...

Three reported dead as wildfires rage in southeastern US

Twelve people, most of them schoolgirls, were killed when fire ravaged a dormitory for pupils in the southern Turkish region of Adana, local officials said.
	The fire, which officials said was likely caused yesterday by an electrical fault, raced through the building's wooden interior as panicked victims tried to jump from windows to safety.
	Officials expressed concern that many of the dead were killed after they were unable to open a closed fire door to escape the top floors of the building.
	Images showed scenes of devastation as emergency services arrived to tackle the fire at the dormitory building, parts of which were turned into a blazing wreck and whose roof collapsed.
	"We lost 12 of our citizens in the fire. Eleven of them were schoolchildren and one was a tutor. 22 citizens are injured," Adana region governor Mahmut Demirtas told Turkish NTV television.
	"According to initial findings, we believe the fire was caused by electrical fault," he said.
	The Dogan news agency ...

12 dead, mainly schoolgirls, in Turkey dorm fire

Brazilian riot police fought an angry crowd of demonstrators outside Congress as lawmakers prepared to vote on austerity measures freezing government spending for 20 years.
	The violent scenes in the capital Brasilia underlined tensions in Latin America's biggest economy as the center-right government of President Michel Temer attempts to embark on major cutbacks.
	Riot police yesterday fired tear gas and stun grenades into a crowd of thousands. Squads of officers occasionally beat and kicked isolated protesters.
	Some demonstrators hurled objects at police and turned over a car. Thick clouds of tear gas eventually drove the crowds away but small groups continued to confront the security forces, throwing back tear gas canisters and attempting to block an avenue.
	The disturbances occurred as the Senate was set to hold the first of two votes on Temer's proposed long-term spending freeze. It was already approved by the lower house.
	Even more controversial measures, including pension ...

Violent clashes mar Brazilian Senate vote on austerity

Twelve people, most of them children, were killed today when a fire broke out at a school dormitory in the southern Turkish city of Adana, local officials said.
	"12 bodies were recovered, 22 wounded people were taken to hospitals," Adana governor Mahmut Demirtas was quoted as saying by the official news agency Anadolu.
	Adana Mayor Huseyin Sozlu said 11 of the dead were school children and the other was a female caretaker.

12 killed as fire rips through Turkey school dorm

One of the heirs to the Fiat automobile fortune, Lapo Elkann, has been arrested in New York for allegedly faking his own kidnapping, police said today, amid reports that he was trying to pay for a weekend of debauchery.
	According to several US media outlets, Elkann, the grandson of legendary Fiat founder Gianni Agnelli, tried to make his family believe he had been kidnapped when he ran out of money during a two-day bender of sex and drugs.
	The 39-year-old Italian playboy reportedly spent that time with a transgender prostitute, with whom he consumed a cocktail of alcohol, marijuana and cocaine before running low on funds, the reports said.
	He reportedly came up with the plan to ask his family for USD 10,000 in ransom to pay for more drugs, US media said.
	The family alerted police, who arrested Elkann after determining his claims to be false.
	Elkann was ordered to appear in a New York court in January for falsely reporting an incident before being released, police said, without ...

Fiat heir arrested in US for faking own kidnapping

EU President Donald Tusk warned today against using expatriates as "bargaining chips" in Brexit negotiations but rejected a call by British lawmakers to hold early talks on protecting their rights.
	Eighty British MPs wrote to Tusk saying that Britons living in European Union countries must have their rights protected after Britain leaves the bloc following its June referendum vote.
	"Just like you, I would like to avoid a situation where citizens become 'bargaining chips' in the negotiation process," Tusk wrote in reply to the British parliamentarians, who had first used the phrase.
	"For this not to happen, we will need precise and comprehensive solutions, which, other than nice-sounding expressions, will provide citizens with genuine guarantees of security," the former Polish premier wrote.
	The letter called for the issue to be discussed at the next EU summit in December "to resolve this matter once and for all", but Tusk said there could be no talks of any kind on Brexit terms ...

EU chief says don't use expats as Brexit bargaining chips

South Africa begins a major clinical trial of an experimental vaccine against AIDS, which scientists hope could be the "final nail in the coffin" for the disease.
	More than 30 years of efforts to develop an effective vaccine for HIV have not borne fruit, but for the first time since the virus was identified in 1983, scientists think they have found a promising candidate.
	The new study, known as HVTN 702, will involve more than 5,400 sexually active men and women aged 18-35 in 15 areas around South Africa over four years.
	It is one of the biggest clinical trials involving the disease ever undertaken and has revived hopes in the scientific community of a breakthrough in the battle against AIDS.
	"If deployed alongside our current armoury of proven HIV prevention tools, a safe and effective vaccine could be the final nail in the coffin for HIV," said Anthony Fauci, director of the US National institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), which is taking part in the ...

