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 ...

MH370 plunged rapidly, wing flap not out for landing: report

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Manchester City got their revenge on Barcelona as Ilkay Gundogan scored twice in a 3-1 win in the Champions League, while Arsenal were one of four sides to secure progress to the last 16.
     Pep Guardiola's side had lost 4-0 away in Barcelona two weeks ago but they showed tremendous character to come from a goal down and beat the Spanish champions 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium yesterday.
    	The inevitable Lionel Messi put the visitors in front at the end of a stunning breakaway with his 90th Champions League goal.
    	However, City pounced on a Sergi Roberto mistake as Raheem Sterling set up Gundogan to equalise six minutes before half-time.
	A Kevin De Bruyne free-kick gave City the lead six minutes into the second half and, although Andre Gomes rattled the bar for the visitors, the Premier League side were on top and they secured the victory thanks to Germany midfielder Gundogan's second of the night.
	"Today is a good step. We play against a great team and we compete. Now they ...

City stun Barca, Ozil magic as Arsenal progress

The UN Security Council will travel to the Democratic Republic of Congo next week to gauge tensions over the holding of presidential elections.
	The 15 council envoys will visit Kinshasa, Goma and Beni from November 10 to 14 for talks with President Laurent Kabila, opposition leaders and civil society.
	"We are in a very tense pre-election context," Senegalese Ambassador Fode Seck, who holds the presidency of the council this month, told reporters yesterday.
	"The council considers that it would be useful to go to DRCongo to speak to all the players as part of its prevention role," he told reporters.
	Anti-Kabila demonstrations in Kinshasa in September turned violent, killing some 49 people.
	Last month, a political deal was reached between Kabila's party and some fringe opposition groups to delay the presidential election due to have been held this year, until April 2018.
	The opposition rejected the deal, with the main dissident coalition -- "Rassemblement" (Gathering) -- branding ..

UN council in DR Congo to gauge election tensions

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today sacked the commander of the peacekeeping force in South Sudan following a damning report showing failure to protect civilians during recent violence in Juba.
	The report from a UN special investigation found that a lack of leadership in the UN mission culminated in a "chaotic and ineffective response" during the heavy fighting in the capital from July 8 to 11.
	Peacekeepers abandoned their posts and failed to respond to pleas for help from aid workers under attack in a nearby hotel, according to a summary of the report.
	The UN mission known as UNMISS has 16,000 troops deployed in South Sudan, which has been at war since December 2013.
	"The special investigation found that UNMISS did not respond effectively to the violence due to an overall lack of leadership, preparedness and integration among the various components of the mission," said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
	Chinese peacekeepers abandoned their positions at least twice and Nepalese .

UN chief fires South Sudan peacekeeping commander

The global oil market should be balanced early next year, the president of Saudi Aramco said today, after over-supply drove prices to multi-year lows in 2016.
	"The gap between supply and demand is closing," Amin Nasser told an international energy forum.
	He said the state oil company's analysis sees the market "balanced by the first half of 2017."
	Last week, the chief of the International Energy Agency said the market would rebalance earlier than expected if major crude producers implement a deal to cap output when they meet next month.
	Under current conditions, the IEA expects global output to exceed demand until the second half of 2017, Fatih Birol said in Singapore.
	But he said that if OPEC and non-OPEC producers intervene in the markets, "this rebalance can be earlier than the second half of 2017."
	In a surprise move, members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries led by Saudi Arabia agreed in September on a deal to trim production.

Saudi Aramco CEO predicts oil market balance by early 2017

Iraqi forces fought their way into jihadist-held Mosul today, the military said, as a top commander declared the "true liberation" of the city from the Islamic State group had begun.
	Just over two weeks into the massive offensive to retake Mosul -- IS's last major stronghold in Iraq -- the army said its forces had managed to push within city limits.
	Troops had "entered the Judaidat Al-Mufti area, within the left bank of the city of Mosul," the Joint Operations Command said in a statement.
	Mosul is split by the Tigris River, with the eastern half of the city known as the left bank. Judaidat al-Mufti is on the southeastern side of the city.
	Elite Iraqi forces had also recaptured the key village of Gogjali and taken control of a television station building belonging to a local affiliate of Iraqiya state TV on the eastern edge of the city.
	Fighters from the US-trained Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) had pushed into the area amid heavy fighting on the eastern front over the past two ..

