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 ..

Thousand dogs poisoned to death in Pakistan's Karachi

PTI Automatic

Afghan civilians are paying a heavy price for the escalating conflict across the country, with government forces responsible for a growing share of casualties, the UN said today.
	Children in particular find themselves in the firing line as ground fighting between local troops and Islamist militants intensifies.
	A total of 2,562 civilians were killed and another 5,835 wounded in the first nine months of this year, a slight dip compared to the same period last year when casualties soared to a record high, a UN report said.
	It cited a 42 per cent rise in casualties caused by pro-government forces compared to last year -- "primarily due to casualties from the use of indirect and explosive weapons and aerial attacks".
	But Islamist militants were responsible for the majority -- 61 per cent -- of total casualties.
	"Increased fighting in densely populated areas makes it imperative for parties to take immediate steps to ensure all feasible precautions are being taken to spare civilians ...

Afghan forces cause growing civilian casualties, UN says

Sri Lankan police today exhumed the body of a retired army spy whose supposed suicide note claimed responsibility for the 2009 murder of a prominent anti- establishment newspaper editor, a police officer said.
	The 52-year-old former military intelligence officer was found hanging at his home in central Sri Lanka five days ago and was buried shortly afterwards, the senior police source said.
	But police now suspect the suicide note found in his pocket at the time of his death may not be genuine and want to determine his link to any criminal activity that could have led to his murder.
	"There had been lapses in the first autopsy and the body is exhumed to carry out fresh forensic tests," the officer told AFP on condition of anonymity.
	"We are looking at his fingerprints to see if he had been involved in any criminal activity."
	Investigators have begun checking his phone records and bank accounts since his retirement nine years ago.
	Last month authorities reopened the investigation ..

Sri Lanka exhumes body of former army spy over murder

Pakistan's Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, giving a speech today in the Emirates, urged Muslims to respect the "true message of Islam" and unite against wars in their countries.
	   The 19-year-old, who was shot in the head by the Taliban in 2012 after she had publicly advocated education for girls, urged the world's Muslims to "come together... And follow the true message of Islam as they join hands in the struggle for peace".
	   "We cannot talk about investing in our future in this region without calling for an end to these bombings and these attacks," she told a conference in the southern Gulf emirate of Sharjah on the future of women in the Middle East.
	   "We must not forget that the majority of those suffering because of these conflicts and wars are Muslims," said Malala, referring to conflicts in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
	   "I cannot stop thinking of those 500,000 children in Mosul right now under a threat to be used as human shields," she said of the Iraqi city ...

Malala urges Muslims to unite for peace

Belgium's foreign ministry today summoned the Russian ambassador after Moscow claimed Belgian jets from the US-led coalition killed six civilians in airstrikes near Syria's Aleppo, a spokesman said.
	"We are making contact with the Russian ambassador with the aim of summoning him today. We will see if his agenda allows it," Belgian foreign ministry spokesman Didier Vanderhasselt said.
	"We are also making contact at the level of the ministry of defence to pass on the message that Belgium has no responsibility for these air strikes. That is also the message for the ambassador," the spokesman added.
	"We are also unhappy that this information was not verified before being made public."
	Russia's defence ministry said two of Belgium's F-16s from the coalition fighting Islamic State jihadists in Syria had been identified in the region where the deadly air strike took place early yesterday.
	"Six people were killed and four people injured to various degrees as a result of bombing that ...

Belgium summons Russian envoy over Aleppo air raid claim

In this photo provided by the Syrian Civil Defense group known as the White Helmets, Syrians inspect damaged buildings after airstrikes by government helicopters on the rebel-held Aleppo neighborhood of Mashhad, Syria. Photo: PTI

A member of the local reconciliation committee told AFP that around 2,100 people were being evacuated

Over 600 Syrian rebels quit besieged town near Damascus

Press Trust of India

Iraqi forces prepared to retake the country's largest Christian town from the Islamic State group today, a key milestone in their progress towards the jihadists' main hub of Mosul.
	News of the move to recapture Qaraqosh sparked jubilation among Christians who had fled the town, with many dancing and singing in the city of Arbil.
	Launched on Monday, the long-awaited advance on Mosul was making quick progress but US President Barack Obama joined a chorus of warnings the battle for ISIS' last Iraqi stronghold would be tough.
	Officials have said the retaking of Mosul - in Iraq's largest military operation in years - could take weeks or months and warned that the hundreds of thousands of civilians still in the city could be used as human shields.
	Federal forces stormed Qaraqosh, about 15 kilometres southeast of Mosul, yesterday but ISIS fighters remained in the town.
	Units from Iraq's elite counter-terrorism service (CTS), which has done the heavy lifting in most recent operations ...

