Ex-French economy minister Emmanuel Macron, a 38-year-old former banker who has vowed to transform the country's politics, has decided to stand in next year's presidential election, aides said today.
	   Macron "will declare his candidacy before December 10", a member of his team said, putting an end to months of speculation over his intentions since he quit the Socialist government in August.
	   "All the conditions are in place," the aide said, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity.
	   Macron, a business-friendly former protege of Socialist President Francois Hollande, will aim to exploit the deep divisions in the French left to make a run for the presidency.
	   Hollande, who has some of the lowest popularity ratings of any post-war president, is expected to decide by the end of the year if he will make a bid for re-election.
	   Macron founded his own political movement, En Marche ("On the Move"), in April saying he wanted to promote "new ideas... Neither of the right nor the 

Ex-economy minister Macron to run for French president: aides

PTI Automatic

French investigators have identified a Syria-based extremist of dual Belgian and Moroccan nationality who is thought to have plotted the attacks in Paris and Brussels, sources close to the case said today.
	Oussama Atar, a 32-year-old believed to be a member of the Islamic State group, was already a suspect in the March 22 attacks on Brussels but has now been linked to the November 13 atrocities in Paris last year.
	"He's the only coordinator from Syria to have been identified during the investigations," one of the sources told AFP.
	French investigators have long suspected that the Paris attacks, in which teams of jihadists killed 130 people, were coordinated by one or several people from Syria, but have never named anyone before.
	Atar, believed to go by the pseudonym Abou Ahmad, is a cousin of the El Bakraoui brothers who blew themselves up in the Brussels airport and metro attacks.
	Another two cousins, Moustapha and Jawad Benhattal, were arrested on June 18 on suspicion of ...

French investigators name plotter of Paris, Brussels attacks

Iraqi Kurdish forces have seized the town of Bashiqa near Mosul from the Islamic State group, an official said today, as US-backed militia forces advanced on the jihadists' Syrian stronghold Raqa.
	Capturing Bashiqa would be one of the final steps in securing the eastern approaches to Mosul, three weeks into an offensive by Iraqi forces to retake the country's second city.
	The town was under the "complete control" of Kurdish peshmerga forces, Jabbar Yawar, the secretary general of the Kurdish regional ministry responsible for the fighters, told AFP.
	"Our forces are clearing mines and sweeping the city," Yawar said.
	An AFP correspondent on the outskirts of Bashiqa said clashes were ongoing, with three air strikes hitting the town and gunfire and an explosion heard from inside.
	Peshmerga officials said there were still some suicide bombers and snipers inside.
	"We are conducting clearing operations from house to house. The Daesh fighters are travelling inside tunnels," said Colonel .

Iraqi Kurds seize IS-held town near Mosul

Hungary's radical right party Jobbik dealt all-powerful Prime Minister Viktor Orban a rare defeat today as it blocked his bid to change the constitution to bar the resettlement of refugees.
	While all 131 MPs of Orban's ruling right-wing coalition voted in favour, the landmark bill failed to pick up an extra two votes to reach a required two-thirds majority in the 199-seat parliament.
	The rejection is an unexpected setback for the populist strongman who has already amended the constitution six times since winning a supermajority in 2010 and reelection in 2014.
	It follows a divisive referendum last month, in which 3.3 million voters backed Orban's rejection of the European Union's plan to relocate migrants via mandatory quotas.
	The ballot, however, was deemed invalid due to low turnout in the nation of nearly 10 million people.
	Observers warned that today's defeat risked seriously wounding Orban's political ambitions.
	"After the referendum, this is the second time that the ...

Hungary's Orban suffers rare defeat in refugee vote

Five soldiers were killed and four were missing following an attack in southwest Niger close to the border with Mali today, a security source told AFP.
	"This terrorist attack against the area of Banibangou killed five soldiers, injured three and four others were reported missing," said the source, who requested anonymity.
	Niger's long, porous borders make it vulnerable to the armed violence plaguing its neighbours.
	A Niger official also confirmed the attack which happened around 4:00 am (local time).
	Twenty-two of Niger's soldiers were killed last month when armed men who had travelled from Mali launched an attack on a refugee camp in the western Niger town of Tazalit.
	Northern Mali fell under the control of Al-Qaeda-linked jihadist groups in 2012. A French-led military intervention pushed them out, but swathes of the country remain out of government control and awash with armed groups.
	Niger also faces constant raids in the south by Nigeria-based jihadist group Boko Haram.
	A ..