Iraq says forces enter Mosul as 'true liberation' begins

European parliamentarians today asked Sri Lanka to step up reforms and abolish draconian anti-terror laws to qualify for lucrative trade concessions from the 28-member bloc.
	A four-member delegation from the European parliament said Colombo's proposed legislation to replace the tough Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) should meet international human rights standards.
	"The delegation expressed the need for deeper and faster progress in... The replacement of the PTA with legislation that is in line with Sri Lanka's international human rights commitment," the group said in a statement.
	The visiting delegation also called for de-militarising the former war zones in the island's northern and eastern regions, a demand made repeatedly by the international community as well as neighbouring India.
	Sri Lanka is keen to have its tariff concessions restored to boost exports.
	The island's clothing industry was the main beneficiary of the EU's generalised system of preferences (GSP Plus), using 

EU seeks 'faster reforms' ahead of Sri Lanka trade deal

At least six people were killed and 10 injured when a school bus carrying no children collided with a commuter bus today, in a catastrophic pre-dawn accident in the US city of Baltimore, police said.
	The yellow school bus crashed into a car before careening head-on into the side of the city bus, which was carrying morning commuters.
	"This was a major incident, some seasoned individuals in my organization said they haven't seen this type of wreck in their career," Baltimore Fire Department Chief Niles Ford told a press conference.
	Images and video from the scene showed the school bus's front end crumpled and lodged in the commuter bus's flank, which it ripped open.
	The accident killed the school bus driver and five more people on the city bus, said Baltimore Police media relations officer TJ Smith, who declined to give further details on the individuals.
	An additional 10 people were taken to area hospitals for injures which ranged "from minor to critical," Smith said.
	Those ...

Six dead, 10 injured in US bus crash

The British government was today accused of capitulating to "media barons" after indicating it may abandon a measure to punish newspapers that refuse to join a government-approved press regulator.
	Culture Secretary Karen Bradley announced consultation into whether to implement 2013 legislation that would force news organisations to pay all the costs of libel and privacy suits against them, even if they won.
	The so-called Section 40 measure would only apply to groups that refuse to join a new press regulator, IMPRESS, that was introduced after the 2011 phone hacking scandal.
	It was intended as an incentive to make sure newspapers signed up to the new system, but has been condemned as a threat to press freedom -- and failed to achieve its purpose.
	Only around 50 organisations are members of IMPRESS, while around 2,500 have joined the unofficial IPSO regulator -- presenting the government with what Bradley admitted was "a dilemma".
	"The government is determined that a balance is ...

UK reopens debate on press regulation after hacking

Kuwait's election authorities today barred 47 candidates from contesting parliamentary polls later this month for being convicted in courts or not fulfilling nomination requirements, candidates said.
	Those barred include former opposition MPs Bader al-Dahum and Safa al-Hashem, as well as controversial Shiite ex-MP Abdulhameed Dashti who has been sentenced in absentia to jail for insulting fellow Gulf states Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
	The Kuwaiti ruler dissolved parliament last month because of a crisis between MPs and the government over hiking petrol prices, and set November 26 for an election.
	Dahum wrote on Twitter that he was informed by the election authority that he had been barred from standing but not told why.
	He said he will mount a legal challenge to he decision.
	Hashem also tweeted that she had been told she could not stand for office and that she will challenge the decision.
	Dashti has been living outside Kuwait for several months and won a court order last week ...

Kuwait bars 47 candidates from contesting polls

Bulgarian authorities said today they had seized a record amount of over 13 million euros' (USD 14.4 million) worth of counterfeit notes, most of them recovered by scuba divers in a reservoir.
	The huge haul of 500-euro bills, most of which had been stashed for safe keeping underwater by a dam in southern Bulgaria, was discovered after police were alerted to their imminent entry into circulation, chief prosecutor Sotir Tsatsarov said.
	"This is one of the largest amounts of counterfeit euros ever encountered (worldwide)," he told journalists in the central city of Plovdiv, after one of the counterfeiters confessed to the ploy and led authorities to the hiding place.
	The exact value of the haul -- a record for Bulgaria -- will only be established after the notes are dried and counted, Plovdiv appeal prosecutor Ivan Daskalov added.
	Most of the bills came in sheets of six and a small amount lacked holograms and other anti-counterfeiting signs, he said.
	Tsatsarov said the fake notes ...

