The Kremlin said today that President Vladimir Putin enjoys good relations with Francois Fillon, the surprise winner of the first round of France's rightwing presidential primary.
	"They established relations when Putin was still head of government, they had quite extensive exchanges," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
	"They do indeed maintain quite good relations."
	Peskov added that Moscow was following the French presidential primaries with "great attention."
	"France is our partner, a country with which Russia maintains good relations and with which the scope of cooperation could be much larger than it is now," Peskov added.
	Former prime minister Fillon, an admirer of Margaret Thatcher, pulled off a stunning upset on Sunday, knocking his former boss Nicolas Sarkozy out of the race and beating the favourite, fellow ex-premier Alain Juppe.
	Russian media this week portrayed Fillon as a "friend of Moscow" capable of mending relations that soured over Russia's 2014 ...

Putin has 'good relations' with France's Fillon: Kremlin

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Manchester United's Zlatan Ibrahimovic said today he was eyeing the possibility of a move to the the United States.
     "I can see myself conquering the US, just as I have (conquered) Europe," the 35-year-old Swede told daily newspaper Aftonbladet in an interview.
     "People stay in one place throughout their entire career, but I have travelled around like Napoleon in Europe and conquered every country I've arrived in," Ibrahimovic said.
     "So maybe I could cross the Atlantic and conquer the US as well," he said after winning the Swedish Golden Ball award for the 11th time on Monday.
     In honour of the country's most prolific goal-scorer, the Swedish football association announced that a statue of Ibrahimovic would be erected at the Friends arena in Stockholm within one year.
     Acknowledging that United is not in as strong a position as his former team Paris Saint-Germain, Ibrahimovic said he's trying to deliver the same results.
     "I had it good at PSG; it's no secret. 

Ibrahimovic says may 'conquer' US

A 28-year-old man died in Japan after choking on a rice ball at a speed-eating contest, an event organiser said today.
	The man, whose name was withheld, died on November 16 in hospital three days after choking, said the local farmer's cooperative that sponsored the event in the western city of Hikone.
	Contestants competed to see how fast they could eat five "onigiri" balls of locally grown steamed rice, a popular Japanese comfort food.
	The man shoved his fifth rice ball into his mouth before passing out and was rushed to a local hospital where he later died, the organiser said.
	The contest was composed of three sets of five contestants each.
	"We had the first and the second sets finished and were watching the third group when this happened," said the official at the cooperative, who declined to be named.
	Eating contests are popular events at various regional fairs held in Japan to promote local produce and culture, as in other countries where choking deaths have been ...

Japan man dies after rice ball eating contest

Hundreds of Rohingya have arrived in Bangladesh after fleeing violence in neighbouring Myanmar, community leaders said today, many with horrific tales of troops killing and burning villages.
	Bangladesh says it has prevented hundreds more from crossing into the country, despite pleas from the United Nations to open its border after up to 30,000 Rohingya were displaced by violence in Myanmar's Rakhine state.
	Bangladeshi troops have intensified patrols along the 237-kilometre (147-mile) border, but Rohingya community leaders estimate that 1,000 people have still managed to get in over the last week.
	Most are hiding out in camps for the 32,000 legally registered already living in southeast Bangladesh, fearing repatriation if they are found by authorities.
	Mohammad Amin, 17, said he and 15 others fled their homes in Rakhine five days ago and reached Bangladesh by swimming across the Naf river that divides the two countries.
	"The (Myanmar) army killed my father and elder brother. I hid 

Hundreds of Rohingya cross into Bangladesh, fleeing unrest

Russia has accused Ukraine of abducting two Russian servicemen on the annexed Crimea peninsula, but Kiev said it had merely detained two Ukrainian army deserters.
	In a statement carried late Monday by local news agencies, the Russian defence ministry said servicemen Maxim Odintsov and Alexander Baranov were "illegally detained and removed from Crimea by Ukrainian security forces" on Sunday.
	"We consider that these actions of the Ukrainian special forces toward Russian citizens are yet another gross provocation and demand their immediate return to Russian territory," the statement said.
	The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) meanwhile said the two men were "former Ukrainian servicemen who betrayed their oath and went to serve in the Russian military after the illegal annexation of Crimea," the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported.
	The SBU added that the men stood accused of "desertion and treason" and had been detained "after crossing the border" between Ukraine and Russian-annexed 

