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 ...

Journalist killed every 4.5 days, says UNESCO

PTI Automatic

Qatar's population has passed the 2.6 million mark as the emirate draws in thousands of workers to build the infrastructure for the 2022 football World Cup, official figures showed today.
	   The tiny Gulf state has seen a more than four-fold increase in its population since 2000 as oil and gas revenues have fuelled a rapid economic transformation.
	   A total of 2,611,522 people were resident in the emirate in October, the figures released by the ministry of development planning and statistics showed.
	   The population passed the 2.5 million mark in February.
	   The figures also revealed a huge gender imbalance, thought to be one of the highest in the world.
	   Qatar counts almost two million male residents -- many of them migrant workers -- and just 637,866 women.
	   The figures did not give a breakdown for the proportion of expatriate residents but estimates suggest they make up as much as 90 percent of the population.
	   The population increase may not be sustained.
	   A ...

Qatar population tops 2.6 million

China expressed disdain today over European Commissioner Guenther Oettinger's use of the term "slitty eyes" to describe Chinese people in a leaked recording of a speech to business leaders.
	In the comments, secretly filmed at a Hamburg event earlier this month, Oettinger - the commissioner for digital economy who was last week named to the more powerful post of budget commissioner - mocked a delegation of Chinese ministers for having "their hair combed from left to right with shoe polish".
	Anonymous YouTube user "Sebas Travelling", who uploaded the clip last Friday, said Oettinger had used the words "slitty eyes" and "chiselers" to refer to Chinese people.
	"The relevant remarks reveal a baffling sense of superiority entrenched in some Western politicians," Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular press conference.
	"We hope that they can learn how to view themselves and others objectively and respect and treat others as equals."
	The comment was "a somewhat .

China slams EU Commissioner's 'slitty eyes' comment

Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 was likely out of control when it plunged into the ocean with its wing flaps not prepared for landing, a new report said today, casting doubt on theories a pilot was still in charge.
	The Boeing 777 disappeared en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014 carrying 239 passengers and crew.
	The report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau found the plane's final satellite communications were "consistent with the aircraft being in a high and increasing rate of descent" when it vanished.
	Analysis of the right outboard flap -- which was found off Tanzania -- showed it was "most likely in the retracted position", suggesting the plane was not configured for landing before it smashed into the ocean.
	The new finding casts doubt on theories proposed by some analysts that a pilot had been flying the plane when it landed in the sea.
	"You can draw your own conclusions," the ATSB's head of MH370 search operations Peter Foley told reporters, adding ...

MH370 plunged rapidly, not ready for landing: new report

Malaysia will buy four combat vessels from China in a "landmark" defence deal, Prime Minister Najib Razak said, signalling a potential strategic shift away from the United States.
	The agreement marked the first time Kuala Lumpur had purchased warships from Beijing and came only two weeks after Philippines' President Rodrigo Duterte announced his "separation" from Washington during a visit to China.
	Under the terms of the deal, two of the vessels will be built in Malaysia and two in China, Najib said in an op-ed published in the China Daily newspaper today during his week-long trip to Beijing.
	"I call this a landmark decision because before this we have not bought such vessels from China," Najib said after talks with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang yesterday, according to Malaysian newspaper The Star.
	Malaysia has historically acquired the bulk of its major defence hardware from the United States, Russia and European countries.
	Analysts said the accord was a setback for Washington's ...

Malaysia signs 'landmark' deal to buy China warships

Foreign diplomats visited flashpoint areas of Myanmar's strife-torn Rakhine state today, authorities said, as pressure mounts on the government to address accusations of rights abuses in a region home to the Muslim Rohingya minority.
	The military has heavily restricted access to the state's northwestern strip, which abuts Bangladesh, since surprise raids on border posts left nine police dead on October 9.
	The hunt for the culprits, who the government says are radicalised Rohingya Muslims, has seen more than 30 people killed, dozens arrested and 15,000 flee their homes in fear.
	The government has denied allegations that security forces have raped villagers, looted towns and torched homes belonging to the Rohingya and is keen to show that its operations to flush out the attackers were proportionate.
	The ambassadors of China, the United States and United Kingdom were among diplomats and UN officials who arrived in the area on Wednesday morning, Myanmar's Ministry of Information said .