Awash with cash: Bulgaria seizes fake millions underwater

Areas hit by Italy's 6.5-magnitude quake displaced the ground by up to 70 centimetres (27.5 inches), Italian scientists reported today.
	Satellite images found that Sunday's temblor deformed the landscape over 130 square kilometres (50 square miles), the Italian National Research Council said in a statement.
	The biggest displacement was in the Castelluccio region, near the small town of Norcia, which lay only six kilometres (3.7 miles) from the epicentre, it said. The ground in this region was pushed up or sank by up to 70cm.
	The quake, measuring a powerful 6.5-magnitude according to Italian monitors, struck at a very shallow depth. It was the latest in a string of seismic shocks to hit central Italy this year.
	The event was followed by around 1,100 after-shocks, including 19 quakes registering between four and five magnitude and 240 of between three and four magnitude, the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology said.
	The strongest was 4.8, occurring today shortly before 

Italy quake made ground move 70cm: scientists

Pope Francis held a public mass today for the Catholic minority in Sweden, a Lutheran but secular country where same-sex marriage is allowed even for priests.
	The Argentine pontiff addressed an estimated 15,000 members of the country's Roman Catholic minority, many of them converts or migrants, at a stadium in the southern Swedish town of Malmo, home to a large immigrant population.
	"Meekness is a way of living and acting that draws us close to Jesus and to one another. It enables us to set aside everything that divides and estranges us, and to find ever new ways to advance along the path of unity," Pope Francis said, according to an official translation of his remarks.
	"One very eloquent sign of this is that here in your country, marked as it is by the coexistence of quite different peoples, we are jointly commemorating the fifth centenary of the Reformation," the pope said before he headed back to Rome.
	A fervent advocate of Christian unity, Francis visited the southern city of .

Pope greets Catholic minority in secular Sweden

The UN said today it had received more reports of Islamic State group fighters forcing thousands of civilians into Mosul, possibly to be used as human shields against advancing Iraqi troops.
	The jihadists also reportedly killed another 40 former Iraqi Security Force (ISF) members before dumping their bodies in the river, UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva.
	The rights office has listed numerous IS atrocities, including tens of thousands of forced relocations and hundreds of executions, allegedly committed in and around Mosul since a government operation to retake the northern city began last month.
	Some of the allegations have been termed "preliminary" and needing more investigation.
	Asked about the credibility of the fresh reports, Shamdasani said: "This is raw information. It hasn't gone through our usual verification processes," while stressing that rights office sources were "reliable."
	In the early hours of yesterday, IS fighters "brought .

UN reports more civilians forced to Mosul, possibly as shields

Vietnam's glitterati donned their finest on the red carpet today for the opening of the Hanoi International Film Festival, aimed at boosting the communist nation's little-known movie industry.
	Welcomed by cheering fans, Vietnam's A-listers were joined by filmmakers and actors from around the globe including from Russia, India and as far afield as Ghana, all in town for the fourth edition of the festival that runs until Saturday.
	Some are hoping the event will breathe life into Vietnam's movie industry - still in its infancy and mostly unknown, even on home soil.
	"An event like this, what it does is it bring Vietnamese films into the forefront of international recognition," producer Timothy Linh Bui told AFP at the festival, where his romance-horror film "The Housemaid" is screening.
	"There's a large talent pool of actors and filmmakers so it's a very exciting time to see what takes shape and where it can grow from here."
	This year's festival features 146 films from more than 40 ..

Stars hit red carpet for Hanoi film fest

A South African court was today hearing a bid by President Jacob Zuma to block the publication of a potentially explosive report that probed his ties with a controversial and powerful Indian business family.
	Zuma is arguing that he was not given enough time to respond to questions posed to him by former ombudswoman Thuli Madonsela during the investigation into "state capture" by the Gupta family.
	The report investigated allegations that Zuma allowed the Gupta family undue political sway, including letting them choose some cabinet ministers.
	Four opposition parties are challenging Zuma's bid in a case heard in the High Court in Pretoria.
	In its submission, the opposition Democratic Alliance party rejected Zuma's argument, saying he would be free to challenge the report once it is out.
	Madonsela concluded the report last month, shortly after the expiry of her seven-year non-renewable term.
	The report was due to be released on October 14 but Zuma moved to block it.
	The application 

