Mass marches to condemn horrific violence against women swept Latin America, after a series of brutal murders stoked outrage over a long-smoldering problem in the region.
	Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in Buenos Aires yesterday, the latest in a series of massive protests organized by a burgeoning movement against domestic violence and a culture of machismo.
	Marches were also held in Chile, Uruguay, Colombia, Venezuela and Guatemala, with another planned Saturday in Peru.
	"If any of you are going through what I was, please go to a loved one, a neighbor, anyone," said an online message from Chilean victim Nabila Riffo, 28, who lost both eyes when her ex-boyfriend attacked her in May.
	"Please, don't be intimidated or threatened by any man," she said.
	The demos were held on the United Nation's International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
	The Argentine protesters called for further action, including a worldwide "women's strike" on March 8, .

Latin Americans march to condemn violence against women

PTI Automatic

A loud explosion was heard in the Turkish province of Gaziantep near the Syrian border, which the governor's office said could have been caused by jets taking part in Turkey's military incursion in northern Syria.
	The governorate said yesterday that after assessments, "no one injured, dead or material damage was discovered" in a statement.
	"This sound could have been caused by warplanes involved in the Euphrates Shield operation going over the usual noise limit. We will give further details later," the governor said.
	Turkey launched the operation in August in support of Syrian rebel fighters seeking to retake IS-held territory in northern Syria and also to halt the advance of Kurdish militia. Ankara has been providing aerial support as well as tanks and hundreds of soldiers in the offensive.
	Tensions are high in Gaziantep three months after 57 people were killed in a suicide bombing on a Kurdish wedding in Gaziantep which was blamed on Islamic State jihadists.

Blast heard in Turkey's Gaziantep could be caused by jets: Guv

Conservative presidential frontrunner Francois Fillon drew cheers for his uncompromising views on Islam and French identity at a final rally in Paris ahead of a primary vote this weekend to choose the Republicans party candidate.
	Fillon's surge has taken commentators and pollsters by surprise and he will go head-to-head with his centrist rival Alain Juppe in tomorrow's vote when millions will pick the party's candidate for next year's presidential election.
	Speaking in front of a flag-waving crowd of thousands yesterday, Fillon drew applause for his plans for radical economic reform and cheers when he strayed onto questions of French identity and Islam.
	Having dismissed multiculturalism and called for patriotism to heal France's divisions, he demanded that "the Islamic religion accept what all the others have accepted in the past... That radicalism and provocation have no place here."
	Juppe has sought to portray 62-year-old Fillon, also an ex-prime minister, as having a "brutal" ..

France's Fillon makes patriotic pitch for final votes

Former Green Party candidate Jill Stein has submitted papers to request a vote recount in Wisconsin, one of three battleground states won by Donald Trump and where she intends to challenge the results.
	The Wisconsin Elections Commission yesterday said it is "preparing to move forward with a statewide recount of votes for President of the United States" as requested by Stein and separately by a fringe candidate.
	The commission said the deadline for completing a recount is December 13, so its clerk will have to work quickly. It said it is still calculating the fee it will charge Stein's party for the arduous work of staging a recount.
	Stein says she also plans to challenge the presidential election results in Pennsylvania and Michigan, where Trump won.
	Her campaign has cited unspecified "anomalies" as grounds to mount a challenge in all three Rust Belt states.
	Stein says she has raised more than USD 4.8 million of her USD 7 million goal.
	The deadlines for filing in Pennsylvania ...

Green Party files for recount in Wisconsin

British fashion photographer David Hamilton, 83, was found dead in his Parisian home, emergency services sources said.
	Hamilton, known for nude images of underage girls, hit the headlines recently after former child models said he had raped them.
	An informed source said yesterday that he had died of heart failure and that medication was found near the body.
	Hamilton, whose books of often suggestive pictures of young girls have sold millions of copies, just this week threatened to sue his accusers, saying he had previously been cleared of abuse.
	The artist, whose whose work has long raised questions about where art ends and pornography begins, was at the centre of a raft of allegations after a French radio presenter accused him of raping her when she was 13.
	Flavie Flament published an autobiographical novel last month in which she told of being raped by a famous photographer during a shoot.
	Although she did not name Hamilton in "The Consolation" for fear of being sued, she used .