Five soldiers killed in Niger attack

A museum dedicated to Yasser Arafat, including the room where the Palestinian leader spent much of his final years under Israeli siege, will open tomorrow ahead of the anniversary of his death.
	Current Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas will formally open the Yasser Arafat Museum next to the gravesite of the fighter-turned-statesman in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.
	The museum, which cost USD 7 million, is the first of its kind dedicated to the longtime leader, according to the Yasser Arafat Foundation.
	The opening comes two days before Palestinians commemorate the 12th anniversary of his death in a hospital near Paris on November 11, 2004 from unknown causes.
	On display over two floors are a range of Arafat's possessions, including the famous sunglasses he wore when addressing the United Nations in 1974.
	The interactive museum also features videos and photographs of key moments in Palestinian history, some from Arafat's private collection.
	The Nobel Peace Prize, which ...

Palestinians to open museum to longtime leader Arafat

An Israeli journalist made waves today after taking up six minutes of television airtime to read a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attacking her after an investigative report.
	Ilana Dayan of Israel's privately owned Channel 2 television broadcast an investigation last night into the management of Netanyahu's office.
	As part of the report, 32 questions were sent to Netanyahu's office seeking a response to allegations.
	The report included claims that a candidate to become head of spy agency Mossad was not given the job after refusing to guarantee his personal loyalty to Netanyahu, instead saying he was loyal to the country.
	It also aired various accusations related to Netanyahu's wife Sara, including that she approved senior appointments.
	Dayan, a well-known and respected journalist in Israel, spent some six minutes reading Netanyahu's full response after her report aired.
	"It will be interesting to see if Ilana Dayan, who presents herself as a paragon of free ...

Israeli journalist reads Netanyahu's scathing attack on air

Four of the 10 countries hammered hardest in 2015 by climate-boosted extreme weather are in Africa, according to a report released today at UN climate talks in Marrakesh.
	"Africa is especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change," said Sonke Kreft, lead author of the Global Climate Risk Index 2017 report, issued annually by risk analysts Germanwatch.
	Poor countries in general are more exposed to the ravages of superstorms, drought, heatwaves and flooding, all of which have become more intense and frequent due to human-induced global warming.
	"The distribution of climatic events is not fair," Kreft said, noting that the world's least developed countries have emitted only a small fraction of the greenhouse gases heating up the planet.
	Mozambique tops the list of nations most affected on the 2015 climate risk index, followed by Dominica, Malawi and India. Myanmar, Ghana and Madagascar are also among the top 10.
	The index measures level of exposure and vulnerability to ...

Africa hit worst by extreme weather in 2015

Iran signed a deal with France's Total today to develop a major offshore gas field, its first big contract with a Western energy firm since sanctions were loosened in January.
	Total will lead a consortium also including China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and Iran's Petropars to develop Phase 11 of the South Pars field under a 20-year contract worth USD 4.8 billion (4.3 billion euros).
	The project will eventually supply 50.9 million cubic metres (1.8 billion cubic feet) of gas per day into Iran's national grid, and marks a breakthrough in the oil ministry's efforts to attract Western investment and know-how to improve its outdated energy infrastructure.
	The companies involved signed a memorandum of understanding in Tehran today, and the final agreement will be signed early next year, Total's head of Middle East exploration and production, Stephane Michel, said.
	It is the first deal of its kind since most international sanctions on Iran were lifted in January under a ...

Iran signs major gas deal with France's Total

German police today arrested five men suspected of links to the Islamic State organisation, who allegedly sought to recruit fighters for the jihadist group.
	"The five accused formed a pan-regional Salafist-jihadist network, with the accused Ahmad Abdulaziz Abdullah A. Taking on the leading role," said a statement from the prosecutors' office, referring to the 32-year-old Iraqi.
	"The aim of the network led by him is to send people to IS in Syria," it added.
	Turkish national Hasan C and German-Serb Boban S were allegedly tasked with teaching the recruits Arabic as well as indoctrinating them with Islamist content.
	While the group's leader had the authority to approve and organise any departures to Syria, he allegedly left the actual implementation of the plans to the two other men detained today, German national Mahmoud O and Cameroonian Ahmed F Y.
	At least one young man and his family has been sent by the network to join IS in Syria, prosecutors added.
	The five men were arrested .

