EU leaders plan to "strongly condemn" Russia at their summit tomorrow for its alleged attacks on civilians in Syria's Aleppo, urge an end to fighting and call for a revived political process.
	A draft of their planned statement obtained by AFP omits the threat of sanctions, despite such calls from the United States and Britain, but it sharpens the tone against Russia.
	"The European Council strongly condemns the attacks by the Syrian regime and its allies, notably Russia, on civilians in Aleppo," according to the draft.
	It asks them to urgently allow "unhindered humanitarian access to Aleppo" and to other parts of Syria while calling "for an immediate cessation of hostilities and for resumption of a credible political process under UN auspices."
	The draft warns that "those responsible for breaches of international humanitarian law and human rights law must be held accountable."
	In it the 28 leaders also ask EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and the European Commission, the 

EU summit to condemn Russia over Aleppo: draft statement

PTI Automatic

Israel has turned down a request to transfer to the occupied West Bank graves of Palestinian leaders buried in Syria where their tombs are threatened by jihadists, officials said today.
	The Palestinians have sought to transfer the bodies after Islamic State (IS) group jihadists started to smash gravestones in the embattled Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmuk on the outskirts of Damascus.
	"We presented a request to the Israelis to allow us to move the bodies of three Palestinian leaders from a cemetery in the Yarmuk camp close to Damascus to Palestine," Palestinian minister Hussein al-Sheikh told AFP.
	They were informed on Monday that the request was rejected, he said, confirming a report in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.
	Israel's defence ministry body that oversees civilian affairs in the Palestinian territories confirmed they had received a request but turned it down, without providing further details.
	Among the bodies the Palestinians wanted to remove was that of Khalil ...

Israel rejects Palestinian request to move 'IS-threatened'

Islamic State group leaders have been fleeing Mosul as US-backed local forces close in on the jihadists' last Iraqi stronghold, a US general said today.
	US Army Major General Gary Volesky, who heads the land component command of the US-led coalition to defeat IS, predicted that foreign fighters will end up forming a large contingent of jihadists remaining in the city, as they have nowhere else to go.
	An estimated 3,500 to 5,000 IS fighters are dug into Mosul, while tens of thousands of Iraqi forces have massed to recapture Iraqi's second city in an offensive that began on the outskirts Monday.
	"We are telling Daesh that their leaders are abandoning them. We've seen a movement out of Mosul," he told reporters in a video briefing from Baghdad, using an Arabic acronym for IS.
	He declined to say how many leaders had left, when they did, or where they were headed, but said they were being attacked in air strikes as they fled.
	"Where they are going, I will leave that to our (missile) ..

US general claims IS leaders 'abandoning' Mosul

International judges today sent a strong message that anyone caught trying to distort war crimes trials will be punished as they found former Congolese vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba and four aides guilty of bribing witnesses.
	The case was "about the clear, and downright criminal behaviour of the five accused... That resulted in serious offences against the administration of justice," presiding judge Bertram Schmitt told the International Criminal Court, handing down the verdict.
	"No legal system in the world can accept the bribing of witnesses, the inducement of witnesses to lie or the coaching of witnesses," he told the five men.
	"Nor can the International Criminal Court."
	Each of the men stood in turn and remained impassive as Schmitt pronounced them guilty, although two of the defendants were acquitted on a few charges against them.
	Today's verdict at the court in The Hague was the first such corruption trial in its history, and came after a tip-off to the prosecutors ...

ICC judges find Congo's ex-VP guilty of bribing witnesses

US coffeehouse chain Starbucks today announced a five-year goal of doubling the number of its stores in China, which could soon become its largest market.
	Starbucks has seen rapid expansion in China, where it opened its first cafe 17 years ago. In 2011, the company had only 400 outlets but today has almost six times as many at 2,300.
	By 2021, the company expects to have 5,000, it said in a statement. Starbucks chief executive Howard Schultz has said China could one day become the coffee chain's largest market, overtaking the US where it has some 7,500 stores.
	In a sign of its hopes for the Chinese market, Starbucks also said it was promoting Belinda Wong from president to chief executive of Starbucks China.
	"She will be responsible for key areas, including the vast digital and e-commerce opportunities across the market and overseeing the opening of Starbucks first international Starbucks Roastery in Shanghai in 2017," the company said.
	Wong had previously held various positions ..