Controversial British photographer David Hamilton dies

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has railed against a US court ruling that convicted two of his nephews for drug trafficking, calling it an "imperialist attack."
	The socialist leader also defended First Lady Cilia Flores as a "revolutionary" in his first public reaction to the guilty verdict handed down by a New York jury a week ago against two of her brothers' sons.
	The pair -- Efrain Antonio Campo Flores, 30, and Francisco Flores de Freitas, 31 -- were convicted of plotting to smuggle 800 kilos of cocaine into the United States.
	But the Venezuelan government, which has testy relations with the United States, says they were framed.
	"Do you think this was a coincidence?" Maduro asked supporters at a rally in Caracas yesterday.
	"Do you think it was a coincidence that the imperialists fabricated a case whose sole objective was to attack the first lady, the first combattant, the president's wife?"
	His remarks drew cheers from the crowd, which included Flores, a former attorney ..

Maduro calls nephews' US conviction 'imperialist attack'

Thousands rallied in Istanbul in support of women's rights after a controversial sex bill affecting underage girls was thrown out by a parliamentary committee this week.
	At least two thousand people gathered yesterday in Turkey's biggest city on the international day for stopping violence against women, AFP correspondents at the scene reported.
	"We are resisting" and "with resistance we are winning," the crowd chanted, holding placards denouncing "the male-dominated state".
	A Turkish group against femicide posted on its website that from 2012 to the present, 1,160 women had been killed in Turkey including 223 so far this year.
	Earlier this week, the government withdrew a bill from parliament that would have allowed the release from jail of men convicted of sexually assaulting underage girls if they marry their victims.
	Critics had said the bill would legitimise the rape of minors, while the proposals united a usually fractured opposition against it.
	Umran Ozdemir at the protest .

Istanbul rally held for women's rights after sex bill furore

A Sri Lankan court today sentenced 18 men to death for murdering a US tea company executive, the largest group to be condemned in a single trial.
	High Court Judge M D S Abeyratne found the men - members of a criminal gang - guilty of hacking Nihal Perera to death three years ago on the outskirts of Colombo.
	Perera, a Sri Lankan national, was the superintendent of the Noori Estate tea plantation managed by Texas-based firm, Walters Bay.
	His killing triggered a public outcry about police collusion with criminal gangs led by members of former president Mahinda Rajapakse's party.
	Court officials said today's verdict was a legal record with the largest number of defendants sentenced to death in a single trial.
	"Their victim had been hacked to death because he stood up to the criminal activities of the gang and the court found 18 suspects guilty while three other accused were acquitted," a court official at Avissawella, about 60 km east of Colombo said by telephone.
	"Among the men ...

Sri Lanka sentences 18 to death in tea planter murder

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan today warned the European Union he would sign a law bringing back the death penalty if it was approved by parliament.
	"Democracy, it's respecting the people's will," Erdogan said in a speech in Istanbul.
	"If the people say 'we want the death penalty'... And this goes to parliament and parliament passes it and it comes to me, I declare I will approve this," he added.
	Erdogan was speaking hours after he had rattled Europe by threatening to open Turkey's borders to allow migrants to reach the EU, in a move that would tear up a landmark deal signed in March that has reduced the refugee flow.
	He made his remarks in response to the cheering crowds' chants of "we want the death penalty", an oft-repeated call during his rallies since the July 15 failed coup.
	"When you want the death penalty, the gentlemen are uncomfortable," he said, apparently referring to EU officials.
	Erdogan said that if he signed the death penalty back into law, it would ...

Erdogan warns EU he would sign death penalty law if MPs

A papal commission on the role of female deacons met for the first time today in a move reformers hope could open the door to women eventually entering the Catholic clergy.
	As things stand only men can serve as priests or as deacons. The latter are church officers who are authorised to give sermons and preside over baptisms, marriages and funerals but not to hear confessions or give communion, tasks which remain the preserve of ordained priests.
	The new commission, which includes six women among its 13 members, has been instructed to examine whether women regularly acted as deacons in the early Christian church.
	Advocates of women playing a greater role in Church governance say they did, so there should therefore be no barrier to them doing so now.
	Conservatives however are wary of conceding a point they see as potentially opening the way to women being ordained as priests.
	The panel appointed by Pope Francis in August is seen as balanced between the conservative and ...