Envoys taken to Myanmar's strife-hit Rakhine

A gunman who killed 10 people in an attack on a police station in Kazakhstan's largest city Almaty this summer has been sentenced to death, a court said today.
	Ruslan Kulekbayev, 26, had confessed to killing 10 people including eight police in July in a rampage that rocked the traditionally stable ex-Soviet republic.
	Although Kazakhstan has had a moratorium on the death penalty since 2003, the constitution still allows it to be used in exceptional circumstances, including over terror attacks.
	After the Almaty attack, Kazakhstan's national security service said that Kulekbayev had been exposed to radical Islam during previous stints in jail for armed robbery and other crimes.
	In June, four civilians and three soldiers were killed in the western Kazakh city of Aktobe when assailants attacked gun shops and tried to storm a military base in a bus they had hijacked.
	President Nursultan Nazarbayev said the Aktobe attackers were followers of the ultra-conservative Salafi strain of ...

Kazakhstan sentences Almaty gunman to death

South African President Jacob Zuma today abandoned a court bid to block a watchdog's report into corruption allegations against him, as calls grew for him to stand down.
	Zuma's surprise move came as thousands of people took to the streets of the administrative capital Pretoria to demand that he leaves office.
	It paves the way for the release of the probe into accusations that he allowed a wealthy Indian family undue political sway, including letting them choose some cabinet ministers.
	"My instructions are to withdraw the application," Zuma's lawyer Anthea Platt told the High Court in Pretoria at the start of the second day of the hearing.
	Former public ombudswoman Thuli Madonsela concluded her report into the influence of the Gupta family last month, shortly before the expiry of her seven-year term.
	It was due to be released on October 14 until Zuma moved to block it.
	The president, 74, has survived a string of damaging scandals, but faces increasing criticism as South Africa's .

S Africa's Zuma drops bid to block graft report

Saudi Arabia has congratulated Lebanon's new President Michel Aoun on his election despite the support he received from the kingdom's regional foes.
	King Salman telephoned Aoun to wish him success, "stressing the kingdom of Saudi Arabia's support for Lebanon and its unity", the official Saudi Press Agency reported late yesterday.
	Lebanese lawmakers elected the 81-year-old former army chief on Monday, ending a two-year vacancy caused by a deadlock between Iran- and Saudi-backed blocs in parliament.
	Aoun had received the unstinting support of Iran's Lebanese ally, Shiite militant group Hezbollah, which Saudi Arabia blacklisted as a "terrorist organisation" in March.
	His election followed a surprise U-turn by two key leaders of the pro-Saudi camp -- billionaire Sunni former prime minister Saad Hariri and Christian Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea.
	Hariri's influence in Lebanon has waned as his construction firm Saudi Oger has been hit by a slowdown in Saudi government ...

Saudi congratulates Hezbollah-backed Lebanon president

French authorities today started moving out the remaining 1,500 unaccompanied children living next to the razed "Jungle" migrant camp in Calais to shelters around the country.
	A first bus carrying 43 minors left the area around 8:30 am (0730 GMT) for the southwest, rapidly followed by a second one.
	More than 30 buses have been deployed to transfer the minors to 60 centres nationwide.
	The dismantling of the informal part of the camp that once housed up to 10,000 migrants, most of whom hoped to reach Britain, was completed on Monday night.
	Over 4,000 adults who had been living in tents and shacks - mainly Afghans, Eritreans and Sudanese - were moved to reception centres across France last week, before the bulldozers moved in.
	That left nearly 1,500 underage migrants, who stayed behind in a secure container park run by an NGO, and around 400 women and children living in a separate care facility a few hundred metres away.
	The plight of the unaccompanied children has been the subject 

France relocates remaining 'Jungle' camp children

Opener Azhar Ali scored a fighting half-century to keep Pakistan's hopes alive in the third and final Test against the West Indies in Sharjah today.
     At lunch on day four, Ali was unbeaten on 80 and with him Mohammad Nawaz 11 not out as Pakistan were 159-5, a lead of 103 runs with five wickets intact.
     Pakistan are chasing a 3-0 series whitewash and Ali took the fight to the West Indian bowlers during his pugnacious, 204-ball knock, hitting five boundaries and a six.
     Ali, who scored a career-best 302 in the first Test in Dubai, reached his 22nd half century with a boundary off fast bowler Shannon Gabriel, and he stood firm despite losing his overnight partner Sarfraz Ahmed for 42.
     Pakistan, trailing by 56 after the first innings, lost Ahmed in the morning session after resuming at a precarious 87-4, just 31 ahead and in danger of defeat.
     Ahmed hit four boundaries during an enterprising innings before he chased a wide delivery from leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo and 