Starbucks to double China stores in five years

Mission controllers were anxiously awaiting confirmation today that a tiny European craft had landed on Mars as part of an ambitious quest with Russia to find evidence of life on the Red Planet.
	The paddling pool-sized "Schiaparelli" lander was due to end its seven-month, 496-million-kilometre trek from Earth with a dangerous dash for the surface through the Martian atmosphere.
	A direct signal from Schiaparelli to a radio telescope based in India was lost, but ground controllers in Darmstadt, Germany, stressed this was no indication of trouble.
	Its Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) mothership, meanwhile, was on its own hairy mission to enter the Red Planet's orbit, at a distance of some 175 million kilometres from Earth.
	Confirmation that both manoeuvres were correctly executed is not yet in.
	"So far everything is going well," flight director Michel Denis said at the European Space Agency (ESA) mission control centre in Darmstadt today afternoon.
	The signal was always very faint, ...

Europe awaits confirmation of Mars landing

A member of Kuwait's ruling family announced today his candidacy for next month's parliamentary election, a rare move in the oil-rich Gulf state where royals normally stay away from polls.
	Sheikh Malek Humoud Al-Sabah was among 71 hopefuls who filed to stand for election on the first day of registration which saw some opposition members return after a four-year boycott.
	"The previous assembly let down the Kuwaiti people and I am contesting the polls to defend the rights of the people," said Sheikh Malek.
	Speaking to reporters in Kuwait City, he said he had given up his special passport "to become an ordinary citizen" and that he does not mind losing other benefits.
	Under the Kuwaiti constitution, royals are eligible to run for public office.
	Only a few have registered as candidates in the emirate's 54 years of democracy, but all have dropped out before election day.
	The last royal to register their candidacy was Sheikh Fahad Salem al-Ali Al-Sabah, who withdrew before the 2006 ...

Kuwaiti royal to contest election, in rare move

Pakistan head coach Mickey Arthur expects a strong response from the West Indies in the second Test in Abu Dhabi after the tourists came close to pulling off a remarkable comeback in Dubai.
     Pakistan were forced to ward off a challenge from Darren Bravo, whose pugnacious 116 gave the West Indies hopes of an upset before ultimately losing by 56 runs in the last hour on the fifth and final day.
     That gave Pakistan a 1-0 lead in the three-match series, but Arthur urged his team not to lose their edge ahead of Friday's second Test.
     "I think West Indies will come down hard on us considering their exceptional fight in Dubai," Arthur told AFP.
     "I am really impressed with their fight and Bravo was outstanding so we have to play exceptionally well next Test."
     Pakistan had amassed 579 for 3 declared in their first innings, with opener Azhar Ali smashing 302 not out, but were then dismantled by leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo whose 8-49 bundled them out for a mere 123 second ..

Arthur warns of Windies backlash in second Test

President Vladimir Putin faces a grilling over Russia's role in Ukraine and Syria at talks in Berlin today, on his first visit to the German capital since the Ukrainian conflict erupted.
	Host Chancellor Angela Merkel said the talks -- the first four-way summit for a year -- were aimed at "offering a brutally honest assessment" of progress on implementing the frayed Minsk peace accords for Ukraine.
	"Things are stalled in many areas such as the ceasefire, political issues and humanitarian issues," she told reporters yesterday.
	"We have to seize every chance we have for progress. I have to say that we cannot expect a miracle but it is worth every effort at this point."
	But Moscow poured cold water on hopes for headway toward a lasting resolution of the conflict.
	"We do not expect any breakthroughs," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters ahead of Putin's trip.
	"I don't expect easy talks," admitted German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who will also attend the ...

Putin in firing line over Ukraine, Syria at Berlin talks

Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko, whose time in office has been tarnished by allegations of state-sponsored doping, has been promoted to deputy prime minister, the Kremlin said today.
	President Vladimir Putin approved Mutko's appointment to a new post of deputy prime minister in charge of sport, tourism and youth politics, adding that Mutko's deputy, former Olympic fencer Pavel Kolobkov, would take over as sports minister.
	Mutko's move to the new position is the latest in a series of high-profile staffing changes in the Russian government and comes on the heels of doping scandals that saw the country's track and field team sidelined from the Rio Olympics in August.
	The 57-year-old's name has emerged in World Anti-Doping Agency reports containing evidence of state-sponsored doping in Russian athletics and other disciplines.
	WADA founder Dick Pound, who headed an independent commission that probed doping in Russia, said last year it was "not possible" for Mutko to have been ...