S Africa court hears Zuma bid to block graft report

Pfizer reported lower third-quarter earnings today, due to the hit from lost patent exclusivity on some key drugs and one-time costs on a pending divestment.
	Sales of the muscle pain drug Lyrica dropped due to lost patents in Europe, while revenues from the Prevnar vaccine declined on flagging sales momentum following a late 2014 launch.
	Net profit for the pharmaceutical giant was USD 1.3 billion, down 38 per cent from the year-ago period.
	Revenues were USD 13.0 billion, up eight percent, boosted by sales from the purchase of Hospira, a leader in injectable drugs and biosimilar technology.
	Over the last 18 months, Pfizer has also acquired Medivation, which markets the successful prostate-cancer drug Xtandi, and Anacor, a specialist in treating inflammatory ailments.
	The acquired assets are "providing new near-term opportunities to potentially drive incremental growth for the business as its product pipeline continues to mature," said Pfizer chief executive Ian Read.
	Pfizer has ..

Pfizer earnings tumble on lost patents, higher costs

Qatar's emir said today that the super-rich Gulf state must tackle its "culture of consumption" as it deals with the sharp decline in world energy prices.
	In a speech to mark the opening session of Qatar's Advisory Council, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani also called for the elimination of "extravagance and waste" as the emirate faces its first budget deficit in 15 years.
	Sheikh Tamim said that Qatar would complete all infrastructure projects connected with the 2022 football World Cup but would strive for greater efficiency in government spending in a new five-year plan to be launched next year.
	This new approach would incorporate the development of a "culture of planning, work and achievement", as well as cultural changes, especially aimed at the country's young.
	"There are challenges that we should tackle, which are related to the goals and values of young people and the impact of the culture of consumption on these goals and values," the official Qatar News Agency quoted the ...

Qatar must tackle 'culture of consumption', says emir

Scoreboard at tea on the fourth day
of the first Test between Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka.
     Sri Lanka 1st innings: 537
     Zimbabwe 1st innings: 373
     Sri Lanka 2nd 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 not out              59
     A Gunaratne not out             10
     Extras: (B-5, LB-2, NB-1)        8
     Total: (For 5 wkts; 58 overs)  231
     Fall of wickets: 1-17, 2-72, 3-111, 4-117, 5-211.
     Bowling: Mpofu 14-2-37-1, Cremer 14-0-67-0, Mumba 10-2-43-3, Tiripano 8-0-33-0, Waller 5-0-17-1, Williams 1-0-5-0, Masakadza 6-1-22-0.

Harare, Nov 1 (AFP) Scoreboard at tea on the fourth day

At least six people were killed when a school bus, that was carrying no children at the time, collided with a commuter bus in the US city of Baltimore today, police said.
	Photos posted online showed the yellow school bus with its front end crumpled into the middle of the commuter bus. First responders could be seen on the scene, which was strewn with debris.
	"There were no children on the school bus, however, there are six fatalities," the Baltimore Police Department posted on Twitter.
	Baltimore chief media relations officer T J Smith tweeted that authorities "are in the process of gathering information on the bus crash. We will advise once we have more. Understand this is a fluid situation."
	The accident occurred at approximately 6:30 am in the eastern city located some 25 kilometres north of Washington.

Six dead after school, city bus collide in US

Opener Dimuth Karunaratne scored his fourth Test century as Sri Lanka steadily built their lead over Zimbabwe on day four of the first Test at Harare Sports Club.
     Karunaratne confirmed his return to form with 110 in Sri Lanka's second innings as the tourists reached tea on 231 for five, an overall lead of 395.
     The left-hander came into the match without a fifty in his previous three games, but followed up his 56 in the first innings with his first hundred in 19 innings stretching back to October 2015.
     The Zimbabweans were able to restrict the Sri Lankan scoring early on the fourth morning as the tourists resumed on five without loss, with Carl Mumba bowling Kaushal Silva in the seventh over of the day.
     But Karunaratne gradually opened up and added 55 brisk runs for the second wicket with Kusal Perera, who fell for 17 when he edged a delivery from Malcolm Waller to slip.
     As the field spread Sri Lanka's momentum was sustained by Karunaratne and Kusal Mendis, ...

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