Ali half-ton keeps West Indies at bay

Scoreboard at lunch on the fourth
day of the third and final Test between Pakistan and England 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 (87-4)
     Sami Aslam c Joseph b Holder         17
     Azhar Ali not out                    80
     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 not out               11
     Extras: (B-2, NB-2, W-1)              5
     Total: (for five wkts in 66 overs)   159
     Fall of wickets: 1-37, 2-41, 3-41, 4-48, 5-134.
     Bowling: Gabriel 15-1-36-0, Joseph 9-2-22-0, Holder 15-5-26-3, Brathwaite 1-0-5-0, Chase 15-1-47-1, Bishoo 11-1-21-1.

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

Two lawmakers who want Hong Kong to split from China wrestled with security in parliament today, with one of them dragged from the chamber, as fears grow Beijing will step in over the saga.
	There are widespread concerns in the semi-autonomous city that China is tightening its grip, fuelling an independence movement.
	In the third consecutive week of chaos in the legislature, pro-independence lawmakers Baggio Leung and Yau Wai-ching entered the chamber despite being banned from doing so, pending the result of a judicial review into whether they can take up their seats.
	Yau ran up to a table at the front, set up her own microphone and proceeded to read out her oath of office.
	She was then surrounded by female members of security and carried from the chamber when she tried to resist.
	After also trying to take his oath, Baggio was flanked by other pro-democracy lawmakers who pushed and shoved against at least five security officers who surrounded them in a cordon and tried to push ...

Pro-independence lawmakers brawl in Hong Kong parliament

South Korean President Park Geun-Hye replaced her prime minister and finance minister today, as she scrambled to contain a damaging scandal over a close friend accused of meddling in state affairs.
	The top-level reshuffle, which also saw a new public safety minister, was the latest attempt to appease growing public anger with the president and her administration.
	Park has been engulfed in a political storm over allegations that she allowed long-time friend Choi Soon-Sil, who holds no political position, to vet her speeches and have a voice in policy decisions - including cabinet appointments.
	Choi is currently being detained and questioned by prosecutors over her links to Park and other allegations of influence-peddling and embezzlement.
	A spokesman at the Seoul Prosecutors Office said a formal request had been made today to a local court to issue an arrest warrant for Choi on charges of fraud and abuse of power.
	The fraud relates to allegations that Choi - who is already in ...

Scandal-rocked S Korean president replaces PM

South Korean coastguard vessels have, for the first time, fired machine guns against Chinese boats illegally fishing in Korean waters, an official said today.
	There were no casualties reported from the incident today, which was the first of its kind since the coastguard announced last month that it would pursue a "more aggressive" firearms policy with Chinese trawlers.
	Disputes over illegal fishing have dogged relations between South Korea and China for years, and there have been numerous clashes between the coastguard and Chinese crew members.
	Senior coastguard official Kim Jung-Shik said the order to fire came during a stand-off with some 30 Chinese fishing boats illegally operating near the South's Yellow Sea border with North Korea.
	"They tried to ram our ships although we repeatedly warned them," Kim told the Yonhap news agency.
	"I thought our officers would be in danger if I allowed any more resistance so we ended up using the crew service weapon," he was quoted as ...

S Korea coastguard fires machine guns at Chinese trawlers

Veteran seamer Peter Siddle will return to bolster an Australian side keen to halt a losing streak in the first Test against South Africa starting tomorrow.
     Captain Steve Smith confirmed today his XI for the home season opener at the WACA in Perth, with Siddle preferred to the uncapped Joe Mennie.
     Australia went down 3-0 in Sri Lanka in July-August to forfeit their top Test ranking, and then suffered a 5-0 thrashing in a one-day series in South Africa.
	Siddle, who has been recovering from a back injury sustained in New Zealand nearly nine months ago, will be the third seamer, replacing left-arm spinner Jon Holland.
	Batsman Usman Khawaja, dropped after a loss of form in Sri Lanka, replaces all-rounder Moises Henriques from the team that sank in the final Test in Sri Lanka.
	Smith praised the 31-year-old Siddle's 61-Test experience after Australia opted against gambling on Mennie, a surprise inclusion in the squad.
	"They're the kind of bowlers that can really tie up an ...

