Amnesty International today said Russian authorities had shut them out of their office in Moscow, with city authorities citing rent arrears.
	The global human rights campaign group said that the locks had been changed and the alarm system switched off in the premises, which is its only office in Russia.
	Amnesty International regularly criticises Russian authorities for overly harsh treatment of prisoners and urges the release of those jailed in cases it views as politically motivated.
	"Staff found the office was sealed around 10 am (0700 GMT). The organisation had not received any warning and the premises was sealed in their absence," the rights group wrote on its website.
	Amnesty regularly criticises Russian authorities for overly harsh treatment of prisoners and urges the release of those jailed in cases it views as politically motivated.
	Most recently yesterday it called on the authorities to "end the pattern of impunity for torture and other ill treatment" after Russian ...

Staff shut out of Moscow Amnesty office

PTI Automatic

Scoreboard at the end of the first
Test between Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka in Harare today:
     Sri Lanka first innings 537 all out (K. Perera 110, U. Tharanga 110, K. Silva 94, G. Cremer 4-142)
     Zimbabwe first innings 373 all out (G. Cremer 102 not out, P. Moor 79, S. Lakmal 3-69, R. Herath 3-97)
     Sri Lanka second innings
     D Karunaratne c & b Mpofu 110
     K Silva b Mumba 7
     K Perera c Masakadza b Waller 17
     K Mendis c Cremer b Mumba 19
     U Tharanga c Moor b Mumba 1
     D de Silva c Waller b Mumba 64
     A Gunaratne not out 16
     D Perera not out 1
     Extras (6b, 5lb, 1nb) 12
     Total (6 wkts dec, 61.5 overs) 247
     Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-72, 3-111, 4-117, 5-211, 6-241
     Bowling: Mpofu 16-2-42-1, Cremer 14-0-67-0, Mumba 111.5-2-50-4, Tiripano 8-0-33-0, Waller 5-0-17-1, Williams 1-0-5-0, Masakadza 6-1-22-0.
     Zimbabwe second innings
     T Mawoyo lbw b D Perera 37
     B Chari b Kumara 10
     H Masakadza lbw b Lakmal 20
     C Ervine lbw b D ...

Harare, Nov 2 (AFP) Scoreboard at the end of the first

Finnish telecoms giant Nokia today said it had finalised its acquisition of former French-American rival Alcatel-Lucent.
	Nokia, the world's number one mobile phone maker for more than a decade until 2012, had struck a deal to buy the other firm in April 2015 but has struggled to buy up the remaining shares to gain full control of the company.
	By January it held a controlling interest of around 76 percent, but a public exchange offer to buy the rest dragged on as small shareholders held out for a better price.
	"The closing of the deal today, marked by the purchase of all outstanding Alcatel-Lucent shares, means Nokia will now start eliminating the complexity and costs of running two separate public companies," Nokia said in a statement.
	Nokia has been going through a process of radical transformation over the last few years.
	In 2013 it bought 50 percent of its network activities from Germany's Siemens, and the following year it divested from its previously world-leading mobile ...

Nokia completes Alcatel-Lucent acquisition

South Africa's anti-corruption watchdog today released its report into accusations against President Jacob Zuma and called for prosecutors to investigate alleged criminal activity.
	Zuma, whose presidency has been engulfed by multiple scandals, had fought to block the release of the Public Protector's report, until his lawyers made a surprise U-turn and dropped their legal appeal earlier in the day.
	The report was released hours later, further undermining Zuma after a series of court rulings that have tarnished his time in office and fuelled calls for him to stand down.
	The investigation probed accusations that Zuma allowed the Guptas, a wealthy Indian business family, to have undue influence over government, including letting them choose some cabinet ministers.
	Among findings in the 355-page report was evidence that David van Rooyen visited the Johannesburg neighbourhood where the Guptas live on the day before he was appointed finance minister.
	Van Rooyen, a little-known Zuma ...