Iraq forces move to retake Christian town on way to Mosul

A Palestinian woman approached Israeli border police with a knife in the northern West Bank today and was shot dead by officers, police said.
	A police statement said the 19-year-old approached officers at the Tapuah junction, ignored orders to stop and pulled a knife.
	"At this point the officers shot her," police said, adding that she was killed.
	Police identified her as a resident of Asira Al-Shimaliya, a village north of Nablus, which is located near the Tapuah junction.
	Also known as Zaatara junction, it has been the site of a number of violent incidents.
	The Palestinian health ministry said "a woman was killed after being shot by the occupation forces at Zaatara checkpoint."
	The incident comes as Jews celebrate Sukkot, a week-long holiday that has led to tensions with the Palestinians in the past.
	Violence since October 2015 has killed 234 Palestinians, 36 Israelis, two Americans, one Jordanian, an Eritrean and a Sudanese national, according to an AFP count.
	Most of the ...

Palestinian tries to stab Israeli officers, shot dead: police

Heavy fighting rocked Yemen hours before a UN-brokered ceasefire was due to begin today, as warring parties come under mounting pressure to end a conflict that has raged for more than two years.
	The truce will be the sixth attempt to end the bloodshed since a Saudi-led Arab coalition intervened in March 2015 to support the government of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi after rebels overran much of Yemen.
	Civilians have paid the highest price in a country that was already the Arabian peninsula's poorest.
	Almost 6,900 have been killed -- more than half of them civilians -- while another three million are displaced and millions more need food aid.
	A United Nations report said air strikes by the coalition were suspected of causing around half of all civilian deaths, while rebel-affiliated groups were responsible for about a quarter.
	The UN special envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, on Sunday announced the truce from 23:59 (local time) for an initial three days, subject to ...

Deadly clashes before latest Yemen truce

Millions of people in the Philippines were on high alert today for one of the strongest typhoons to ever hit the disaster-battered country, with authorities warning of giant storm surges and destructive winds.
	Super Typhoon Haima was forecast to hit remote communities in the far north of the country about 11:00 pm (local time) today, bringing winds almost on a par with catastrophic Super Typhoon Haiyan that claimed more than 7,350 lives in 2013.
	"It's not just heavy rain and strong winds that we are expecting. It's also floods, landslides and storm surges in coastal areas. Those in these areas, you are in danger. Find safer ground," Allan Tabel, chief of the interior ministry's disaster and information coordinating centre, told a nationally televised briefing.
	With Haima having a weather band of 800 kilometres (500 miles), more than 10 million people across the northern parts of the Philippines' main island of Luzon will be affected, according to the government's disaster risk ...

Millions in Philippines on alert for super typhoon

Indonesia, one of the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitters, today ratified a landmark climate rescue pact but environmentalists expressed scepticism about the government's plans to limit global warming.
	The country's parliament agreed to endorse the Paris Agreement which was reached last December in the French capital, joining scores of other countries which have ratified the deal.
	It requires all countries to devise plans to achieve the goal of keeping the rise in temperatures within two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.
	The accord is due to enter into force on November 4, earlier than expected, after the threshold for ratification -- by 55 countries responsible for 55 percent of emissions -- was reached earlier this month.
	In its plan Indonesia pledged to cut emissions by at least 29 per cent by 2030 by stepping up protection of forests and expanding the renewable energy sector.
	The sprawling archipelago is home to vast tracts of tropical .