S Africa launches major new trial of AIDS vaccine

Ugandan police said today that another 25 bodies had been recovered after weekend fighting in a western kingdom whose tribal monarch is accused of stoking a separatist rebellion, bringing the death toll to 87.
	"We recovered 25 bodies from two sub-counties yesterday and a postmortem is being done to establish the facts," Kasese district police commander Sam Odong told AFP.
	Police had earlier reported 16 police officers and 46 royal guards were killed in the fighting that broke out in the
 Rwenzururu kingdom and saw security forces storm the palace to arrest King Charles Wesley Mumbere on Sunday.
	Mumbere is accused of backing a militia, allegedly including members of his royal guard, which had launched attacks against Ugandan security forces while agitating for the creation of their own state called the Yiira Republic.
	He was charged with murder today and remanded in prison, Uganda's judiciary spokesman, Solomon Muyita, told AFP.

Another 25 bodies found after Uganda clashes: police

Myanmar's Rohingya may be victims of crimes against humanity, the UN's rights agency said today, as former UN chief Kofi Annan arrived in the country for a visit that will include a trip to northern Rakhine.
	The army has carried out a bloody crackdown in Rakhine, and thousands of the Muslim minority have flooded over the border into Bangladesh this month, making horrifying claims of gang rape, torture and murder at the hands of security forces.
	Some 30,000 have fled their homes and analysis of satellite images by Human Rights Watch found hundreds of buildings in Rohingya villages have been razed.
	Myanmar has denied allegations of abuse, saying the army is hunting "terrorists" behind raids on police posts last month.
	The government has lashed out at media reports of rapes and killings, and lodged a protest over a UN official in Bangladesh who said the state was carrying out "ethnic cleansing" of Rohingya.
	Foreign journalists and independent investigators have been banned from ...

Myanmar Rohingya abuse may be 'crimes against humanity': UN

Colombian club Atletico Nacional called on football authorities today to hand the Copa Sudamericana title to their opponents, Brazilian side Chapecoense, as a tribute to the team's players killed in a plane crash.
	The Colombian side asked regional football confederation CONMEBOL "that the Copa Sudamericana title be handed to Chapecoense Football Association as an honorary trophy for its great loss," Nacional said in a statement.

Colombia club says opponents in plane crash should win title

The Pentagon said today that intelligence errors resulted in a US-led coalition air strike in Syria in September that reportedly killed around 90 Syrian government forces.
	There were "errors in the development of intelligence, as well as missed opportunities for coalition members on duty to recognise and voice contrary evidence to decision-makers," the US military's Central Command said in a statement following a six-week probe into the September 17 attack near Deir Azzor.
	Australian, Danish, British and American planes all took part in the air strike, which the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group has said killed at least 90 regime troops.

Errors led to coalition strike on Syria forces: Pentagon

Syria's rebels have lost all of the northern neighbourhoods of their stronghold in east Aleppo, as the army made significant advances in its offensive to recapture the entire city.
	The regime gains have prompted an exodus of thousands of desperate civilians, some fleeing to districts held by the government or Kurdish forces, others heading south into areas still under opposition control.
	"The situation is disastrous," said Ibrahim Abu Al-Leith, a spokesman for the White Helmets rescue group in the Ansari neighbourhood.
	"There is mass displacement and morale is in the gutter," he said, his voice cracking with emotion.
	"People are sleeping in the streets. They don't have anything to eat or drink, but neither do we," he told AFP.
	The loss of eastern Aleppo would be a potentially devastating blow to Syria's rebels, who seized the area in 2012.
	The opposition has steadily lost territory since Russia intervened to bolster President Bashar al-Assad in September 2015.
	Yesterday, ...

Exodus as Syria rebels lose northeast Aleppo

Afghanistan's army said one of its top commanders was killed today when a military helicopter crashed in the western Afghan province of Badghis.
	General Mohayedin Ghori commanded the 207th Corps and was one of the six regional commanders of the Afghan army, responsible for the country's western zone, defence ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanish said.
	"General Ghori was martyred and a number of officers injured in the crash," Radmanish said.
	He said a "technical fault" caused the Russian-made Mi-17 aircraft to go down in the Murichan area of the Bala Murghab district.
	Ghori was on a mission to visit a newly established army base in the volatile district, where the Afghan army has recently pushed back a major Taliban offensive.
	Taliban insurgents claimed responsibility for the crash in a statement but Radmanish denied this, saying there were no insurgents operating in the area at the time of the accident.
	Afghan president Ashraf Ghani described the death of General Mohayedin as a 

Top Afghan General killed in miltary chopper crash

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin spoke out today against a controversial bill that would prohibit mosques from using loudspeakers to summon believers to prayers early in the morning.
	The draft law, which sparked outrage around the Arab and wider Muslim world, is set to be submitted to its first reading in parliament tomorrow.
	Its original form was amended last week to not affect the sirens that announce the start of the Jewish day of rest at sundown each Friday.
	Rivlin today hosted in his Jerusalem residence a meeting of religious leaders "seeking to bridge gaps over the issue of the muezzins," the Muslim lay officials charged with calling the faithful to prayer across the country, a statement from his office read.
	"I thought that perhaps such a meeting could have an impact on the whole public, and that it would be a shame that a law should be born which touches on the issue of freedom of faith of a specific group among us," the president was quoted as telling ...