S.Africa Zuma probe: 'appears crimes have been committed'

Pakistani business leaders today complained of losing millions of dollars to the government's novel way of containing protesters: by confiscating thousands of shipping containers, many still full of goods, to block roads.
	Transport operators complained that up to 4,000 containers had been diverted from their usual route between the southern port city of Karachi and Islamabad to block the capital's roads this week, as opposition leader Imran Khan threatened a million-strong demonstration to lock down the government.
	By yesterday Khan had called the protest off, but the containers -- many carrying medicines, perishable goods and other costly cargo -- had not yet been returned.
	"A great injustice is being done to us as authorities have seized more than 4,000 containers carrying goods," Chaudhry Saeed Iqbal, vice chairman of the Karachi-based Pakistan Transport Federation, told AFP.
	Zafar Bakhtawri, vice president of the Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industries, estimated the ...

Pak shippers fume as containers hijacked to block protests

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba's sales soared 55 percent in the last quarter, thanks in part to a more than doubling of revenue from cloud computing, the company said today.
	The year-on-year growth in group sales, to 34.29 billion yuan (USD 5.14 billion), was not matched by net profit, which slid 66 percent to 7.62 billion yuan (USD 1.14 billion).
	The drop was mostly due to an unfavourable comparison, as last year the firm booked an exceptional gain linked to the re-evaluation of its participation in one unit.
	"Alibaba Group had a great quarter," chief executive Daniel Zhang said in a statement on the firm's second quarter, which ended in September.
	"Our results reflect our increasing ability to monetise our 450 million mobile users through new and innovative social commerce experiences."
	The number of mobile users increased by 23 million since the end of the previous quarter in June.
	Sales in the core commerce unit rose 41 percent year-on-year to USD 4.27 billion.
	Alibaba is 

Alibaba sales growth soars into the cloud

Children have long complained about homework but parents in Spain are now joining in and have decided to go on strike against their offspring's school load for the whole month of November.
	Called by the Spanish Alliance of Parents' Associations (CEAPA), a network that covers some 12,000 state schools across the country, the strike targets weekend homework for primary and high school students.
	Jose Luis Pazos, president of the CEAPA, told AFP today parents had launched the unprecedented initiative due to "the absolute certainty that homework is detrimental" to children, damaging their extra-curricular development.
	According to a 2012 PISA education report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Spain was the fifth nation with the most homework after Russia, Italy, Ireland and Poland out of 38 countries studied, with 6.5 hours a week compared to an average of 4.9.
	The workload does not necessarily translate in better results for Spanish students, whom the PISA .

No more homework! Spanish parents go on strike

Swiss police arrested an imam at a controversial mosque near Zurich today after he allegedly urged followers to kill fellow Muslims who refused to join communal prayers.
	In a statement, the prosecutor in Zurich's cantonal government said the imam at the An'Nur de Winterhour mosque, who is an Ethiopian national, had been detained for incitement to violence.
	During an October 21 sermon, the imam "called for the assassination of Muslims who refuse to participate in communal prayers in the mosque," the prosecutor's statement said, adding that a criminal probe had been launched.
	Three of the imam's followers were also being held and investigated but the prosecutor said it was "unclear" what role they played in the alleged call to violence.
	Separately, Zurich police raided the mosque early Monday and arrested three other men -- aged 23 to 35 -- over suspected immigration violations.
	Swiss media have reported frequently on the An'Nur mosque, including on suggestions that it has played a 

Swiss police detain imam over call to kill Muslims

British Prime Minister Theresa May branded FIFA's opposition to England and Scotland players wearing poppies on their shirts in the 2018 World Cup qualifier on Armistice Day as 'outrageous'.
     The Prime Minister added scandal-racked FIFA should sort their own affairs out rather than interfering in such matters as the wearing of poppies which commemorates the war dead.
     "It is utterly outrageous," May said when asked about the matter at Prime Minister's Questions.
     "Our football players want to recognise those who gave their lives for our security.
     "It is absolutely right that they should be able to do so.
     "A clear message is going from this house before they (FIFA) start telling us what to do they jolly well ought to sort their own house out."
     England play Scotland in a World Cup qualifier at Wembley on November 11, the day when the United Kingdom traditionally remembers its war dead.
     Under FIFA rules, players are not allowed to wear poppies on their ...

