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 ...

Putin in talks on Mosul with Turkish, Iraqi leaders: Kremlin

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Alastair Cook has admitted to questioning how much longer he can extend his record-breaking England career, torn between the pride of playing for his country and the wrench of being parted from his young family.
     Cook will become England's most capped Test player on Thursday when he leads his side out against Bangladesh in Chittagong at the start of a two-match series -- his 134th appearance in whites for his country.
     Given that he is still only 31, remains at the top of his game and is remarkably injury-free, talk is growing that Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar's all-time record of 200 Test appearances could be vulnerable.
     Cook is already the only Englishman to score more than 10,000 Test runs and widely tipped to also overtake Tendulkar's record of 15,921 runs.
     But after flying back to rejoin the squad in Bangladesh only days after his wife Alice gave birth to their second daughter, Cook acknowledged that the prospect of many more years of touring was daunting.
    

Proud Cook admits to wrench of leaving family

Two Russian cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut soared into orbit in a Soyuz spacecraft Wednesday to begin 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 over technical issues.

2 Russians,1 American blast off to International Space Station

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has defended the introduction of chemical castration for paedophiles, saying in an interview published today there can be "no compromise" when it comes to tackling sex crimes.
	Widodo introduced a series of tough punishments for child sex offenders in May through an emergency decree, including chemical castration and the death penalty, following an outcry over the fatal gang-rape of a schoolgirl.
	Parliament last week voted to put the new regulations permanently on the statute book, as had been widely expected.
	In an interview with the BBC, Widodo defended introducing chemical castration, a decision that has sparked anger from human rights activists and the Indonesian Doctors Association, which has said its members will not perform the treatment.
	"Our constitution respects human rights, but when it comes to sexual crimes there is no compromise," he said, adding that the government "will hand out the maximum penalty" for such crimes.
	"In my ...

Indonesian leader defends chemical castration for paedophiles

Two Russians, one American blast off to International

Two Japanese cabinet ministers visited a controversial war shrine today, after a mass visit by lawmakers angered China and South Korea which see it as a painful reminder of Tokyo's aggressive past.
	The ministers -- internal affairs chief Sanae Takaichi and Katsunobu Kato, in charge of womens' empowerment -- are close to conservative Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who did not visit the Yasukuni shrine during this year's four-day autumn festival.
	Abe, often criticised for what some see as revisionist views on Japan's wartime record, sent a ritual offering to the shrine instead.
	He has not gone to the site in central Tokyo since late 2013 in an apparent attempt to ease diplomatic tensions.
	Yesterday a group of about 85 legislators arrived at the leafy site for an annual pilgrimage, sparking a rebuke from Beijing and Seoul, which called on them to show "humble self-reflection and sincere remorse for Japan's past wrongdoings".
	Yasukuni honours millions of Japanese war dead, but also ...

Japan cabinet ministers visit controversial war shrine

The Taliban today rejected reports of secret meetings with the Afghan government in a bid to resume long-stalled peace negotiations, insisting that their hardline policy remains unchanged.
	Afghan officials yesterday said they held two meetings since September in Doha, where the Taliban maintain a political office, after the news was first reported by Britain's The Guardian newspaper.
	But Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid in a statement rejected any reports of talks or meetings.
	Mohammad Masoom Stanekzai, Afghanistan's intelligence chief, and National Security Advisor Mohammad Hanif Atmar had attended one of the Qatar meetings, local Tolo television said citing a presidential palace source.
	"The representatives of the Islamic Emirate have not met with Stanekzai or any other officials. Our stance about the negotiations has not changed. Our policy is very clear on that," Mujahid said, referring to the Taliban's official title.
	The Taliban have long insisted on the complete ...

Taliban reject reports of secret talks with Afghanistan

Hong Kong's legislature again descended into chaos today as the pro-Beijing camp blocked the swearing in of two new lawmakers who want the city to split from China.
	Tensions are high in the semi-autonomous city as fears grow that Beijing is tightening its grip, fuelling an independence movement in Hong Kong.
	The former British colony was handed back to China in 1997 under an agreement protecting its freedoms for 50 years, but there are concerns those liberties are being eroded.
	A new wave of lawmakers advocating independence and self-determination were voted into the Legislative Council (Legco) -- Hong Kong's lawmaking body -- in citywide polls last month.
	But at last week's fraught swearing-in ceremony, young pro-independence lawmakers Yau Wai-ching and Baggio Leung had their oaths rejected after they draped themselves in "Hong Kong is not China" flags.
	The oath states that Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China.
	Both refused to pronounce China properly, and Yau .