Indonesia ratifies Paris climate accord

England's record-breaking bowler Jimmy Anderson, who has already been ruled out of the current tour of Bangladesh, will miss next month's first cricket Test against India, captain Alastair Cook said today.
     "I don't think he'll be there for the start. He might be ready to do some training, but he won't be ready for the first Test match in India," Cook told reporters.
	"I don't know what's happening -- they will be making some decisions over the next seven days or so. I spoke to him last night and he is training well and in good shape physically."
     Anderson, England's all-time leading Test wicket-taker, has not played since the fourth Test against Pakistan in August because of a shoulder injury. He has not travelled to Bangladesh, where England tomorrow begin a two-Test series here.
     Asked whether he was optimistic the 34-year-old would play some part in the five-Test India series, Cook refused to give any guarantees and said a decision on when he would travel had still to .

Anderson set to miss opening India Test

Some 300 wild mammal species in Asia, Africa and Latin America are being driven to extinction by humanity's voracious appetite for bushmeat, according to a world-first assessment released today.
	The species at risk range from rats to rhinoceros, and include docile, ant-eating pangolins as well as flesh-ripping big cats.
	The findings, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, are evidence of a "global crisis" for warm-blooded land animals, 15 top conservation scientists concluded.
	"Terrestrial mammals are experiencing a massive collapse in their population sizes and geographical ranges around the world," the study warned.
	This decline, it said, was part of a larger trend known as a "mass extinction event," only the sixth time in half a billion years that Earth's species are dying out at more than 1,000 times the usual rate.
	Besides eating them, humans are robbing mammals of their natural habitats through agriculture and urbanisation, and decimating them through ...

Humans eating wild mammals into extinction: study

Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn will become chairman of Mitsubishi Motors after Japan's number two automaker announced a major investment in its scandal-hit rival, a report said today.
	The reported appointment would make Ghosn the head of three major automakers, including France's Renault which holds a major stake in Nissan.
	Nissan threw Mitsubishi a lifeline in May when it announced plans to buy a one-third stake in the crisis-hit automaker for about USD 2.2 billion, as the smaller rival wrestled with a mileage-cheating scandal that hammered sales.
	Mitsubishi declined to comment today's report in Japan's leading Nikkei business daily.
	Investors cheered news that Ghosn - widely credited with turning around a nearly bankrupt Nissan and overhauling Renault - would take the helm.
	Mitsubishi's Tokyo-listed shares soared more than 10 per cent shortly after the Nikkei report.
	The stock closed at 522 yen (USD 5), up 7.85 per cent, while Nissan rose 0.52 per cent to 1,004.5 yen.
	After ...

Renault-Nissan's Ghosn to head Mitsubishi Motors: report

Italy has moved to crack down on the widespread exploitation of farm workers with tough new penalties for abuses to which immigrants from Africa and South Asia are particularly vulnerable.
	A law approved by parliament late yesterday provides for mandatory prison terms, fines and asset seizures for farm owners and intermediaries involved in illegal practices that can result in casual workers taking home little more than a euro (dollar) an hour for backbreaking work.
	The new legislation was hailed as a "major step forward" by trade unions, who say some some 430,000 agricultural workers are subject to extreme exploitation across the country.
	Under the so-called "caporalato" system, fruit pickers and other seasonal workers are typically recruited, organised and paid by an intermediary, enabling the real employers to sidestep payroll taxes.
	A daily rate of between 22 and 30 euros for a 10-12 hour day - less than half the legal minimum - has reportedly become the norm across much of the 

Italy cracks down on exploitation of Asian, African workers

More than 50 bodies have been recovered from a ferry that sank in central Myanmar, a local official said today, warning the toll would keep rising as workers raise the capsized boat.
	The overloaded vessel, whose passengers included scores of teachers and university students, went down early Saturday on the Chindwin River in the Sagaing region.
	Some 150 people were rescued after the ferry sank on its way to Monywa, a city around 72 kilometres to the south.
	But officials who believe up to 250 may have been aboard fear the death toll could top 100 as they search through the boat.
	Bloated corpses floated to the surface as searchers hauled the top part of the brightly painted ferry out of the water with cranes today.
	"The total death toll has now reached 53," Sa Willy Frient, the local director of social welfare and resettlement who is leading the operation, told AFP.
	"We are not sure if we can lift the whole sunken boat tonight. There could be many more dead bodies ...

