Dubai business magnate Mohamed Alabbar announced today the launch of a USD 1-billion regional e-commerce site in a joint venture with the Saudi sovereign wealth fund and other Gulf investors.
	Noon.Com is to go online in January with a 50-per cent investment from the kingdom's Public Investment Fund and the rest from around 60 investors led by Alabbar, who heads the emirate's real estate giant Emaar.
	He told a press conference that distribution centres are being set up in the Saudi cities of Riyadh and Jeddah, along with a giant warehouse the size of 60 football stadiums in Dubai.
	"We expect to become a world player but will concentrate firstly on Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates," said the president of Emaar, the company which built the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
	With an initial inventory of 20 million products, the online retailer aims to expand to Egypt, the Arab world's most populous state, at the end of next year or early in 2018.
	Alabbar, ..

Dubai, Saudi to launch USD 1-bn e-commerce site

PTI Automatic

Residents in coastal areas of New Zealand fled through the night today after a powerful 7.8 earthquake struck just after midnight, triggering a potentially destructive tsunami.
	The earthquake, centered north of Christchurch in the South Island, was felt throughout the country, causing widespread damage and reported casualties.
	As tsunami warning sirens were activated in South Island coastal towns and along the east coast of the North Island, police and emergency workers went door-to-door to evacuate seaside properties.
	A "destructive tsunami" with waves up to five metres was possible, the ministry of civil defence, responsible for emergency management in New Zealand, said in a bulletin.
	Some early waves were up to two-metres but civil defence warned they could intensify and described the tsunami as "an event of life-threatening or national significance".
	Civil Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee told a media briefing he had received reports of casualties near the South Island coastal 

New Zealand evacuates coastal areas as tsunamis hit

Trump vows to immediately deport up to three million

France today marked the first anniversary of the Paris attacks with sombre ceremonies and painful memories for the relatives of the 130 people killed.
	President Francois Hollande unveiled plaques at sites across the city that were attacked by the Islamic State jihadist group, starting at the Stade de France.
	Manuel Dias, 63, was killed by a suicide bomber outside the national stadium where France were playing Germany in a football match in the first of a series of coordinated attacks on the evening of November 13, 2015.
	Hollande and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo also unveiled plaques outside bars and restaurants in the trendy neighbourhood where gunmen sprayed bullets at people enjoying a Friday evening out.
	The final ceremony took place outside the Bataclan, the concert hall where 90 people were killed by three attackers during a rock gig in the culmination of the carnage.
	The names of those killed at the concert were read out as hundreds of people gathered under rainy skies watched .

France marks one year since Paris attacks

Action movie star Jackie Chan accepted an honorary Oscar as Hollywood A-listers sounded a cautionary note over President-elect Donald Trump's victory in the polls.
	Left-leaning Tinseltown overwhelmingly backed Democrat Hillary Clinton in the race for the White House, and stars at the Academy's glitzy Governors Awards yesterday told AFP of their dismay at her defeat.
	Asked to compare the night's honoree with Trump, double Oscar-winner Tom Hanks told AFP: "Jackie Chan has the wisdom of the East and the discipline of a master martial artist."
	After a lengthy pause, he added: "Our president-elect has a big responsibility and much to prove."
	For "Big Bang Theory" star Simon Helberg, who plays engineer Howard Wollowitz on the hit comedy series, Trump's victory in Tuesday's election was "a terrible moment for the world".
	The 35-year-old, who starred alongside Hugh Grant and Meryl Streep in "Florence Foster Jenkins", said change was needed but hoped a Trump presidency wouldn't "damage ...

Hollywood worries about Trump as stars honor Jackie Chan

Survivors of a massive bomb attack on a shrine in southwest Pakistan that killed dozens spoke of their horror today after families were ripped apart in a strike showing the expanding reach of the Islamic State group.
	The blast, later confirmed to be the work of a teenage suicide bomber, hit male and female worshippers as they were dancing and chanting at the shrine of the Sufi saint Shah Noorani yesterday, some 750 kilometres south of Quetta, the provincial capital of restive Balochistan province.
	Mohammad Shehzad, a 25-year-old who had travelled in a group of 120 pilgrims, told AFP: "The pressure of the blast was so strong, people were blown away. Everyone was running, shouting and searching for families.
	"Children were looking for the mothers and fathers. People looking for brothers and sisters but no one was able to listen to their cries."
	The attack killed 52 and wounded more than 105 and was the fourth deadliest in Pakistan this year. Stricken survivors swathed themselves in .