Hong Kong pro-independence lawmakers blocked from taking oath

Riyad Mahrez secured another Champions League victory for Leicester City while big boys Real Madrid, Juventus and Borussia Dortmund were also in winning form.
     Leicester maintained a perfect record in Group G in their first foray in Europe's elite club competition by edging FC Copenhagen 1-0 at the King Power Stadium yesterday with Mahrez getting the only goal of the game.
     Islam Slimani headed down a Jamie Vardy cross for Mahrez to score with a close-range volley with the outside of his left foot five minutes before half-time.
     With Porto winning 2-1 away to Club Brugge in the group's other game, Claudio Ranieri's side now know a win away to Copenhagen in their next match on November 2 will secure a place in the last 16.
     "We're in a good position now," said Ranieri.
     "We knew it would be tough. Copenhagen tried until the end. It was difficult at the start, but the performance was good."
     In Bruges, Jelle Vossen put the home side in front early on but Miguel ..

Mahrez takes Leicester closer to last 16, Madrid win big

A man who held 15 people hostage in a Brussels supermarket after a botched robbery on Tuesday gave himself up to police, authorities told AFP.
	"The man turned himself in and there were no victims," a police spokesman from the Brussels district of Forest in Belgium told AFP, adding that the situation lasted about an hour.
	The incident took place around 7:00 pm (local time) at a Carrefour supermarket in Forest. The area was quickly closed off and police helicopters sent in to back up the rescue operation.
	Police said the suspect was armed with a knife and apparently took the hostages after a robbery attempt went wrong.
	Belgium has been on high alert since terror attacks in March at the Brussels airport and on a metro killed 32 people.

Police capture man who held 15 people hostage in Brussels

Hundreds of displaced Iraqi Christians danced and sang to celebrate an Iraqi military operation to retake their community's main hub of Qaraqosh from jihadists.
	   Iraqi Christian men, women and children -- some of them holding candles -- gathered at Mar Shimon church in the Kurdish capital of Arbil to pray and celebrate, an AFP correspondent reported yesterday.
	   Iraqi federal forces on Tuesday moved deep into Qaraqosh, a town that lies around 15 kilometres (10 miles) southeast of Mosul and was seized by the Islamic State jihadist group in August 2014.
	   "Today is a happy moment. There is no doubt our land will be liberated and we thank God, Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary," said Hazem Djedjou Cardomi, a journalist among the crowd.
	   The evening gathering was organised in spite of what remained a fluid situation in Qaraqosh, with Iraqi forces taking position in several neighbourhoods but IS fighters potentially still holed up in others.
	   Qaraqosh had a population of around 

Christians celebrate as Iraq forces enter town near Mosul

Ecuador has said that it had cut the internet access of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, who is holed up at its London embassy, due to leaks by the anti-secrecy website that could impact the US election.
	"The government of Ecuador respects the principle of non-intervention in the internal affairs of other states. It does not interfere in external electoral processes, nor does it favor any particular candidate," the Ecuadoran foreign ministry said in a statement yesterday.
	In consequence, the ministry said, it decided to "temporarily restrict" communications at the embassy.
	WikiLeaks has published a damaging trove of hacked emails from US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton's campaign in the recent weeks.
	On Monday it accused Ecuador of cutting off Assange's internet communications at the behest of US Secretary of State John Kerry.
	The United States denied the allegation.
	"Reports that Secretary Kerry had conversations with Ecuadorian officials about this are simply untrue. ..

Ecuador says it cut Assange's internet over US election leaks

Moscow announced that Russian and Syrian air forces have stopped bombing Aleppo ahead of a brief truce, a move the Kremlin said showed "goodwill" as it faces mounting criticism for backing a brutal regime offensive.
	   It came yesterday after Russia said there would be an eight-hour "humanitarian pause" in the battered city on Thursday, a move welcomed by the United Nations and the European Union which nevertheless said the ceasefire needed to be longer to allow the delivery of aid.
	The US State Department voiced scepticism regarding Moscow's latest initiative while welcoming a halt in the bombing.
	French and Russian presidents Francois Hollande and Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will hold a "working meeting" on the Syrian crisis Wednesday in Berlin, the French leader's office said.
	The meeting will be aimed at "giving the same message to Vladimir Putin on Syria: a durable ceasefire in Aleppo and humanitarian access so that the devastation of this city can ...

Russia halts Aleppo strikes in "goodwill gesture"

Czech leaders sought to stave off China's anger in a statement, a day after exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama arrived in Prague.
	The statement yesterday came as Chinese firms poured fresh investment into the Czech Republic, for a value expected to reach a total of several billion euros.
	The Czech president, prime minister and two parliamentary speakers said that the EU nation "respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity" of China.
	"We consider the relationships between our countries and their remarkable development in recent years most beneficial for both parties," the statement added.
	Czech President Milos Zeman, an ex-Communist in office since 2013, has promoted friendly relations with both Russia and China.
	Beijing accuses the Dalai Lama of supporting separatism and violence in Tibet, a region it has ruled since 1951.
	The Dalai Lama fled to India after a failed uprising in 1959, but is still deeply revered by many Tibetans in China and beyond.
	He arrived .

