Russia's defence ministry said today that a fighter jet crashed while attempting to land on the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean off Syria, but the pilot survived.
	In a statement to Russian news agencies, the defence ministry said the MiG-29K fighter crashed due to a "technical fault" a few kilometres from the carrier.
	The pilot ejected and was recovered and taken aboard the ship. "The pilot's health is in no danger. The pilot is ready to carry out missions," the ministry said, quoted by Interfax news agency.
	The defence ministry did not say when the incident occurred, but said the plane was taking part in training flights. It stressed that flights were still going ahead from the aircraft carrier despite the accident.
	"The flights of aircraft from the carrier are continuing in accordance with the set tasks," it said.
	The Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier arrived in the eastern Mediterranean off the Syrian coast as part of a flotilla of ships sent to ...

Russian fighter crashes in Mediterranean: defence ministry

PTI Automatic

The man accused of killing British lawmaker Jo Cox repeatedly shouted "Britain first" as he shot and stabbed her in a murder that shocked the country, a court heard today.
	On the opening day of the trial of Thomas Mair at a London criminal court, prosecutor Richard Whittam said the 53-year-old was guilty of the "cowardly attack" on the mother-of-two on June 16, during the EU referendum campaign.
	Cox, a 41-year-old member of the opposition Labour party and a vocal supporter of the EU, had been due to meet her constituents in Birstall, northern England, when she was attacked in broad daylight.
	"As she arrived she was brutally murdered by one of her constituents, this defendant, Thomas Mair," Whittam said.
	"Jo Cox was shot three times and suffered multiple stab wounds. During the course of the murder Thomas Mair was heard by a number of witnesses to say repeatedly 'Britain first'."
	Witness Fazila Aswat told police that Mair shouted, "This is for Britain, Britain will always come ...

Trial opens of British MP's alleged killer

A UAE court today jailed two Emiratis up to 10 years for their links to a "terrorist" organisation seen as a branch of the banned Muslim Brotherhood, media said.
	The first defendant was handed a 10-year jail term after he was convicted of playing a "leading role" in a "banned secret group," the official WAM news agency reported.
	The local Gulf News daily said in its online edition that he was found guilty of joining the outlawed Al-Islah group, which authorities accuse of activities aimed at overthrowing the government and seizing power.
	He will remain under surveillance for three years after serving his prison term, both sources said.
	The same Abu Dhabi-based Federal Supreme Court sentenced another Emirati to seven years in prison after it convicted him of joining the same organisation, running one of its offices in the Gulf country, and promoting its ideology, the sources said.
	The United Arab Emirates in 2013 sentenced 69 activists to up to 15 years each in jail following a ...

UAE jails Emiratis up to 10 years for Islamist links

Suicide bombings claimed by the Islamic State group killed 15 people today in an oasis town south of Baghdad and the city of Fallujah to its west, officials said.
	The attacks come as Iraqi forces battle IS in the northern city of Mosul, the last major population centre the jihadists hold in the country.
	IS has carried out a series of attacks in other areas since the operation to retake Mosul was launched on October 17 in an apparent bid to draw attention and possibly troops away from the city.
	Masum al-Tamimi, a member of the Karbala provincial council, said six suicide bombers armed with light weapons as well as explosives tried to infiltrate Ain al-Tamer early today.
	But they clashed with security forces before withdrawing to the Al-Jihad area and detonating explosives there, Tamimi said, putting the death toll at eight, a figure confirmed by a doctor.
	The attack also wounded at least six people, officials said.
	The interior ministry said security forces killed five of the ...

15 dead in Iraq suicide bombings claimed by IS

Russia's defence ministry said today that a MiG-29K fighter crashed while attempting to land on the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean off Syria, but the pilot survived.
	In a statement to Russian news agencies, the defence ministry said the fighter jet crashed due to a "technical fault" a few kilometres from the carrier, but the pilot ejected and was recovered and taken aboard the ship.