Families ripped apart in Pakistan shrine attack

EU foreign ministers were to hold special talks today on Donald Trump's stunning US election win as NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg warned bluntly of the dangers of American isolationism.
	But the talks were to take place without the foreign ministers of Britain and France, apparently reflecting their concerns about over-dramatising European fears.
	The informal dinner has been called by European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini on the eve of a scheduled monthly meeting of foreign ministers.
	An aide to Mogherini said the talks would simply be about "exchanging views on how to move forward" in EU-US relations.
	"Whenever elections take place in a partner of such strategic importance as the United States, we obviously reflect on future cooperation," a senior EU official said.
	Mogherini is to meet the press afterwards, at around 8.00 PM GMT.
	The meeting takes place amid a surge of anxiety sparked by Trump's campaign-trail rhetoric, which questioned the seven-decade-old ..

EU to discuss Trump win but UK, French ministers to miss meet

Spanish archaeologists have discovered a millennia-old mummy in "very good condition" near the southern Egyptian town of Luxor, the antiquities ministry said today.
	The find was in a tomb probably dating from between 1075-664 BC, on the west bank of the Nile river 700 kilometres south of Cairo, a statement said.
	The mummy had been bound with linen stuck together with plaster.
	It was in a brightly coloured wooden sarcophagus and had been buried near a temple from the era of fourth-millennium warrior king Thutmose III.
	The tomb was likely to have belonged to a nobleman, Amenrenef, who was "a servant of the royal household", the ministry said.
	The archaeological team's head, Myriam Seco Alvarez, said the mummy was decorated with "many colourful decorations recalling religious symbols from ancient Egypt, such as the goddesses Isis and Nephtys displaying their wings, and the four sons of Horus".
	The earliest evidence of mummification in Egypt suggests that the practice of wrapping ...

Millennia-old mummy found in Egypt tomb

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today he backed a bill limiting the volume of calls to prayer from mosques, a proposal government watchdogs have called a threat to religious freedom.
	Netanyahu, who spoke as a ministerial committee was to discuss the draft bill later in the day, said he would support such a move that some have labelled unnecessarily divisive.
	Israeli media reported that the bill would stop the use of public address systems for calls to prayer.
	"I cannot count the times -- they are simply too numerous -- that citizens have turned to me from all parts of Israeli society, from all religions, with complaints about the noise and suffering caused them by the excessive noise coming to them from the public address systems of houses of prayer," Netanyahu said at the start of a cabinet meeting.
	While the draft bill applies to all houses of worship, it is seen as specifically targeting mosques.
	Israel's population is roughly 17.5 per cent Arab, most of them ...

Israel PM backs bill to limit noise from mosques

Iraqi forces said today they had recaptured the Nimrud area, the site of an ancient Assyrian city blown up by the Islamic State group, as they battled the jihadists south of Mosul.
	The troops pushed towards Nimrud last week as they pressed an offensive launched on October 17 to recapture Iraq's second city, which the jihadists seized along with swathes of Iraq and Syria in mid-2014.
	A Kurdish-Arab alliance is pursuing a twin offensive against the other major city still under IS control, Raqa in Syria, and a US-led coalition is backing both assaults with air strikes.
	Today Iraq's Joint Operations Command (JOC) said troops had retaken the Nimrud area and another village southeast of the famed archeological site.
	"Units of the 9th Armoured Division completely liberate the Nimrud (area) and raise the Iraqi flag over the buildings," the JOC said in a statement.
	It did not specifically mention the Nimrud archaeological site, located a little more than a kilometre (less than a mile) ...