Russia accuses Ukraine of abducting two soldiers in Crimea

Eight people arrested in Sudan for allegedly protesting against a government decision to raise fuel prices went on trial in the capital today.
	They were among 26 suspected protesters including 12 women detained over the past two days after small rallies in Khartoum were swiftly dispersed by riot policemen.
	An AFP correspondent in court cited prosecutors as saying that the remaining 18 defendants would appear in court over the next few days.
	All 26 have been charged with disturbing the peace.
	Protesters have staged small demonstrations over the past few days after the government hiked the prices of petrol and diesel by about 30 per cent.
	Several opposition politicians and activists have also been arrested for calling for anti-government demonstrations after the price rises.
	The authorities are seeking to prevent a repeat of two months of protests in 2013 that resulted in a deadly crackdown that rights groups say killed 200 people.
	The authorities said fewer than 100 people died .

26 Sudan protesters face trial over fuel demos

Turkey today dismissed over 15,000 more civil servants, police officers and military personnel within the state of emergency imposed after the July failed coup, in a purge that shows no sign of slowing.
	More than 100,000 people within the military, police, judiciary and education sector have been arrested, suspended or sacked so far in a crackdown on those alleged to have links to coup-plotters.
	In the latest government decree published on Tuesday, 7,586 personnel working in the police, including police chiefs and commissioners, were dismissed.
	Meanwhile 1,956 soldiers and personnel in the air force and navy were sacked while another 403 were removed from the gendarmerie, which looks after domestic security.
	Thousands more were dismissed in government ministries and state institutions, including nearly 3,000 officials in the interior ministry and its linked institutions.
	In total, 15,726 people have been dismissed under the latest decrees.
	The dismissals are allowed under the ...

Turkey dismisses over 15,000 in latest coup purge

Two Qatari women were held up with their driver on a Paris motorway and robbed of valuables worth "at least five million euros (USD 5.3 million)", police sources said today.
	The women had just left Le Bourget airport northeast of the capital Monday when their Bentley was held up by two masked men, who sprayed them with tear gas and stole "everything in the vehicle: jewels, clothes, luggage", one source said.

2 Qatari women robbed on Paris motorway in 5-mn-euro heist

Nepal's newly restored Boudhanath stupa reopened to the public today after it was damaged by the deadly 2015 earthquake that left much of the country's cultural heritage in ruins.
	The white-domed golden stupa - the country's largest and one of the holiest sites of pilgrimage in Tibetan Buddhism - was left with deep cracks after the powerful 7.8-magnitude quake hit in April last year, devastating the Himalayan nation and killing nearly 9,000 people.
	Restoration work began in May 2015 and cost USD 2.1 million - including over 30 kilogrammes of gold - according to the Boudhanath Area Development Committee.
	To mark the opening, which took place after a three-day purification ritual, colourful prayer flags and flowers covered the stupa and monks chanted prayers.
	"This is a proud moment for us... The successful reconstruction of Boudhanath is an inspiration for what we have to achieve in quake affected areas," Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal said after walking up the freshly painted ..

Nepal's quake-damaged Boudhanath stupa reopens

South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis was found guilty of ball-tampering today but cleared to play in this week's third Test against Australia, who are fighting to avoid their first ever home Test series whitewash.
     Du Plessis was fined his entire match fee after he was caught on camera sucking a sweet, or mint, and rubbing the ball with his saliva, in an attempt to alter its flight, during last week's second Test in Hobart.
     Match referee Andy Pycroft found du Plessis guilty at an International Cricket Council (ICC) hearing in Adelaide which viewed video footage of the incident in Hobart.
     "The decision was based on the evidence given from the umpires, who confirmed that had they seen the incident they would have taken action immediately," an ICC statement said.
     "And from (Marylebone Cricket Club head of cricket John) Stephenson, who confirmed the view of MCC that the television footage showed an artificial substance being transferred to the ball."
     The row, dubbed 