Reform hopes as Vatican panel studies female deacons

The first foreign firefighting planes today started helping Israel tackle a vicious wave of wildfires which have forced tens of thousands to flee their homes.
	Faced for the past four days with fires across the country fed by drought and high winds, Israel has been promised airborne assistance by Russia, France, Turkey, Cyprus, Greece, Italy and Croatia.
	On the ground, Palestinian firefighters yesterday night joined the Israelis, sending four fire engines to the northern city of Haifa and four more to the village of Beit Meir, near Jerusalem.
	In the cooperative village of religious Jews, where about 400 residents were evacuated from their homes, Israeli and Palestinian crews fought side by side against the flames.
	The fires appeared to be easing somewhat today, despite the persistent wind, although authorities warned that they could flare up again at any time.
	"Things can change and develop as we speak," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told AFP.
	Many Haifa residents spent the ...

Foreign firefighters help Israel combat wildfire plague

Britain's anti-EU party UKIP will announce a new leader Monday to succeed Nigel Farage and seek to unite a party beset by infighting and division despite its Brexit victory.
	 Since his resignation following the EU referendum in June, Farage has ridden the wave of his campaign's success to the United States where he emerged as a keen ally of President-elect Donald Trump.
	But his UK Independence Party has been reeling from internal crises, including high-profile resignations, claims of misappropriated EU funds and a fight between two its European Parliament lawmakers.
	Three candidates are now competing for the leadership - former deputy leader Paul Nuttall, former deputy chairman Suzanne Evans and party activist John Rees-Evans - with the winner to be announced on November 28 after a vote by party members.
	Ballots for the contest close today.
	Nuttall, an MEP and firm favourite for the job, has pledged to "unite the party" if elected, demanding an end to "infighting and ...

Troubled UKIP seeks to unite as Trump ally Farage leaves

Turkish authorities have reinstated over 6,000 teachers suspended after the July failed coup accused of terror links, the education ministry said today.
	"6,007 personnel suspended over links to terrorist organisations have returned to their jobs," the ministry said on Twitter.
	Tens of thousands of teachers were suspended or sacked over links to Kurdish militants and coup plotters since July 15 when a rogue faction tried to oust President Recep Tayyip Erdogan from power.

Turkey reinstates over 6,000 teachers suspended after coup

At least five people were killed and 27 others wounded in a triple bombing in eastern Afghanistan's Nangarhar province today, provincial officials said.
	There was no claim of responsibility for the three bombings in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province, which is a hotbed of IS militancy.
	"Five people were martyred in three explosions in different parts of Jalalabad of Nangarhar province this morning," provincial spokesman Ataullah Khogyani told AFP.
	Khogyani said the first blast was a roadside bomb which detonated outside the house of a senior prison official, Abdul Hakim, killing him and a child and wounding six others.
	The second blast came outside the fire brigade office - from where the first rescuers are usually dispatched after an attack - killing three and wounding 21.
	Khogyani said the third blast came as people gathered at Hakim's house after the first blast, but there were no casualties.
	Najib Kamawal, director of the Nangarhar civil hospital confirmed the ...

At least five killed, 27 wounded in Afghan triple bombing

Spain today said it had requested clarification from Israel after its agriculture minister decided to give visiting Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev a Spanish-made drone which may contain sensitive technology.
	Earlier this month as Medvedev visited Israel, Uri Ariel gave him the drone - reportedly on display at a research centre - as a gift, despite being prohibited from doing so without prior Spanish authorisation.
	Medvedev accepted the drone made by Spanish company Alpha Unmanned Systems, which Spanish and Israeli media reported was worth around 50,000 euros (USD 53,000) and may also have contained technology not meant to be shared.
	A spokesman for Spain's foreign ministry told AFP Alpha Unmanned Systems sold the drone to Israel's Volcani Centre, which carries out agricultural research, "with an export licence in which this centre is listed as the final user."
	The licence, according to the spokesman, also "stipulates that it is expressly forbidden to cede the equipment to .