Iraqi forces say recapture Nimrud, site of ancient city

Former Test batsman Alviro Petersen rejected Sunday a Cricket South Africa (CSA) charge that he fixed matches in the national Twenty20 franchise championship last season.
	   The 35-year-old captain of the Johannesburg-based Highveld Lions was charged Saturday with multiple breaches of the CSA anti-corruption code and provisionally barred from any involvement with the sport.
	   "Alviro has never fixed a match, agreed to fix a match or contrived to fix a match," his lawyer said in a statement.
	   "He has never sought, accepted, agreed to accept or received any bribe or other reward to fix or contrive to fix a match.
	   "To ensure for betting or other corrupt purposes the occurrence of a particular incident in a match or, for that matter, for any other unethical purpose."
	   The lawyer said Petersen "played along" with those involved in the scandal and was in constant contact with the investigators, leading to five other cricketers being barred, including "ringleader" Gulam Bodi.
	  

I am not a match-fixer, insists Petersen

A powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked New Zealand early today, the US Geological Survey said, prompting a tsunami warning and knocking out power and phone services in many parts of the country.
	The shallow tremor hit some 90 kilometres north of the South Island city of Christchurch which was devastated five years ago by a 6.3 tremor which killed 185 people in one of New Zealand's deadliest disasters.
	Today's quake, initially put at 7.4 but later upgraded, struck at 12:02am. It was only 10 kilometres deep and felt throughout most of the country.
	The main tremor was followed by a series of strong aftershocks and there were reports of damaged buildings in the small rural township of Cheviot near the epicentre.
	"It was massive and really long," Tamsin Edensor, a mother of two in Christchurch, told AFP, describing the powerful quake as the biggest since the deadly 2011 tremor.
	"We were asleep and woken to the house shaking, it kept going and going and felt like it was going to ...

Tsunami warning follows powerful 7.8 magnitude quake in NZ

Toyota has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit and pay approximately USD 3.4 billion to owners of trucks and SUVs in the United States who complained that their vehicles lacked proper rust protection.
	The agreement relates to some 1.5 million Toyota Tacomas, Sequoias and Tundras sold in the United States by the Japanese manufacturer between 2005 and 2010.
	Plaintiffs allege that the frames in the sports utility vehicles did not undergo proper rust prevention during manufacturing, causing them to corrode prematurely.
	Under the agreement, which was filed on Wednesday and is still subject to court approval, Toyota admitted no wrongdoing.
	However it has offered to inspect the affected vehicles and replace their frames free of charge. It will also reimburse owners who have already made the replacement at their own expense.
	Another motion filed by the manufacturer stated that Toyota disputes the accusations but found the agreement a reasonable and fair way to end the controversy.

Toyota agrees to USD 3.4 bn rust dispute settlement

Donald Trump's US election victory heralds the "building of a new world", France's far-right leader Marine Le Pen said today in a television interview that sparked immediate criticism in Britain.
	Le Pen described the Republican's win as a "victory of the people against the elite" and said she hoped a similar outcome could be achieved in French presidential elections in May.
	"Clearly, Donald Trump's victory is an additional stone in the building of a new world, destined to replace the old one," she told the BBC's flagship Sunday politics programme, the Andrew Marr Show.
	Trump "made possible what had previously been presented as impossible," she said, predicting that the "global revolution" that resulted in his election, as well as in the vote for Brexit, will also see her elected as president.
	Hailing the rise of "patriotic movements" in Europe, Le Pen drew parallels between the US vote, Britain's June 23 decision to leave the European Union, and France's rejection of the European .

France's Le Pen hails 'new world' after Trump win

Thousands of people attended a pro-Beijing rally in Hong Kong today in support of China's decision to effectively bar two pro-independence legislators from taking office, as fears grow of the city's freedoms being under threat.
	Beijing's ruling last week preempted a decision by the Hong Kong courts over whether lawmakers Baggio Leung and Yau Wai-ching should be disqualified from parliament after deliberately misreading their oaths of office, inserting expletives and draping themselves with "Hong Kong is not China" flags.
	Beijing's interpretation of the city's constitution issued on Monday said that any oath taker who does not follow the prescribed wording of the oath, "or takes the oath in a manner which is not sincere or not solemn", should be disqualified.
	Today rowdy crowds, waving Chinese flags, surrounded the government's headquarters in a show of support for Beijing's unprecedented decision, slammed by pro-democracy activists and legal experts as a massive blow to Hong Kong's 

Thousands attend pro-Beijing rally in Hong Kong

New Zealand issued a tsunami warning for southern coastal areas today, following a powerful 7.4 earthquake near the South Island city of Christchurch around midnight.
	"A tsunami is possible," the national civil defence organisation, which is in charge of New Zealand's emergency management, said in a bulletin.
	"The first wave activity may not be the most significant," it said, adding tsumanmi activity would continue for several hours.