Du Plessis evades ban in 'Mintgate' row

Cambodia's opposition MPs ended a six-month boycott of parliament today, following months of legal and political pressure from strongman Prime Minister Hun Sen.
	Lawmakers from the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) pulled out of parliamentary sessions in May after some MPs, including its deputy leader Kem Sokha, were slapped with legal cases by the government.
	With 2018 elections in view, Hun Sen is increasingly using Cambodia's pliant courts -- as well as his political cunning -- to box in rivals, a tactic he has deployed throughout his 31-year tenure in office.
	On Tuesday 39 opposition MPs ended their boycott and joined the parliamentary debate on a $5 billion budget for 2017.
	"We must return to debate it," said CNRP spokesman and lawmaker Yim Sovann.
	He dened his party had caved in to Hun Sen's pressure tactics but said his party "are the victims of political crackdown."
	"This (end of boycott) is also a gesture to show that we want a resolution" to the political crisis, he 

Cambodian opposition ends boycott of parliament

The Colombian opposition has rejected the latest version of a peace agreement between FARC guerrillas and the country's government, following a six-hour meeting with government delegates.
	Right-wing senator and opposition leader Alvaro Uribe met Monday with Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos to review the revised accord.
	Colombian voters unexpectedly rejected an earlier version of the government's peace deal with the FARC in an October 2 referendum.
	"We insisted on the introduction of amendments to the agreement prepared by the government and the FARC, and the government opposed these changes on substantial subjects," Uribe told journalists.
	Opponents reiterated that if some of their demands were not definitively included in the new deal, it would be a mere "reworking of the agreement rejected by the citizens."
	"We are totally willing to engage in dialogue with the government and the guerrillas concerning these changes," Uribe said.
	The conservative leader said the ...

Colombian opposition rejects new peace accord

The United Nations' human rights watchdog called on Vietnam today to release three rights activists who were recently detained and investigate allegations the trio have been tortured in custody.
	Communist Vietnam routinely silences dissent with activists subject to arbitrary detention and lengthy jail spells.
	The statement from the UN Human Rights Office referred to the recent detentions of Ho Van Hai, a prominent blogger, and Luu Van Vinh and Nguyen Van Duc Do -- two political activists pushing for greater freedoms in the autocratic state.
	All three were arrested earlier this month and have been held incommunicado since.
	Calling for their release, the statement said the UN "was also deeply concerned by reports that the activists, who have been held incommunicado in line with Vietnamese law for so-called National Security offences, have been subjected to torture".
	Vietnam uses a raft of broadly worded national security laws to jail dissidents and critics. All newspapers and ...

UN decries new Vietnam activist arrests

More than 68,000 people have fled their homes since Iraqi forces launched a huge offensive against the Islamic State group in and around Mosul last month, the UN said today.
	The figure increased significantly over the past week as forces battled deep into the densely populated city, but it falls short of pre-offensive predictions.
	"68,550 people are currently displaced and in need of humanitarian assistance," the United Nations' Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement.
	OCHA said the aid response to the offensive launched against the jihadists on October 17 was growing in complexity, with varying needs for different categories of civilians.
	"Humanitarian needs are severe among displaced families in and out of camps, vulnerable residents of retaken communities, and people fleeing the intense fighting in Mosul city," it said.
	A million-plus civilians were thought to still live inside Mosul, the country's second city and the jihadists' last major ...

68,000 Iraqis displaced from Mosul offensive: UN

Thailand's military leaders today announced USD 358 million in cash handouts for some of the kingdom's poorest people, a surprise giveaway from a junta that decried subsidies by the civilian government it toppled.
	The move comes as Yingluck Shinawatra, whose democratically elected administration was kicked out in a 2014 coup, faces up to a decade in jail over a generous rice subsidy aimed at the rural poor.
	Since seizing power junta leader Prayut Chan-O-Cha has railed against the rice scheme, which cost Thailand billions of dollars, and vowed to end Thailand's culture of "populist" government subsidies.
	But in its latest sop to an increasingly hard-up public, Prayut said USD 358 million in cash handouts would be released next month.
	"It's a measure to help low-income earners," he told reporters adding the move would be a "stimulus to the economy that would trigger more spending".
	Those earning under 30,000 baht (USD 845) a year will receive a 3,000 baht one-time handout while ...