Russia appoints sports minister Mutko as deputy PM

Brazilian police today arrested Eduardo Cunha who was one of the country's most powerful lawmakers and the architect of former president Dilma Rousseff's impeachment until engulfed in corruption charges.
	"We can confirm that (Cunha) was detained in Brasilia," a police spokesman told AFP.
	G1 news site published a copy of the arrest warrant issued by the office of top Brazilian anti-corruption judge, Sergio Moro.
	Cunha, nicknamed Brazil's Frank Underwood after the scheming main character in the dark US political series "House of Cards," initiated the impeachment process that finally forced Rousseff out of office this August.
	The leftist president was found guilty of fiddling government accounts. However, she accused Cunha, from the conservative evangelical movement, of mounting a coup.
	Cunha's triumph was short-lived, as allegations of massive bribe taking and money laundering in a corruption scheme centered on state oil company Petrobras caught up with him. In September he was ...

Brazil arrests top lawmaker behind Rousseff impeachment:police

Amazon's new streaming service today announced an exclusive deal with country superstar Garth Brooks, the top-selling artist to have resisted the fast-growing music format.
	The retail giant, which launched its Amazon Music Unlimited service last month with a cut-rate price for owners of the company's speakers, started with a new single by Brooks and will eventually stream his entire catalog.
	Brooks, whose stardom in the 1990s expanded the demographic map for country music, has sold more albums than any solo artist in US history, with Elvis Presley in second place.
	The deal with the 54-year-old could help Amazon make inroads with US listeners who have yet to discover streaming such as older music fans outside of major urban areas.
	Sweden's Spotify is the world's leader in streaming -- which offers unlimited, on-demand music online -- and has pursued an open model of making as many songs as possible available.
	Upstarts Apple Music and Tidal, led by rap mogul Jay Z, have emphasized .

Amazon ropes in streaming holdout Garth Brooks

Iraqi forces prepared today to retake several key areas around Mosul, including the country's largest Christian town, to tighten the noose on the Islamic State group's stronghold.
	Kurdish and federal troops have made quick progress since the offensive was launched on Monday but officials have cautioned that Iraq's largest military operation in years could last months.
	Hundreds of thousands of civilians were still trapped in the city with dwindling supplies, many sheltering in basements as air strikes intensified on IS targets.
	"We couldn't sleep last night because of the air strikes. The explosions were huge but I'm not sure what the targets were," said Abu Saif, a 47-year-old resident contacted by AFP.
	"Many families are starting to run out of some basic food goods, there is no commercial activity in Mosul -- the city is cut off from the world," he said.
	East of Mosul, forces were poised for an assault on Qaraqosh, which lies about 15 kilometres and was once Iraq's largest ...

Iraq forces poised for multiple assaults around Mosul

Russia said today it was extending an eight-hour truce in Aleppo, which is planned for tomorrow, to 11 hours to allow civilians and rebels to leave the city's rebel-held east.
	The humanitarian pause, which was to run from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm (0500 GMT to 1300 GMT), has been extended "by three hours until 7:00 pm (1600 GMT)," senior military official Sergei Rudskoi said at a briefing at the defence ministry in Moscow.
	He said this was done after "numerous requests" from representatives of international aid organisations.
	The extra time "will allow representatives of the United Nations and the Syrian Red Crescent to carry out all their operations to ensure the evacuation of the sick and wounded, and also to allow peaceful civilians out of the city," the military spokesman said.
	The UN today said that all sides needed to back an extended ceasefire -- at least 48 hours -- before humanitarian convoys could roll.
	Moscow announced yesterday morning that Russian and Syrian air forces had .

Russia extends planned Aleppo truce to 11 hours: ministry

Saudi Arabia plans to raise up to USD 17.5 billion from its first international bond issue, a media report said today, as analysts expect strong buyer interest.
	It would make the Saudi issue the largest ever from an emerging-market nation, said Bloomberg News, which cited two people with knowledge of the offer.
	The figure exceeds the USD 15 billion which an analyst had previously told AFP could be the value of the issue.
	Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter, projected a budget deficit of USD 87 billion this year after a fall in oil revenues, which still account for most of its income.
	To cover the shortfall, Saudi Arabia is re-orienting its economy by imposing unprecedented subsidy cuts, slowing government projects, and in September it chopped cabinet ministers' salaries, among other measures.
	The kingdom last week began meetings with potential investors ahead of the bond issue.
	According to the sources cited by Bloomberg News, the kingdom plans to sell ...

Saudi plans up to USD 17.5 bn in first bond issue: report

A Belgian tourist was trampled to death by an elephant near Kenya's famed Maasai Mara wildlife reserve, police said today, the second such incident in a month.
	"He was badly injured by the rogue elephant and succumbed to injuries at the Talek Health Centre," a police officer in the area said on condition of anonymity.
	The death of the Belgian man on Monday in circumstances that remain unclear comes a month after an Italian man was trampled in the Tsavo National Park, southeast Kenya, while trying to take a photograph of an elephant.
	Kenyan daily The Standard reported that in a separate incident yesterday, a Kenyan secondary school student was killed by an elephant on the way to school.
	The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) warned in a statement today that a fierce drought gripping the country was pushing wildlife further from their traditional habitats in search of food and water, increasingly bringing them into contact with humans.
	"From the cases recorded by KWS, it is evident that .