Russian fighter crashes in Mediterranean, pilot safe

Switzerland will return to Egypt an ancient stela stolen from a temple dedicated to the goddess Isis, Geneva's public prosecutor said today.
	The stone slab bearing a relief design was stolen 30 years ago from the Iseion temple at the Behbeit El Hagar archeological site in Lower Egypt.
	"During an inventory control in the Geneva free economic zone at the end of 2014, the federal customs identified... A granite engraving of unknown origin and alerted Geneva police, who opened a criminal case," the public prosecutor said.
	Egyptologist Philippe Collombert from the University of Geneva examined the artefact and it was traced to the Isis temple near the towns of Sebennytos and Mansoura in the Nile delta, the statement said.
	Investigators compared photographs taken by French archeologist Christine Favard Meeks at the site in the 1970s to more recent ones which "established without any doubt that the granite engraving was stolen from" Behbeit El Hagar.
	The tablet will shortly be handed ...

Switzerland to return stolen ancient stela to Egypt

Israel's high court today rejected a government bid to delay the evacuation of a wildcat Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank beyond a December deadline, in a case that has drawn international concern.
	The Amona outpost is under a court order to be evacuated by December 25 since it was built on private Palestinian land, but right-wing politicians have called for the around 40 families living there to be allowed to remain.
	"The evacuation must occur before December 25," the court said in its ruling. "The court rejects the delay requested by the state."
	In what seemed to be a sharp criticism of the government, it further said that "the duty to obey rulings is not a matter of choice.
	"It is an essential component of the rule of law to which all are bound as part of the values of the state of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state."
	Whether the government moves ahead with the demolition of Amona has been seen as a test case of whether it will heed international calls to halt .

Israel court sticks to deadline for controversial settlement

At least 10 people were killed and several injured today when Nigerian police opened fire during clashes with pro-Iranian Shiites outside northern Kano, the latest round of violence involving the group, witnesses and police said.
	Violence broke out when police tried to disperse thousands of members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) marching from Kano in Kano state, to Zaria in Kaduna state -- where they have been banned -- for the Ashura religious festival.
	There have been several incidents of sectarian violence involving the IMN in the past year in Nigeria, with Sunni Muslim mobs attacking Shiite ceremonies just in recent weeks.
	"The police arrived and started firing teargas canisters on the procession of Shiites to disperse them," grocer Ilyasu Ammani told AFP.
	"I saw 15 bodies sprawled on the ground before the police evacuated them," he added of the violence in Kwanar Dawaki on the outskirts of Kano.
	Witness Kabiru Mudassir said he saw more than "10 bodies being taken ..

At least 10 Nigerian Shiites killed in clashes with police

A change of format could not bring a change in fortunes for Zimbabwe, as Sri Lanka thrashed them by eight wickets in the first match of a One-day International triangular series at Harare Sports Club today.
     Four days after Sri Lanka sealed a 2-0 Test series sweep, the tourists bowled Zimbabwe out for 154 before chasing their target inside 25 overs to claim a bonus-point victory.
     As with the Test matches, Zimbabwe suffered from the fragility of their top order, falling to 14 for three in the first five overs.
     However, this time around they could at least point to some challenging conditions - Harare experienced heavy rain over the weekend, and cloudy skies on Monday morning gave Sri Lanka's seamers plenty to work with.
     "In losing the toss we knew it was going to be tough, but there were too many soft wickets," said Zimbabwe captain Graeme Cremer. "This was not a 150 type of wicket."
     The collapse began in just the fourth over, when Suranga Lakmal had both Brian .

Sri Lanka hand Zimbabwe ODI thrashing

Germany's ruling coalition backed Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier as the country's next president Monday, paving the way for an outspoken critic of Donald Trump to become head of state.
	Party leaders have been wrangling for months over whom to nominate as a successor to President Joachim Gauck, a 76-year-old pastor from the ex-communist East Germany who is stepping down due to his advanced age.
	Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative bloc agreed on Germany's most popular politician, Steinmeier, whose name had been put forward by his Social Democratic Party (SPD).
	Merkel, who was unable to put forward a viable conservative candidate, called the choice of Steinmeier a "sensible decision" that would stand for "stability, particularly in these uncertain times", during a conference call with party leaders, participants said.
	SPD leader Sigmar Gabriel, who is also Germany's vice-chancellor and economy minister, told reporters Steinmeier was the right candidate "to uphold the ...

