At least 10 people were killed in clashes between the army and suspected Ugandan rebels in east DR Congo, a local activist said today, in an area that has suffered a string of massacres since 2014.
	The rebels of the Allied Democratic Forces, a partly Islamist armed group of Ugandan origin, are accused of a litany of human rights abuses and being involved with kidnappings and smuggling.
	"Suspected ADF attacked Beni from the north overnight... Eight civilians were shot dead, a soldier was killed and a suspected ADF militant was also killed," the local civil society leader, Gilbert Kambale, told AFP.
	"The armed forces of the DRC intercepted the ADF and in the exchanges of fire civilians and soldiers were killed," said the army's spokesman in the region Mak Hazukay by telephone.
	"Workers from Beni town hall are currently transferring the bodies of the suspected ADF (member) and eight other bodies to a large vehicle," Rossy Mupenda, a motorcycle taxi driver who was assisting with the ..

At least 10 dead as army, Ugandan rebels clash in DR Congo

PTI Automatic

Two missiles fired from rebel-held territory in Yemen fell short of a US warship patrolling the Red Sea off the coast of the war-torn country, the US navy said today.
	The USS Mason "detected two inbound missiles" within an hour of each other from around 7:00 pm (1600 GMT) on Sunday, said US Naval Forces Central Command spokeswoman Paula Dunn.
	The destroyer had been "conducting routine operations in international waters" at the time, she said in a statement.
	"Both missiles impacted the water before reaching the ship," said Dunn, adding that "there were no injuries to our sailors and no damage to the ship".
	"We assess these missiles were launched from Huthi-controlled territory in Yemen," she said, referring to the Iran-backed rebels fighting Yemen's internationally recognised government.
	The Huthis described as "unfounded" reports they fired missiles at the US destroyer.
	Rebel forces "did not target any warships," said a spokesman quoted by the insurgents' sabanews.Net ...

Missiles fired from Yemen fall short of US warship: navy

Oliver Hart of US and Britain and Finland's Bengt

A legend in the world of cinema, Polish film director Andrzej Wajda has died aged 90, leaving behind an opus of acclaimed films inspired by his country's turbulent history.
	Polish media broke the news, which was also confirmed to AFP by a family friend who did not wish to be named.
	The source revealed Wajda had died in hospital of lung failure after being being in a medically-induced coma for days.
	Wajda's first films were marked by the painful experience of World War II and the Polish resistance against the Nazis, who occupied the country for almost six years.
	Krzysztof Piesiewicz, a Polish director and screenwriter, said Wadja, who was awarded an Oscar for lifetime achievement in 2000, brought a political aspect to his films.
	"A great artist," said Piesiewicz, "But also one of the founders of Polish freedom, notably through the magnificent painting of our identity".
	Film critic Tomasz Raczek said on Twitter: "Polish cinema will be in mourning for a long time."
	Born on March ..

Celebrated Polish filmmaker Andrzej Wajda dies aged 90

Samsung Electronics has suspended production of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphone, a report said today, a month after a recall prompted by battery explosions and a day after two major overseas distributors halted replacements.
	Samsung, the world's largest smartphone maker, declined to comment on the report by South Korea's Yonhap news agency which was sourced to an unidentified official with an unnamed Samsung supplier.
	The official told Yonhap the decision to temporarily halt production was taken in cooperation with consumer safety regulators from South Korea, the United States and China.
	Samsung decided on September 2 to halt the sale of the Galaxy Note 7 and recall those sold after complaints that its lithium-ion battery exploded while charging.
	With images of charred phones flooding social media, the unprecedented recall was a humiliation for a firm that prides itself as an icon of innovation and quality.
	The recall process initially stumbled with some mixed messages, but seemed ..

Samsung suspends production of recalled Note 7: report

Swiss world No 3 Stan Wawrinka will use the Brisbane International as his warm-up event to the Australian Open in January, tournament organisers said on Monday.
     The US Open champion will join 14-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal and women's world No.1 Angelique Kerber at the year-opening tournament.
     Wawrinka heads to Brisbane after beating Novak Djokovic for his third Grand Slam title in New York and reaching his highest-ever ranking behind the Serb and Briton Andy Murray.
     "I'm excited to be heading to the Brisbane International for the first time in my career," Wawrinka said in a statement.
     "I've heard such great things about the event and it feels like the right time to change up the start of my season."
     Wawrinka will be chasing his second Australian Open crown after beating Nadal in the 2014 Melbourne final. Apart from Kerber, the Brisbane International, from January 1-8, will also feature French Open champion Garbine Muguruza of Spain in the women's

Wawrinka joins Nadal in Brisbane International

Maria Sharapova, targeting an April return to the WTA after the reduction of her doping ban, will try to start sharpening her game on Monday in the friendly confines of a charity event in Las Vegas.
     The Russian superstar will play in the World Team Tennis Smash Hits event at Caesars Palace, which is hosted by Billie Jean King and Elton John for the benefit of the Elton John AIDS Foundation.
     Her appearance alongside such stars as Martina Navratilova and Andy Roddick will delight her legion of fans, who remain faithful despite the controversy Sharapova stirred last week with her charge that the International Tennis Federation wanted to make an example of her in her doping case.
     "I got a 24-month suspension, but they (the ITF) wanted four years for me," Sharapova said in an interview with US broadcaster PBS, a claim ITF officials denied.
     In the same media offensive last week, Sharapova indicated to ESPN she wasn't convinced the drug meldonium, newly banned this year ..