German police detain five 'recruiters for IS group'

Ex-Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos can be given a hero's burial, the Supreme Court decided today in a hugely controversial ruling which critics said would whitewash his crimes and divide the nation.
	The justices overwhelmingly endorsed President Rodrigo Duterte's decision to allow the burial at the "Cemetery of Heroes" in Manila, three decades after a famous "People Power" revolt forced Marcos into US exile and restored democracy.
	"There is no law that prohibits the burial," court spokesman Theodore Te said as he read a summary of the judgement.
	Hundreds of Marcos supporters outside the Supreme Court cheered. But opponents who had petitioned the court to reject the plan staged a rally nearby and voiced deep anger.
	"It's really sad because the decision makes liars out of human rights victims," Neri Colmenares, who as a student leader was tortured by Marcos' security forces during martial law, told AFP outside the court.
	"If the torturer is a hero, what does that make of the ..

Philippine dictator Marcos allowed hero's burial: SC

Captain Rangana Herath picked up his third and fourth wickets as Sri Lanka chipped away at the Zimbabwean batting lineup on the third morning of the second Test at Harare Sports Club today.
     After Suranga Lakmal had grabbed the wicket of overnight batsman Craig Ervine in the eighth over of the day, Herath bowled opener Brian Chari for a career-best 80 and then had Malcolm Waller caught at cover for 18 on the stroke of lunch.
	Those dismissals left Zimbabwe struggling on 210 for five in reply to Sri Lanka's 504 all out, with Sean Williams doing his best to resist the tourists on 40 not out.
	Herath had picked up both of the wickets to fall on the second evening, dismissing Tino Mawoyo and Hamilton Masakadza as Zimbabwe slumped to 17 for two.
	However Chari and Ervine took Zimbabwe to stumps on a sturdy 126 for two, and made a patient start to the third morning before Lakmal got one to move off the seam and catch the edge of Ervine's bat, removing the left-hander for 64.
	Chari ...

Zimbabwe struggle at 210-5

Scoreboard at lunch on the third day
of the second Test between Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka today:
     Sri Lanka first innings 504 all out (D. De Silva 127, A. Gunaratne 116, Tiripano 3-91, Cremer 3-136)
     Zimbabwe first innings
	T. Mawoyo lbw b Herath                     3
	B. Chari b Herath                         80
	H. Masakadza c de Silva b Herath           0
	C. Ervine c Karunaratne b Lakmal          64
	S. Williams not out                       40
	M. Waller c Silva b Herath                18
	Extras: (2-b, 3-lb)                        5
     Total: (5 wkts, 63.2 overs)               210
     Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-17, 3-134, 4-173, 5-210
     Bowling: Lakmal 18-4-47-1, Herath 20.2-3-69-4, Kumara 8-0-36-0, D. Perera 14-1-44-0, Gunaratne 2-0-5-0, De Silva 1-0-4-0.

Harare, Nov 8 (AFP) Scoreboard at lunch on the third day

The giant sinkhole that swallowed parts of a busy street in Fukuoka

The hole continued to expand and by mid morning was around two storeys deep, and filling with water from broken pipes.

Giant sinkhole swallows Japan city street

Press Trust of India

Hyperloop One signed an agreement with Dubai today to "evaluate" the building of the world's first near-supersonic hyperloop transport system in the Gulf emirate.
	"We are here today to sign a historic agreement with our partners from (the Dubai) Road and Transport Authority... And we begin to evaluate the delivery of the world's first hyperloop system across the country," the company's CEO, Rob Lloyd, said.
	"We will initially focus on the value that Hyperloop One will deliver in Dubai and across the (United Arab) Emirates," he told reporters.
	Lloyd did not provide further details or figures.
	Hyperloop is a futuristic passenger and freight transportation system that its promoters say offers the promise of near supersonic speeds.
	Earlier this year, Hyperloop One held a first public test in the desert outside Las Vegas, trying out engine components designed to rocket pods through reduced-pressure tubes at speeds of 1,125 kilometres per hour or more.
	Last month, ports colossus DP ...