New Zealand issues tsunami warning after powerful quake

The Iraqi military said today that soldiers south of Mosul have recaptured the Nimrud area, home to the site of an ancient Assyrian city that was blown up by the Islamic State group.
	"Units of the 9th Armoured Division completely liberate the Nimrud (area) and raise the Iraqi flag over the buildings," Iraq's Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a statement quoting a top military officer.
	The JOC did not specifically mention the Nimrud archaeological site, which is located a little over a kilometre west of the village that bears its name.
	Iraqi forces seeking to drive IS from second city Mosul also retook another village southeast of the site of Nimrud, which was founded in the 13th century and was one of the great centres of the ancient Middle East.
	The city became the capital of the Assyrian empire, whose rulers built vast palaces and monuments that have drawn archaeologists from around the world for more than 150 years.
	In April last year, IS posted video on the internet of ..

Iraq military says recaptures Nimrud, home to ancient site

Iraq military says recaptures Nimrud, home to ancient city.

Traditional teahouses and fashion boutiques have sprung up in Bayi, one of the liveliest districts of Lhasa, and are owned and patronised by both Tibetans and Han Chinese. But some say increasing prosperity is just Beijing buying peace.
	Tibet was China's fastest-growing region last year with expansion of 11.0 per cent -- albeit from a low base -- boosted by government subsidies and investment.
	"I don't care about politics," said Gesan, a Tibetan tucking into a bowl of chilli fries in a Bayi tavern.
	The 22-year-old spent two years in the Chinese army and now works for an insurance company. "My life's not so bad," he added, playing with his smartphone.
	Chinese forces arrived on the "roof of the world" nearly seven decades ago, followed by waves of immigrants from China's Han majority.
	More recently there have been financial inflows in the form of huge funding for roads, railways and hydropower.
	"These investments are positive," another young Lhasa resident told AFP on condition of 

Buying peace? Chinese money brings Tibet growth, apathy

South Korean prosecutors investigating a corruption scandal engulfing President Park-Geun Hye have quizzed Samsung group scion and the chairman of Hyundai Motor, a report said today.
	Lee Jae-Yong, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics and the heir-apparent of the Samsung group, was being questioned by prosecutors, Yonhap news agency said.
	It cited an official at the Seoul prosecutors' office, which is probing whether Park pressured the firms to donate millions of dollars to dubious foundations controlled by her longtime confidant, Choi Soon-Sil.
	Samsung made the largest donation of more than USD 15 million and is accused of separately offering 2.8 million euros (USD 3.1 million) to Choi to bankroll her daughter's equestrian training in Germany.
	Hyundai Motor chairman Chung Mong-Koo was also quizzed along with the bosses of other powerful conglomerates, Yonhap said.
	The president reportedly had a meeting last July with the top businessmen at her office and urged them to donate ...

Samsung, Hyundai bosses quizzed in S Korea scandal probe

South Korean prosecutors plan to question President Park Geun-Hye this week over a corruption scandal that has engulfed her and triggered massive protests calling for her resignation, a report said today.
	"We need to question the president Tuesday, or Wednesday at the latest," Yonhap news agency quoted an official with the Seoul prosecutors' office as saying, adding they had sent a notice to her office and were waiting for a response.
	If Park agrees, she will be the first South Korean president to be questioned by prosecutors while in office.
	The scandal centres on Park's shadowy confidant, Choi Soon-Sil, who is accused of using her ties with the president to strong-arm local firms into donating millions of dollars to two non-profit foundations Choi then used for personal gain.
	Park faces allegations that she helped Choi raise funds for the dubious foundations and allowed her to meddle in state affairs even though the 60-year-old has no official title.
	The scandal that emerged ...

AFP

AFP

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