Czech leaders reassure China as Dalai Lama visits

The United Nations Security Council has agreed that a new UN mission for Colombia could continue to monitor a ceasefire despite a referendum vote rejecting the peace deal.
	Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos last week extended a ceasefire with the country's FARC guerillas until December 31 and said he hoped to have a new agreement for peace before that date.
	The council "welcomed the parties continued commitment to uphold the ceasefire," Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters following a closed-door meeting yesterday.
	He said the council had received a request from the parties "for the UN mission to monitor and verify the bilateral ceasefire" and that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon would present recommendations on that mechanism.
	Council members "encourage the parties and all political actors to continue momentum in the peace effort," said Churkin, who holds this month's council presidency.
	The victory for the "No" vote in the October 2 referendum was a stunning ...

UN seeks to shore up Colombia ceasefire

Crowds of women converged on Chicago's Trump Tower in the latest of a string of protests over Donald Trump's incendiary comments on women, brandishing signs saying "Real men get consent".
	Protesters in Chicago and Philadelphia yesterday, and a day earlier in New York, have been pushing back after the Republican nominee was caught, in a 2005 video, bragging that fame lets him grope women without their consent.
	"Just the fact that he's normalizing rape culture... Is not cool with us," said Kristin Marks, one of the mostly-female crowd gathered outside skyscraper, emblazoned with Trump's name, in downtown Chicago.
	Blair Westover, who voted for Republicans George W. Bush and John McCain in the previous elections, said she would be voting for Democrat Hillary Clinton this year though she disagrees with her on many issues.
	"This isn't just like another 'gate' or a scandal," she said. "This is a presidential nominee advocating un-consensual sexual contact, in public to other people, and .

US women rally against Trump

The United States today denied charges from WikiLeaks that Washington asked Ecuador to cut the internet connection of the website's founder Julian Assange.
	WikiLeaks yesterday alleged that Assange's internet access was cut Saturday after it published private speeches by Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton to Goldman Sachs.
	Assange has been staying at the Ecuadoran embassy in London since 2012 to evade prosecution by Sweden over a rape allegation.
	In a series of tweets beginning late yesterday, the anti-secrecy site said it learned from "multiple US sources" that Ecuador cut off Assange's internet connection at the behest of US Secretary of State John Kerry.
	But State Department spokesman John Kirby, in a brief statement, denied that Washington had played any role in the move.
	"While our concerns about WikiLeaks are longstanding, any suggestion that Secretary Kerry or the State Department were involved in shutting down WikiLeaks is false," Kirby said.
	"Reports that ...

US denies it urged Ecuador to unplug Assange's internet access

A drone strike killed eight suspected members of Al-Qaeda in south Yemen late today, security sources said.
	The strike hit two vehicles carrying the suspected militants in Shabwa province, killing six instantly while two died later of their wounds, the sources said.
	Six other alleged jihadists escaped a second air raid that missed two more vehicles in the same convoy, they added.
	Washington is the only government to operate drones over Yemen, but the United States only sporadically releases statements on its long-running bombing campaign against the country's powerful Al-Qaeda branch.
	The United States considers Al-Qaeda's Yemen-based franchise, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, to be its most dangerous.
	AQAP and the Islamic State group have exploited a power vacuum created by the conflict between the government and Shiite Huthi rebels to expand their presence in Yemen, especially in the south and southeast.

Drone strike kills 8 Qaeda suspects in Yemen

Saudi Arabia today executed a member of the royal family for murder, in a rare case involving one of the thousands of members of the House of Saud.
	Prince Turki bin Saud al-Kabir was put to death in the capital Riyadh for shooting dead Adel al-Mahemid, a Saudi, during a brawl, the interior ministry said in a statement.
	Kabir was the 134th local or foreigner put to death this year, according to an AFP tally of ministry statements.
	The Arab News reported in November 2014 that a court in Riyadh sentenced an unnamed prince to death for killing his friend.
	He lost his life and another person was injured in an exchange of gunfire following a dispute at a camp on the edge of Riyadh in December 2012, the newspaper said.
	Desert camps are popular gathering places for Saudis.
	When the killer realised that his victim was a friend and colleague, he informed the police, the Arab News said.
	The sentence reflected the kingdom's "fair justice system," Arab News quoted the victim's uncle Abdul ..

Saudi prince executed for murder

Islamic State jihadists were barring civilians from leaving Mosul today and using them as human shields, as the battle for the Iraqi city entered its second day, a Pentagon official said.
	"We know they are being used as human shields, absolutely," Pentagon spokesman Navy Captain Jeff Davis told reporters.
	"They are being held there against their will. We have not seen any change in the last day of people leaving or fleeing."
	Authorities and aid agencies are bracing for a massive flow of civilians fleeing Mosul as the fight progresses.
	Currently, the action has largely been in villages surrounding Iraq's second-largest city and the remaining IS stronghold in the country.
	President Barack Obama warned of "significant" displacement but said the United Nations and other aid groups were ready.
	"We have put together plans and infrastructure for dealing with a potential humanitarian crisis that are as extensive as the military plans," Obama told reporters earlier.
	United Nations ...

AFP

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