Prime Minister May savages FIFA over poppy issue

Skipper Jason Holder took a maiden five-wicket haul and opener Kraigg Brathwaite stood firm in a tense chase to bring West Indies in sight of a consolation win in the third and final Test against Pakistan in Sharjah today.
     Holder set his team -- without a win in their last 13 Tests -- on the right path with a career-best 5-30 to dismantle Pakistan for 208, which gave the West Indies a target of 153 in 135 overs spread over four sessions.
     When bad light forced closure nine overs early on the fourth and penultimate day, Brathwaite was unbeaten on 44 to anchor West Indies to 114-5, still needing 39 runs with five wickets intact.
     Brathwaite, who carried his bat in the first innings with 142, has so far added 47 runs for the sixth wicket with Shane Dowrich (36 not out) to lift West Indies from a struggling 67-5.
     Brathwaite, who survived a bat-pad catch review on 43, has hit four boundaries in another resolute 88-ball knock, frustrating Pakistan's bowling for a second ...

West Indies on brink of consolation victory

Scoreboard at close on the fourth
day of the third and final Test between Pakistan and West Indies at Sharjah stadium today:
     Pakistan first innings 281 (Sami Aslam 74, Misbah-ul-Haq 53, Younis Khan 51, Sarfraz Ahmed 51; D. Bishoo 4-77)
     West Indies first innings 337 (K. Brathwaite 142 not out, Roston Chase 50; Wahab Riaz 5-88)
     Pakistan 2nd innings (overnight 87-4)
     Sami Aslam c Joseph b Holder         17
     Azhar Ali c Bravo b Bishoo           91
     Asad Shafiq c Bravo b Holder          0
     Younis Khan c Dowrich b Holder        0
     Misbah-ul-Haq c Bishoo b Chase        4
     Sarfraz Ahmed c Bravo b Bishoo       42
     Mohammad Nawaz c Johnson b Bishoo    19
     Mohammad Amir run out                 8
     Wahab Riaz c Johnson b Holder         1
     Yasir Shah lbw b Holder               0
     Zulfiqar Babar not out               15
     Extras: (b2, lb1, nb2, w6)           11
     Total: (all out; 81.3 overs)        208
     Fall of wickets: 1-37, 2-41, 

Sharjah, Nov 2 (AFP) Scoreboard at close on the fourth

At least 18 people were killed and dozens wounded in clashes in Niger between cattle herders and farmers, officials said, adding that women and children were among the dead.
	The violence kicked off last morning after a herd of cattle wandered into a farmer's field and damaged the cereal crop, a local official said, asking not to be named.
	Such clashes are not unusual in drought-hit Niger, where food shortages and scarce water supplies inflame tensions, especially during the harvest, which coincides with cattle being moved to pasture.
	"The clashes were unusually violent, it was very barbaric," the official told AFP.
	"It was the death of the owner of the field, in the first altercation, that set things off," he added.
	He said a significant number of women and children were killed, without providing a precise toll.
	The interior ministry said 18 people were killed and another 43 wounded in the clashes, which happened in the western Tahoua region, adding that homes were also set on ..

18 dead as herders, farmers clash in Niger

Iran boosted its oil exports to 2.44 million barrels per day in late October as it regains market share lost during years of international sanctions, its oil minister said today.
	"Oil exports reached 2.44 million bpd in late October, one of the highest levels ever," the Mehr news agency quoted Bijan Namdar Zanganeh as saying.
	Since a nuclear deal with world powers took effect in January and international sanctions were lifted, Iran has rapidly increased its oil exports from around 1 million bpd.
	Oil cartel OPEC agreed at an informal meeting in September to cut production in a bid to reduce a global supply glut and bolster prices which have hovered around the USD 50 per barrel mark.
	Iran, which has the fourth-largest oil reserves in the world, has refused to cut production as it seeks to recover its lost market share.
	Along with Libya and Nigeria, it was granted an exemption from the planned cuts, so long as it keeps production to levels "that make sense".
	Oil prices have fallen .