Thai junta approves $358 million cash handout for poor

At least 24 people, some bearing signs of torture, were killed in a series of incidents over the weekend in Mexico's violence-plagued southern state of Guerrero, officials have said.
	Authorities found nine bodies -- five of which were dismembered -- on a road, officials said Monday, after two sailors were discovered dead elsewhere in the state over the weekend.
	Faced with an uptick in bloodshed the state governor held an "urgent session" with army commanders and federal and state police in an effort to strengthen security in the region, the state's security spokesman Roberto Alvarez told a Mexican television channel.
	"The bodies of nine males with visible signs of torture" were discovered on Sunday night on a road between the towns of Tixtla and Atliaca, in Guerrero's central region, the state's secretary of security said in a statement.
	Agents at the local prosecutors office reported finding "four bodies tied at the feet and hands," and noted that authorities also recovered five .

Violent weekend in southern Mexico leaves 24 people dead

Three people are dead including two children and five others missing after torrential rain triggered landslides on the French overseas territory of New Caledonia in the South Pacific, officials said today.
	Rain has been battering the remote islands since the weekend, sparking two mudslides in the Houailou area, around 235 kilometres northwest of the capital Noumea, early today.
	The body of an eight-year-old girl was recovered in mountainous Gouareu, one of two remote communities hardest hit by the disaster. Her injured mother was evacuated and was in a "stable condition", officials said.
	A seven-year-old child and a woman in her 30s were also found dead in a nearby area.
	Rescuers, including an army medical team and 30 soldiers, have been deployed to search for the five people still missing.
	All roads, electrical supplies and telephone lines to the area have been cut off and poor weather is hampering rescue efforts.
	"The chance of weather conditions improving in the coming hours .

3 dead in landslides in New Caledonia

The UN peacekeeping force in Central African Republic (CAR) said today one of its bases had come under fire during clashes between rival groups, prompting its troops to respond.
	The violence erupted yesterday between rival factions of the so-called former Seleka Muslim rebel group in the town of Bria, 400 kilometres northeast of Bangui, MINUSCA said in a statement.
	"The MINUSCA base was targeted by some elements of the FPRC before they were driven out of the area by retaliatory fire," it said.
	The FPRC -- the Popular Front for the Renaissance of the Central African Republic -- is a splinter group led by Noureddine Adam, who faces international sanctions for his alleged role in intercommunal killings in 2013 and 2014.
	The other ex-Seleka faction involved in Monday's fighting was the Union for Peace in Central Africa (UPC), MINUSCA said. The group is led by Ali Ndarass.
	The statement said the two groups would be "held responsible for the violence, particularly on civilians." It ...

UN base 'targeted' in Central Africa clashes

A Palestinian was shot dead at a West Bank checkpoint today after walking towards guards wielding a knife, Israeli police said.
	"A Palestinian attempted to cross the checkpoint using the vehicle lane and approached security guards brandishing a knife," police spokeswoman Luba Samri said in a statement.
	"The terrorist was neutralised," she added, later confirming he had been killed.

Palestinian wielding knife shot dead in West Bank: police

An Egyptian appeals court today quashed one of two life sentences handed down against ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi since his 2013 overthrow, his lawyer and a judicial source said.
	The sentences against several officials of his now outlawed Muslim Brotherhood who stood trial alongside him on charges of spying for Iran and Palestinian militant group Hamas were also overturned by the Court of Cassation, lawyer Abdel Moneim Abdel Maqsoud told AFP.
	On November 27, the same court is to start reviewing a second life sentence handed down against Morsi in a separate trial on charges of stealing documents relating to national security and handing them over to Qatar, a longstanding supporter of the Brotherhood.

Egypt court quashes one of Morsi life sentences: lawyer

Jakarta's Christian governor was questioned by police today for the first time since being named a suspect in a blasphemy investigation seen by critics as a test of religious tolerance in Indonesia.
	Police are pursuing allegations that Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, better known by his nickname Ahok, insulted the Koran, a criminal offence that carries a jail sentence in the world's most populous Muslim-majority country.
	The allegations have sparked much anger among Muslims - both moderate and hardline - with more than 100,000 taking to the streets of Jakarta earlier this month demanding Purnama be prosecuted.
	Purnama - Jakarta's first non-Muslim leader in half a century and a member of Indonesia's ethnic Chinese minority - declined to comment as he arrived for questioning at national police headquarters.
	But his spokesman Ruhut Sitompul said Purnama would continue to cooperate with police, who have ordered the governor not to leave the country.
	"Our country is a country based on the ...

AFP

AFP

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