Myanmar ferry disaster death toll tops 50

Thai "cyber-scouts" have flagged scores of websites for alleged royal defamation since the death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej and are monitoring all communication channels, a junta official said today.
	A crackdown on perceived royal insults has been enforced following the king's death last Thursday, which has plunged the nation into mourning for a beloved monarch.
	Thailand's monarchy is protected by a draconian lese majeste law that outlaws criticism and muzzles detailed discussion on the monarchy - including by all media based in Thailand.
	Surveillance by authorities is routine but appears to have been stepped up. There have also been vigilante actions by pockets of royalist hardliners.
	Police say they have opened a dozen cases under Section 112 - the broadly worded royal defamation law that carries up to 15 years in jail for each infringement - since the king died aged 88.
	But the number may rise as  authorities scour the internet for infringements of the law.
	"During this time .

Thais step up web surveillance after king's death

Iran said today it would accept no US "interference" after Washington demanded the release of a dual national and his 80-year-old father given 10 year sentences for espionage.
	The State Department demanded the immediate release of Siamak and Baqher Namazi, both Iranian-American dual nationals, after their sentences were announced yesterday.
	But foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi told Iranian media: "The government and the Iranian people give no importance to the statements and interference of American officials and their efforts to divide the ranks of the Iranian people.
	"The American threats only add to the wall of mistrust Iranians have regarding the United States."
	Washington expressed concern over the health of the elder Namazi, a former UN Children's Fund employee who also served as the governor of an Iranian province before the Islamic revolution of 1979.
	Both were jailed for 10 years for "espionage and collaboration with the American government", Tehran prosecutor ..

Iran rejects US demand for release of dual nationals

Two Russian cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut soared into orbit in a Soyuz spacecraft today at the start of a two-day journey to the International Space Station.
	NASA's Shane Kimbrough and Andrei Borisenko and Sergei Ryzhikov of Roscosmos blasted off at 0805 GMT (1335 IST) from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan after their launch had been delayed by nearly one month because of technical issues.
	The trio's mission is expected to last just over four months with docking at the orbital laboratory taking place on Friday.
	They will join Roscosmos' Anatoly Ivanishin, NASA's Kate Rubins, and Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), whose return to Earth is set for October 30.
	The Russian Orthodox Church said it had provided the country's space authorities with the relics of Seraphim of Sarov, a 18th-century saint, to be taken onboard the flight.
	The local Church official who handed over the relics last month, Metropolitan Georgy, had called for the astronauts to .

Two Russians, one American blast off to ISS

Shane Watson has hit back at Michael Clarke's claim he was part of a group that was "like a tumour" in Australia's cricket team, saying it reflected poorly on the former captain.
     In a television interview with Australia's Channel Nine to promote his autobiography, the retired Clarke spoke of stormy relationships during his long career.
     This included with Watson, who was one of four players suspended by then coach Mickey Arthur and captain Clarke for the third Test against India in Mohali in 2013.
     Vice-captain Watson was suspended and sent back to Australia for not doing his "homework", after he failed to provide a written report on how to improve the team's performance.
     Clarke denied singling out the all-rounder as a "cancer" on the team, a claim made by Arthur in documents connected to legal action over his sacking three years ago.
     But he admitted saying Watson was one of a number of players who were "like a tumour, and if we don't fix it, it's going to turn .

Watson hits back at Clarke over 'tumour' jibe

Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by telephone with the leaders of Turkey and Iraq about battle for Mosul, where Iraqi forces are fighting to oust the Islamic State group, the Kremlin said today.
	Putin "wished the Iraqi army and its allies complete success in their objectives," the Kremlin said in a statement on his conversations with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.
	He also informed the Iraqi leader about the "measures taken by Russia to defuse the situation" in the Syrian city of Aleppo.
	Moscow announced yesterday that Russian and Syrian air forces had stopped bombing Aleppo ahead of an eight-hour "humanitarian pause" in the battered city tomorrow.
	Putin is to attend a summit on Syria in Berlin later today with the leaders of France and Germany.
	In a separate conversation, Putin also discussed the battle for Mosul with Erdogan, the Kremlin said, but gave no further details.
	The long-awaited offensive against Iraq's second ...

AFP

AFP

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