Trump critic Steinmeier tapped as next German president

Congolese Prime Minister Augustin Matata resigned today to make way for an opposition figure to take his place following a controversial deal that effectively extends the president's term in office.
	The decision to delay presidential polls until at least late 2017 was part of a deal agreed in October by the government and fringe opposition groups that has been boycotted as a sham by the mainstream opposition.
	The deal, which followed a "national dialogue", was aimed at calming soaring political tensions.
	"I have offered my resignation as well as those of the members of my government... To respond to the spirit and the letter of the accord," said Matata as he left a meeting with President Joseph Kabila.
	The opposition has accused Kabila, who has been in office since 2001, of manipulating the electoral system to stay in power after his second term ends on December 20.
	Kabila will address the situation Tuesday when he speaks to parliament to discuss "the state of the nation", ...

DR Congo prime minister resigns

Natural disasters drive at least 26 million people into poverty each year and cause more than USD 500 billion in lost consumption, far exceeding the value of damage to property alone, according to a World Bank report released today.
	Those numbers will be driven up in the coming decades as climate change amplifies the destructive power of cyclones, flooding and drought, said the report, released on the margins of high-level UN climate talks in Marrakesh.
	Up to now, global calculations of the damage wrought by Nature on communities have not adequately taken into account disparities in wealth, according to the 190-page report, entitled "Unbreakable: Building the resilience of the poor in the face of natural disasters".
	The new approach has huge implications for how and where to best spend money to make cities and rural areas more resilient to such shocks.
	"One dollar in losses does not mean the same thing to a rich person as a poor person," said lead author Stephane Hallegatte.
	"The 

Natural disasters push 26 mln into poverty annually:World Bank

Scoreboard of the first ODI between
Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka in the triangular series, here today:
     Zimbabwe:
	B Chari c Mendi b Lakmal               7
	C Chibhabha lbw b Pradeep             18
	C Ervine c Mendis b Lakmal             0
	Sikandar Raza c Pathirana b Kulasekara 1
	S Williams st Dickwella b Pathirana    9
	P Moor lbw b Kulasekara               47
	E Chigumbura c Dickwella b Pradeep     1
	G Cremer not out                      31
	D Tiripano c Kulasekara b Gunaratne   19
	C Mumba lbw b Gunaratne                1
	T Panyangara c Jayasuriya b Gunaratne 12
	Extras: (LB-2, W-6)                    8
	Total: (all out in 41.3 overs)       154
	Fall of wickets: 1-13, 2-13, 3-14, 4-29, 5-46, 6-50, 7-105, 8-136, 9-139, 10-154.
     Bowling: Kulasekara 8-2-23-2, Lakmal 7-0-19-2, Pathirana 10-0-44-1, Pradeep 7-1-21-2, Jayasuriya 3-0-24-0, Gunaratne 6.3-1-21-3.

Harare, Nov 14 (AFP) Scoreboard of the first ODI between

Zimbabwe's top-order continued to misfire as they were bowled out for 154 by Sri Lanka in the first ODI of a triangular series at Harare Sports Club, here today.
     The hosts suffered regular batting collapses during the recently-concluded Test series, which Sri Lanka won 2-0, and showed no improvement after the change in formats.
     However, Zimbabwe could at least point to tricky conditions in this instance.
	Heavy rains fell over the weekend, and when Zimbabwe lost the toss and were asked to bat on Monday morning, their openers emerged under cloudy skies that provided assistance for the seam bowlers.
	The collapse began in just the fourth over, when Suranga Lakmal had both Brian Chari and Craig Ervine caught at second slip in the space of three deliveries, and when Sikandar Raza Butt fell to Nuwan Kulasekara in the next over, the hosts were 14 for three.
	Sean Williams was then bamboozled by Sachith Pathirana's left-arm spin and was stumped by Niroshan Dickwella, before Nuwan ..