Spain seeks answers for Israel's drone gift to Russia

A hurricane that hit Costa Rica yesterday killed at least three people and left several missing, officials said on today.
	Two people died in Bagaces, a town north of the capital San Jose, and another in Upala on the border with Nicaragua, police told national television networks.
	President Luis Guillermo Solis said in an overnight statement that an unspecified number of people were missing after the passage of Hurricane Otto.
	The hurricane - which weakened to a tropical storm before exiting into the Pacific Ocean - dumped a months' worth of rain in just a few hours, he said.
	"We are receiving a big number of incidents," he said, adding that more details would be given later once evaluations had been made.
	Otto churned in from the Caribbean today, initially hitting Nicaragua before moving over northern Costa Rica.
	There were no reports of casualties in Nicaragua, where several homes were damaged.
	"Up to now, thank God, we haven't counted any loss of human life," the Nicaraguan ..

Hurricane kills 3 in Costa Rica

Former British prime minister John Major believes there is a "credible case" for a second referendum on Brexit, a newspaper reported today, after his successor Tony Blair suggested the process could be stopped.
	Major, a former leader of Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative party, warned against the "tyranny of the majority" in implementing the June vote to leave the European Union, in which 52 per cent opted for Brexit.
	"I hear the argument that the 48 per cent of people who voted to stay should have no say in what happens. I find that very difficult to accept," he told a dinner this week, according to The Times newspaper.
	"The tyranny of the majority has never applied in a democracy and it should not apply in this particular democracy."
	Asked if the public should be given another say on the terms of the withdrawal deal, Major reportedly said: "That is a matter for parliament. You can make a perfectly credible case for it.
	"I don't know whether that will happen. I think we ..

British ex-PMs raise possibility of new Brexit vote

A prominent Brazilian government minister resigned today in a corruption scandal reportedly implicating President Michel Temer.
	"I am asking to be relieved of my position," government secretary Geddel Vieira Lima said in a letter published in the media.
	Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper reported yesterday that another ex-minister had told police Temer pressured him to intervene in a business deal involving Vieira Lima.
	Temer denied the allegation.
	Former culture minister Marcelo Calero said Temer and Vieira Lima asked him to approve a building project in the northeastern seaside city of Salvador de Bahia, where Vieira Lima has an apartment, the newspaper said.
	Temer, 76, took over as acting president in May before becoming full president in August after his leftist rival Dilma Rousseff was impeached.
	Vieira Lima is the sixth minister to quit Temer's government since May.
	He was a key driver of Temer's policies, including unpopular austerity measures the government says are needed to 

Brazil president's ally resigns in corruption scandal

6.5 magnitude quake hits China's Xinjiang region: USGS.

A serial killer who murdered four young men he met on gay networking sites in Britain was sentenced today to life in prison without the possibility of release.
	Stephen Port, 41, lured the men back to his flat and plied them with fatal doses of the date-rape drug GHB so he could have sex with them while they were unconscious, a court heard during his trial.
	All four died of a drug overdose before Port dumped their bodies in or near a graveyard close to his home in Barking, east London, planting bottles of the drug on some of them and writing a fake suicide note for another in an attempt to cover up his crimes.
	Judge Peter Openshaw described Port's actions as "wicked and monstrous" as he handed him a whole life term at England's Old Bailey central criminal court in London, to cheers from victims' relatives.
	Port, who worked as a chef, carried out the murders to "satisfy his lust" for sex with young men who were rendered unconscious, the judge said.
	He was found guilty on Wednesday .

Gay date-rape serial killer jailed for life in UK

A technology company CEO who may have given a Chinese politician's son the Ferrari in which he crashed and died was jailed for nearly five years and fined more than USD 100 million for insider trading, court documents showed today.
	A dozen former executives of major Chinese technology conglomerate Founder Group, including CEO Li You, were convicted of insider trading and other offences, said the intermediate people's court in Dalian, in northeastern China.
	Li was sentenced to four and a half years in prison and fined 750.2 million yuan (USD 108.5 million), it said.
	The Founder Group was established in 1986 with investment from Peking University and has expanded into IT, healthcare, real estate, finance, and commodities trading.
	According to the Beijing News, Li and Wei Xin, former chairman of the company, were linked to fallen Chinese presidential aide Ling Jihua, who was jailed for life in July for corruption, illegally obtaining state secrets and abuse of power.
	An ex-aide of ..

AFP

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