Israel president decries bill to quieten mosques

A fleeing seven-year-old child was amongst dozens more civilians allegedly executed by the Islamic State group in Mosul in recent weeks, the UN said today.
	Since the battle to retake the last jihadist bastion in Iraq began six weeks ago, the United Nations rights office has reported hundreds of alleged execution-style killings by IS, stressing that some of the purported atrocities have not been definitively confirmed.
	The most recent allegations include a November 22 killing of "a seven-year-old child who was running towards the Iraqi Security Forces in Adan neighbourhood in eastern Mosul", rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.
	That shooting was part of a reported trend of IS gunmen spraying fire on those trying to escape the strife-torn city, according to the rights office.
	The UN has also received reports about a November 11 massacre in Mosul's eastern Bakir neighbourhood that saw 12 people reportedly shot dead for "refusing to allow (IS) to ...

IS kills dozens in Mosul, including escaping child: UN

A plane carrying a Brazilian football team crashed in the mountains in Colombia, killing an estimated 75 people while six survived, including several players, officials said today.
	The LAMIA airlines charter declared an emergency at around 10:00 pm (local time), reporting it had suffered "electrical failures," and crashed a short time later near the city of Medellin, officials said.
	The plane was carrying members of Chapecoense Real, a Brazilian football club that had risen from obscurity to reach the Copa Sudamericana finals, which were set for tomorrow against Atletico Nacional of Colombia.
	"The pain is terrible. Just as we had made it, I will not say to the top, but to have national prominence, a tragedy like this happens. It is very difficult, a very great tragedy," club vice-president Ivan Tozzo told Globo SportTV.
	In all, there were 72 passengers and nine crew on board the British Aerospace 146.
	Brazil's President Michel Temer declared three days of mourning for the ...

Brazilian footballers killed in Colombia plane crash

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah re-elected him party head today as the movement opened its first congress since 2009 with talk mounting of who will eventually succeed the 81-year-old.
	Abbas was re-elected by consensus, party spokesman Mahmud Abu al-Hija said, and was due to address the congress at 6:00 pm (1600 GMT). Some 1,400 delegates were attending.
	The election of members of Fatah's parliament and its central committee over the five-day conference will signal the direction the oldest Palestinian party will take at a time when Abbas is weakened by his own unpopularity and internal dissent.
	While the ageing leader has said he has no intention of stepping aside anytime soon, talk of who will eventually succeed him as Palestinian president has intensified. He has not publicly designated a successor.
	Some analysts see the congress as an attempt by Abbas to marginalise political opponents, including longtime rival Mohammed Dahlan, currently in exile in the United Arab ...

Abbas re-elected party leader as Fatah opens rare congress

A probe has been launched into allegations by a player that he was asked to fix matches during the latest scandal-hit Bangladesh Premier League Twenty20 tournament.
     The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) said it would investigate after Rangpur Riders player Jupiter Ghosh alleged Monday that team manager Sanuar Hossain had told him to fix match results just before the start of the tournament earlier this month.
     He claims that he was dropped from the team when he refused to comply.
     "The BCB is investigating complaints lodged by a cricketer of BPL 2016 franchise Rangpur Riders against an official of the same team," the BCB said.
     "The BCB recognises that the allegations and counter allegations brought forward by the player and the official concerned, which includes breach of discipline and corrupt practice, are of serious nature."
     The Rangpur Riders expelled Ghosh on disciplinary grounds on Monday after he went public with the allegations.
     The BCB has also ...

Bangladesh Premier League probed for match-fixing

The Afghan Taliban today pledged to protect billions of dollars worth of infrastructure projects throughout the country, many of which have been stalled for years due to militant violence and insecurity.
	The militant group, which has been repeatedly accused of conducting attacks against aid workers and infrastructure projects, made the surprise gesture in a statement.
	"The Islamic Emirate (Taliban) not only backs all national projects which are in the interest of the people and result in the development and prosperity of the nation but are also committed to safeguarding them," the statement said.
	"The Islamic Emirate directs all its Mujahideen to help in the security of all national projects that are in the higher interest of Islam and the country."
	The statement comes after Afghan and Turkmen leaders yesterday inaugurated a railway line connecting Afghanistan to Europe through Turkmenistan.
	According to the statement, the promise extends to highways, railways, as well as the USD 

Afghan Taliban offers to protect infrastructure projects

South Korea's scandal-hit President Park Geun-Hye said today she was willing to resign early and let parliament decide her fate, a move critics said was a bid to delay impending impeachment.
	Park has been engulfed in allegations of influence peddling and claims that tens of millions of dollars have changed hands, sparking widespread anger across South Korea and bringing hundreds of thousands of protesters onto the streets demanding her ouster.
	"I will leave the issue of my departure, including the (possible) reduction of my term in office, to a decision by the National Assembly", she said in a speech carried live on television.
	"Once lawmakers come up with measures to transfer power in a way that minimises any power vacuum and chaos in governance, I will step down," she said.
	Park's presidency has gone into a tailspin, with accusations that Choi Soon-Sil -- a secretive confidante dubbed "Korea's Rasputin" -- elicited more than USD 60 million in payments from some of the country's .

AFP

AFP

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