Dubai signs deal to evaluate world's first hyperloop

Top musicians from Bruce Springsteen to Beyonce to Madonna rallied behind Hillary Clinton as the US prepared to elect a new president today, adding A-list star power to a massive get-out-the-vote operation.
	Springsteen, one of the biggest concert attractions in the rock universe, warmed up an election eve rally last night in Philadelphia, where he hailed Clinton for her "vision of an America where everyone counts."
	"Let's all do our part so we can look back on 2016 and say we stood with Hillary Clinton on the right side of history," Springsteen told the roughly 40,000 people assembled near Independence Hall.
	Springsteen, who has long championed the US working class in song but avoided overt politics until 2004, charged that Republican candidate Donald Trump would "prioritise his own interests and ego before American democracy itself."
	The rally was the largest ever in Clinton's bid to be America's first woman president.
	Springsteen was joined by fellow rocker Jon Bon Jovi as well 

Bruce and Beyonce lead stars in last Clinton push

Pop diva Lady Gaga closed out Hillary Clinton's star-studded campaign with a call for reconciliation with Donald Trump's supporters after one of the most divisive presidential election campaigns in memory.
	Speaking to a youthful crowd at a midnight rally just hours before the first polls open today, the 30-year-old singer hailed Clinton as an advocate for the disadvantaged.
	"No matter how absurd and mean he (Trump) became, she smiled bravely and she continued on," Gaga told a packed arena in the battleground state of North Carolina, hailing Clinton as "made of steel."
	But the pop star urged respect for backers of Trump, who has described undocumented Mexican immigrants as "rapists," boasted of forcing himself on women and warned he may not accept an election loss.
	"I know that it is important for this message, too, to be spread -- that we do not need to hate his followers," she said to applause.
	"If we are true, true Americans, then we must go from viewing his followers as our ...

Lady Gaga closes Clinton campaign with call to civility

Young girl killed, 31 peacekeepers hurt in DR Congo

British banker Rurik Jutting apologised to the families of his victims today after he was found guilty on two counts of murder over the killings of two Indonesian women in his upscale Hong Kong apartment.
	Cambridge graduate Jutting, 31, had pleaded not guilty to murdering Sumarti Ningsih and Seneng Mujiasih on the grounds of diminished responsibility, but a jury at Hong Kong's High Court returned unanimous guilty verdicts after a 10-day trial.
	The former Bank of America Merrill Lynch securities trader held Ningsih captive for three days, torturing her before slashing her throat, the court had heard.
	In a letter read out to the court by defence counsel Tim Owen after the verdicts, Jutting said: "My actions regarding the deaths of Ningsih and Mujiasih, my actions preceding their deaths, were horrific even by the standard of homicide trials."
	Jutting said he was "haunted" by what he had done and was "aware of the acute pain I've caused to their loved ones".
	"The evil that I've ...

British banker Jutting says 'sorry' after guilty verdict

South Korean President Park Geun-Hye today agreed to dump her nominee for prime minister and cede control of some state affairs in a major climbdown forced by a corruption scandal battering her administration.
	The same scandal saw prosecutors carry out a morning swoop on the offices of South Korea's largest conglomerate Samsung Electronics, looking for incriminating documents.
	In a significant political concession, Park told the speaker of the National Assembly she would accept a prime minister chosen by the opposition-controlled legislature "and let him control the cabinet".
	The premiership is normally a largely symbolic post in South Korea, where power is firmly concentrated on the executive.
	It was a double surrender by Park, effectively jettisoning her own choice for prime minister and relinquishing some of her extensive powers to whoever parliament puts forward.
	Her climbdown underlined just how weakened she has been by the scandal involving a close personal friend, Choi ...

Weakened S Korean president takes another hit

A hoax caller pretending to be air traffic control tapped into restricted radio frequencies and forced an Australian commercial flight to pull up just before landing, a report said, with police investigating 15 such unauthorised transmissions.
	Virgin Australia Flight 740 from Gold Coast to Melbourne on October 27 received instructions from the prankster as it approached the runway at Melbourne's main airport at Tullamarine, with flight data showing it then climbed to 3,800 feet and circled over the state capital, The Age newspaper reported.
	The unknown caller later that day called air traffic control and pretended to be a light aircraft pilot with engine trouble, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.
	Federal police were now investigating 15 incidents of unauthorised radio transmissions with aircraft at Melbourne and Avalon Airports, they said in a joint statement with Airservices Australia and communications body ACMA Monday.
	"As a result of the unlawful interference ..

AFP

AFP

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