Belgian tourist trampled to death by elephant in Kenya

Iran will launch the first tenders to develop oil and gas projects "within two months", a top official said today.
	Gholamreza Manouchehri, vice-president of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC), told a news conference that the huge South Azadegan oil field will be the main prize among the first tenders.
	"The value of this project will be USD 10 billion with a final production level of 600,000 barrels of oil per day," he said in Tehran.
	Manouchehri said the NIOC hoped that at least three international consortiums would bid for the "very important" South Azadegan project and that there would be "a real competition".
	In early 2014, Iran's oil ministry cancelled a USD 2.5 billion contract for South Azadegan that had been signed five years earlier with CNPC, saying the Chinese firm had failed to meet its commitments.
	Delegates from dozens of global energy firms -- including Total, Shell, BP, Statoil and ENI -- have rushed into Iran since international sanctions were lifted under a .

Iran's first oil, gas tenders 'within two months': official

Russia unveiled a new state-financed Orthodox cathedral complex in a prime position near the Eiffel Tower in Paris today without the intended guest of honour, President Vladimir Putin.
	He cancelled his trip last week after French President Francois Hollande said Russia's bombing of the Syrian city of Aleppo could amount to war crimes.
	In a statement from Moscow, Putin said the more than 100-million euro (USD 110 million) complex, built around the cathedral which has five golden domes, was a "visible testament to the cultural and human ties between France and Russia".
	The theme was taken up by speakers at the low-key event today, where Russian Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky overlooked current tensions to say the project was "testament to the solidity of our bilateral relations."
	The Saint-Trinite cathedral, which will be consecrated by the patriarch of the Russian Orthodox church in December, sits on a prime location by the river Seine and is a striking illustration of Kremlin .

Russia opens new cathedral complex in Paris, without Putin

Germany today paved the way for nuclear power plant operators to pay 23.5 billion euros towards managing atomic waste, in a deal critics say lets firms get off too lightly.
	Under a draft law approved by the federal cabinet, the four firms -- Vattenfall, EON, RWE and EnBW -- will pay the money into a state fund for temporary and permanent nuclear waste storage by 2022.
	Chancellor Angela Merkel declared the country would shut down all remaining nuclear plants by that date in the wake of Japan's 2011 Fukushima disaster.
	Her decision has left ministers and power companies wrangling over shutdown and waste management costs ever since.
	Beyond the 23.5 billion euros (USD 26 billion) for waste management, the firms will remain financially and legally responsible for shutting down and dismantling the plants and preparing all remaining nuclear waste for permanent storage.
	The remainder of a total 40 billion euros of provisions they have set aside to cover the nuclear phase-out is earmarked 

Germany approves controversial nuclear waste deal

Divers today found the body of a man at a BASF chemical plant in western Germany where an explosion occurred on Monday, police said, bringing the death toll to three.
	Prosecutors have ordered an autopsy be carried out on the remains, police in the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate said in a statement.
	BASF firefighters were caught in an explosion on Monday after responding to a small blaze near docks where tanker ships unload flammable liquids and liquified gases via systems of pipes.
	Two firefighters were confirmed dead yesterday, with one person missing and more than 20 hurt, including six seriously.
	The body found today is believed to be that of the missing person.
	"We have to assume that our fears have become a tragic certainty and lament a third death," BASF board member Margret Suckale said in a statement.
	Monday's blast sent smoke billowing into the sky above the company's home town of Ludwigshafen and neighbouring Mannheim, with emergency responders called in from ...

German chemical plant explosion toll rises to three

More than a thousand stray dogs have been poisoned to death by municipal workers in Karachi after a deluge of complaints about animals biting women and children, an official said today.
	A total of 1,050 dogs were culled in the campaign. Estimates suggested 2,000 more would be targeted in the next phase.
	Rehan Hashmi, the chairman of the municipal jurisdiction, said authorities had been flooded with complaints of stray dogs biting people and suggested the extermination programme was necessary because the city lacked the resources to rehome the dogs or put them in pounds.
	"Had there been some better resources or options, I would love to switch to that," Hashmi said, adding: "They are living beings after all."
	Animal rights are largely neglected in Pakistan, but a handful of activists and veterinary surgeons are fighting to find a middle ground between stray dogs and a population that, often for religious reasons, find them unclean.
	Few families outside the upper classes keep dogs ..

AFP

AFP

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