Iran oil exports hit 2.44 million bpd

A Uighur radical with links to an Islamic State militant was jailed for six years today for planning bomb attacks in Indonesia against a Shia mosque and a top-ranking policeman.
	   Nur Muhammet Abdullah Al Faris was arrested last December on the outskirts of Jakarta and charged over his part in plotting the planned assaults.
	   Al Faris had planned to assassinate Jakarta's police chief and orchestrate a suicide bombing at a mosque used by members of the Muslim Shia minority, a court heard. Neither of the intended attacks went ahead.
	   "The defendant is declared to be convincingly guilty of committing an evil conspiracy and assisting terrorism offences," Judge Novry Tammy Oroh told a Jakarta court.
	   The court heard that Al Faris -- a member of China's mostly Muslim Uighur ethnic minority -- hatched the plots under the guidance of Bahrun Naim, a leading Indonesian militant fighting with the Islamic State group.
	   Naim has been linked to several botched attacks in his homeland, .

Indonesia jails Uighur radical over IS-linked terror plots

President Vladimir Putin has ordered a 10-hour truce today in the war-ravaged Syrian city of Aleppo, the Russian defence ministry said.
	   "A decision was made to introduce a 'humanitarian pause' in Aleppo on November 4 from 9:00 am (0600 GMT) to 19:00," the chief of Russia's General Staff Valery Gerasimov said in a statement.
	   Gerasimov said the decision was approved by Syrian authorities and was meant to "prevent senseless casualties" by allowing civilians and armed combatants to quit rebel-held eastern Aleppo.
	   He said eight corridors -- six for civilians and two for fighters -- could be used for this.
	   Rebels launched a major assault Friday to break the siege of Aleppo but have been met this week by fierce resistance from regime forces.
	   Aleppo has been hit by some of the worst violence in Syria's five-year conflict, turning the once bustling economic hub into a divided and bombed-out city.
	   Defence ministry Sergei Shoigu said Tuesday that Russia had ceased air ...

Russia declares 10-hour Aleppo 'humanitarian pause' on Friday

Saudi Arabia's Shura Council, which advises the cabinet, has turned down a proposal to study the issue of women's driving, a Shura member said today.
	The kingdom has some of the world's tightest restrictions on women, and is the only country where they are not allowed to drive.
	At a meeting this week, a male member of the appointed council suggested the study, said another member who declined to be named.
	He said the enquiry would have looked at: "What are the difficulties if they start? What is required to allow them to drive?"
	But the proposal failed to get the required 50 per cent plus one support among the council's 150 members, who include 30 women.
	The council can make non-binding recommendations to the government but it has no legislative powers.
	Activists say women's driving is not technically illegal but that the ban is linked to tradition and custom.
	A slow expansion of women's rights began under the late king Abdullah, who named them to the Shura Council in 2013.
	He 

Saudi advisory council rejects study of women driving

Tehran's notorious former chief prosecutor Said Mortazavi has been sentenced to 135 lashes for misappropriation and waste of public money while head of Iran's welfare programme, Iranian media reported today.
	Mortazavi "was sentenced to 70 lashes for misappropriation of public goods and 65 lashes for negligence and waste of public goods," said Mostafa Torkhamedani, lawyer for workers at the Social Security Organisation who brought the case against him, according to IRIB news agency.
	A close ally of hardline former president Mahmud Ahmedinejad, Mortazavi became a hate figure among Iranian reformists during his six years as chief prosecutor for shutting down dozens of reformist publications and jailing journalists.
	He was suspended in 2010 after parliament held him responsible for the deaths of at least three anti-government protesters during the previous year's mass demonstrations against Ahmedinejad's controversial re-election.
	The deaths caused a public uproar and the prison in ...