Misfiring Zimbabwe bowled out for 154

A polar bear dubbed the "world's saddest" by animal rights activists has been removed from a Chinese shopping mall where campaigners said it was suffering in unsuitable conditions.
	The Grandview Mall in the southern city of Guangzhou held a farewell party for Pizza the bear at the weekend, it said on social media.
	A spokesman for the mall, which set up an "Ocean World" attraction with 500 species to try to draw in shoppers, told AFP: "Pizza left the aquarium with escorts after the farewell party" yesterday.
	Chinese media reports said he was returning to the facility where he was born in captivity in the northern port of Tianjin.
	The mall claimed the move was a temporary one due to the facility being renovated, and that Pizza would return after the works were completed.
	But the US-based Humane Society International mounted a media-friendly campaign to highlight the bear's plight, coining the description the "world's saddest polar bear" and generating global headlines.
	It ...

New Chinese home for 'world's saddest polar bear'

Pro-Russian candidate Igor Dodon today emerged as winner of Moldova's presidential runoff, viewed as an East-West choice in the impoverished ex-Soviet country.
	With 99.9 per cent of ballots counted, Socialist Party chief Dodon had 52.3 per cent of the votes, according to the electoral commission, with pro-European rival Maia Sandu on 47.7 per cent.
	"We have won, everyone knows it," Dodon told a press conference overnight.
	The full results are expected to be announced later this week.
	Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow respected the results of the Moldovan vote and congratulated its winner.
	The vote marks the first time in 20 years that Moldova -- wracked by corruption scandals in recent years -- is electing its leader by national vote instead of having parliament select the head of state.
	Wedged between Ukraine and Romania, the tiny nation of 3.5 million people is caught in a political tug-of-war between Russia and the West.
	Dodon had come out top in the first round of 

Pro-Russian candidate wins Moldova presidency

At least 10 people were killed and several others injured today when police opened fire during clashes with members of a pro-Iranian Shiite group outside the northern Nigerian city of Kano, said witnesses and police.
	"I saw fifteen bodies sprawled on the ground before the police evacuated them," grocer Ilyasu Ammani told AFP.
	"Our men opened fire because they were becoming violent," said a police officer who asked to remain anonymous.

'At least 10 Nigerian Shiites killed in clashes with police'

The year 2016 will "very likely" be the hottest on record, the UN said today.
	Temperatures for the year were set to reach about 1.2 Celsius over pre-Industrial Revolution levels - meaning that 16 of the 17 hottest years on record were this century, said the UN's World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

2016 'very likely' hottest year on record: UN

2016 'very likely' hottest year on record: UN. (AFP)

A powerful 7.8-magnitude earthquake killed two people and caused "utter devastation" in New Zealand today, with wild weather hampering rescue efforts as darkness fell.
	The tremor, one of the most powerful ever recorded in the quake-prone South Pacific nation, hit just after midnight near the South Island seaside tourist town of Kaikoura.
	It triggered a tsunami alert that sent thousands of coastal residents fleeing for higher ground across much of the country.
	Kaikoura, a town of about 2,000 people popular with international backpackers, was completely isolated, with telecommunications down and huge landslides cutting all access roads.
	Civil Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee said rescuers had to travel in by helicopter to slowly build up a clear picture of the damage.
	"I think had there been serious injury or suspected further loss of life, then we would have heard about it by now," he told Radio New Zealand.
	He added: "It looks as though it's the infrastructure that's the biggest .

Two dead as huge New Zealand quake causes 'utter devastation'

South Korean prosecutors today questioned two former key presidential aides over allegations they helped a shadowy confidant of President Park Geun-Hye meddle in state affairs and secretly visit her office.
	Park has been engulfed by a scandal that centres on Choi Soon-Sil, who is accused of using her personal ties with the president to coerce local firms to donate millions of dollars to non-profit foundations Choi then used for personal gain.
	Choi, 60, is also accused of interfering in state affairs to the extent of nominating officials and editing Park's speeches even though she has no official title or security clearance.
	Ahn Bong-Geun and Lee Jae-Man, who served as Park's key advisors until last month, are accused of helping Choi to visit the presidential office.
	They also allegedly reported state affairs or leaked confidential documents to her.
	TV news footage showed the pair separately entering the Seoul prosecutors' office this morning as they were mobbed by reporters.
	The 

AFP

AFP

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