Siddle back to face South Africa

A fire that ripped through a karaoke bar killed 13 people and injured two police officers in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi, an official said today.
	The blaze erupted yesterday afternoon in the multi-storey building in commercial Cau Giay district and quickly spread to other floors and adjacent buildings, according to local official The Chung.
	Photos showed plumes of smoke billowing out of the building as firefighters in cranes doused the flames, with cars and motorbikes outside also burning.
	"Hundreds of firemen and police officers were mobilised to extinguish the fire," Chung told AFP.
	He added that two police officers were being treated after they were injured trying to put out the blaze.
	Today crowds looked on as officials inspected the blackened building and its gutted entrance, with charred motorbikes and other wreckage spilling out onto the sidewalk.
	"I was carrying my stuff when I saw the fire suddenly start," said Do Thi Kha, 77, a local food vendor in the area.
	"The .

Thirteen dead in Vietnam karaoke fire

Ex-Philippine leader Fidel Ramos has resigned as special envoy to China after criticising President Rodrigo Duterte's tirades against the United States and deadly war on crime.
	Duterte said late yesterday he had received a resignation letter from Ramos, an elderly stalwart of Philippine politics who had been a trusted ally of the new leader but recently branded his rule as a "huge disappointment and let-down".
	According to the president, the pair had disagreed on US relations and the domestic crime war, which has claimed more than 4,000 lives in four months.
	"I know he is pro-Western. He is a military man who studied there (in the US). You must remember Ramos finished his (studies) in West Point. He really does not want to fight (with the US)," Duterte told reporters.
	Duterte appointed Ramos, president from 1992 to 1998, as his envoy to mend relations with Beijing, which had soured under the previous administration over competing territorial claims to the South China Sea.
	Ramos, .

Ex-Philippine leader resigns as Duterte's China envoy

Zinedine Zidane takes charge of his 100th match as a coach when Real Madrid face Legia Warsaw behind closed doors in Poland on Wednesday seeking to seal their place in the Champions League last 16.
     The holders haven't tasted defeat in any competition in 26 games since April as Zidane's first season as a senior coach ended in glorious fashion by winning Real's 11th European Cup.
     However, the Frenchman insisted he still has much to learn after just 10 months in the job following a season and a half in charge of Real's reserve team Castilla.
	"Everything can be improved. I am happy for the 100 games, but I need to continue in the same fashion. There is always a lot to learn," Zidane said yesterday.
     "I like what I do and hopefully I can continue for a long time at this club."
	Zidane has won 33 of his 42 matches since replacing the sacked Rafael Benitez in January with seven draws and just two defeats.
	However, despite an unbeaten start to this season, Real have rarely hit 

Centurion Zidane seeks more from unbeaten Madrid

England and Scotland will hold face-to-face talks with FIFA on Thursday in a bid to "give the people what they want" and get the governing body to drop its opposition to players wearing poppies on Armistice Day.
     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 -- a symbol of remembrance -- on their shirts during the game because it would be a political statement.
	In 2011, FIFA agreed as a compromise to let England wear a poppy symbol on black armbands when they played Spain in a friendly.
	Stewart Regan, chief executive of the Scottish Football Association, said yesterday that a request for England and Scotland to do likewise later this month had been turned down by FIFA officials "sticking to the letter of the law".
     The Football Association of Wales are also seeking FIFA clearance for their players to display the poppy ...

England, Scotland urge FIFA to relax war tribute stance

Missing Malaysian Air flight MH370 appeared to be out of control when it plunged into the ocean, with the wing flaps not prepared for landing, a new report said today.
	The report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau found the plane's final satellite communications were "consistent with the aircraft being in a high and increasing rate of descent" when it vanished.
	Analysis of the right outboard flap - which was found off Tanzania - showed it was "most likely in the retracted position at the time it separated from the wing", suggesting the plane was not configured for landing before it smashed into the ocean.
	The bureau noted that the width of the defined search area was appropriate "to encompass all uncontrolled descent scenarios from the simulations".
	"This report contains important new information on what we believe happened at the end of MH370's flight," Australia's Transport Minister Darren Chester said at the start of a three-day meeting in Canberra where experts will ...

AFP

AFP

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