Tehran ex-prosecutor given 135 lashes for corruption

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu accused Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi of weakness as tensions rose today after Ankara deployed tanks and artillery near Iraq.
	Abadi had warned Ankara not to provoke a confrontation and said any invasion would see Iraq's northern neighbour repelled after Turkey sent the 30-vehicle convoy to the southeastern district of Silopi yesterday.
	The two countries traded barbs last month over Ankara's military presence in Iraq's north and its insistence that it would play a role in the offensive to retake Mosul, Iraq's second biggest city, from the Islamic State group.
	"If you have the strength, why did you surrender Mosul to terror organisations? If you are so strong, why has the PKK occupied your lands for years?
	"You cannot even fight against a terror organisation, you are weak," Cavusoglu added, quoted by the official news agency Anadolu.
	The Turkish foreign minister was referring to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) which is ...

Turkish foreign minister says Iraq PM 'weak'

Scoreboard at tea on the fourth day
of the third and final Test between Pakistan and West Indies at Sharjah stadium.
     Pakistan 1st innings: 281
     West Indies 1st innings: 337
     Pakistan 2nd innings (overnight 87 for 4)
     Sami Aslam c Joseph b Holder         17
     Azhar Ali c Bravo b Bishoo           91
     Asad Shafiq c Bravo b Holder          0
     Younis Khan c Dowrich b Holder        0
     Misbah-ul-Haq c Bishoo b Chase        4
     Sarfraz Ahmed c Bravo b Bishoo       42
     Mohammad Nawaz c Johnson b Bishoo    19
     Mohammad Amir run out                 8
     Wahab Riaz c Johnson b Holder         1
     Yasir Shah lbw b Holder               0
     Zulfiqar Babar not out               15
     Extras: (B-2, LB-1, NB-2, W-6)       11
     Total: (all out; 81.3 overs)        208
     Fall of wickets: 1-37, 2-41, 3-41, 4-48, 5-134, 6-175, 7-189, 8-192, 9-193.
     Bowling: Gabriel 15-1-36-0, Joseph 14-3-41-0, Holder 17.3-5-30-5, Brathwaite 1-0-5-0, Chase ...

Sharjah, Nov 2 (AFP) Scoreboard at tea on the fourth day

Skipper Jason Holder took a maiden five-wicket haul to set up a likely win for West Indies in the third and final Test against Pakistan here today.
     The right-arm fast bowler finished with 5-30 while leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo took 3-46 to bundle Pakistan out for 208 in their second innings on a weary pitch.
     At tea West Indies had wiped 23 off the target without losing a wicket and need another 130 for a consolation win after losing the first two Tests.
     Opener Kraigg Brathwaite was 10 not out and with him Leon Johnson was batting on a chancy 12, having been dropped twice in successive overs from paceman Mohammad Amir.
     With only a single scored, Johnson on nought edged Amir's fifth delivery of the innings to third slip, where Pakistan skipper Misbah-ul-Haq grassed a simple catch.
     Johnson again survived a slip catch on three when Sami Aslam dropped another straightforward opportunity at first slip off a luckless Amir, hurting Pakistan's chances of early ...

Holder haul puts West Indies in sight of win

One journalist is killed every four-and-a-half days, according to a shocking report released by UNESCO today.
	   During the last decade, 827 journalists have been killed while on the job, the UNESCO director-general's report said.
	   The worst hit areas were Arab states including Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Libya. Latin America is the next worst affected region, the Safety of Journalists and the Danger of Impunity report said.
	   Unsurprisingly, most deaths -- 59 per cent over the last two years of the 2006-2015 report -- happen in conflict zones.
	   During that period, 78 of the 213 journalists killed (36.5 per cent) were in Arab states.
	   Perhaps most alarming was the increase in journalist deaths in Western Europe and North America, up from none in 2014 to 11 last year.
	   Local journalists are far more at risk than foreign journalists, accounting for 90 per cent of the victims.
	   But there was a huge spike in foreign journalist deaths in 2014 with 17 killed compared to an ...

AFP

AFP

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