Sharapova to test comeback waters in Las Vegas exhibition

Boxing Hall of Famer Aaron Pryor, remembered for scintillating duels with Nicaraguan Alexis Arguello, died Sunday at the age of 60 after a long battle with heart disease.
     "We are heartbroken and sad to announce that our beloved Aaron passed away at home surrounded by his family at 5:57 a.M." Frankie Pryor, his widow, said in a statement from the family home near Cincinnati, Ohio.
     "He was known around the world as 'The Hawk' but to our family he was a beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle and friend."
     Pryor built a 39-1 record with 35 knockouts during a career that was interrupted by drug addiction.
     His biggest moments in the ring were his two junior welterweight victories over Arguello. Pryor's first bout against Arguello is still considered one of the greatest fights in boxing history.
     He scored a 14th-round knockout to win the match at Miami's Orange Bowl on November 12, 1982, retaining his World Boxing Association crown.
     The two fighters 

Former junior welterweight champion Aaron Pryor dies

Controversial Spanish defender Gerard Pique insisted Sunday that he will end his international career after the 2018 World Cup.
     The Barcelona star has come under regular fire for his performances on the field and his support off the pitch for his pro-Catalan stance.
     "The World Cup in Russia is going to be my last tournament with the national team and I hope to take a lot of pleasure from these last two years," he said after Sunday's 2-0 qualifying win against Albania.
     "This is not a decision that I have taken today, I have been thinking about it. But the criticisms today have added to what has happened over the last few years. There are also people who believe that it's better that I am not here," added Pique who will be 31 when the 2018 World Cup takes place.
     Pique, who has often been jeered by Spanish fans, played in the Spain team which won the 2010 World Cup and 2012 European championships.

Controversial Pique to end Spain career after 2018 World Cup

Lazio striker Ciro Immobile grabbed an injury-time winner as four-time champions Italy snatched a 3-2 comeback win at Macedonia on Sunday, narrowly avoiding a World Cup qualifying embarrassment.
     Italy, who had needed a late penalty to salvage a point against Group G rivals Spain on Thursday, were staring at a shock defeat in Skopje against a Macedonia side ranked a lowly 146 in the world.
     Torino striker Andrea Belotti had given Italy a 24th-minute lead just four minutes after Palermo marksman Ilija Nestorokvski had crashed a drive off the crossbar for the hosts.
     But Nestorokvski levelled just before the hour mark when he robbed Marco Verratti before tucking the ball past veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.
     Two minutes later, Macedonia were ahead when midfielder Ferhan Hasani finished a smart move involving Goran Pandev and Nestorovski. However Immobile put Italy back on equal terms at 2-2 with 15 minutes left after good approach work from Verratti and Antonio ...

Immobile rescues Italy as Spain cruise

Iran requested help from the United Nations to send a plane to Yemen to evacuate the wounded from a deadly air strike on a funeral ceremony.
	Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif yesterday expressed "shock and indignation" over the air strikes that killed more than 140 mourners and injured over 525 on Saturday.
	The Iran-backed Huthi rebels blamed the Saudi-led coalition for the attack, one of the deadliest since it launched a military campaign against the Shiite insurgents in March 2015.
	"Not only Saudi Arabia, but also those who have supported the aggression by the Saudi-led coalition against Yemeni people should be held accountable for the war crimes perpetrated in Yemen over the past year and a half," Zarif wrote in a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
	Zarif asked Ban to help the Iranian Red Crescent make arrangements to send a plane with humanitarian supplies to Sanaa and to evacuate the wounded for treatment in hospitals in Iran.
	"In view of the gravity of the ...

Iran offers to treat wounded from Yemen funeral air strike

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos announced yesterday that he would donate his USD 925,000 in Nobel Peace Prize money to victims of the conflict that has roiled his country for half a century.
	Accompanied by his wife and children, as well as several members of his cabinet, the winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to broker a peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) said the funds would go toward "projects, foundations or programs that deal with victims and reconciliation."
	"We're going to persevere, we will persist, persist, persist and persist until we implement the agreement that was signed" with the FARC guerrillas, Santos said adding: "if we have to make adjustments to what we have already agreed, we will make those adjustments."
	The Colombia leader was speaking after a religious ceremony to dozens of victims of the armed conflict, where 79 people were killed in 2002 when FARC fighters threw an explosive device at a church where .

Santos to donate Nobel prize money to conflict victims

President Barack Obama condemned the Republican vying to replace him in the White House, Donald Trump, for his "demeaning" lewd boasts about groping women that have thrown his campaign into crisis.
	"Are we really going to risk giving Donald Trump the power to roll back all the progress we've made?" Obama asked during a campaign event for Democrats in his adopted home state of Illinois.
	"I don't need to repeat it. There are children in the room... Demeaning, degrading women, but also minorities, immigrants, people of other faiths, mocking the disabled... He puffs himself up by putting other people down.

Obama blasts Trump's 'demeaning, degrading' comments on women

Canada has called for a prompt investigation into the air strikes that killed more than 140 people and wounded hundreds of others at a funeral ceremony in Yemen's capital.
	The Iran-backed Huthi rebels blamed the Saudi-led coalition for Saturday's attack, one of the deadliest since it launched a military campaign against the Shiite insurgents in March 2015.
	After initially denying any involvement, the coalition later said it would "immediately investigate" the incident.
	"The Saudi-led coalition must move forward now on its commitment to investigate this incident," Canadian Foreign Minister Stephane Dion said yesterday in a statement condemning the attack.
	"Canada calls on all parties in Yemen to avoid an escalation of violence as a result of this incident."
	Dion said, "Canada urges all parties to abide by their obligations under international humanitarian law, and to commit to political dialogue and to a lasting cessation of hostilities to halt the tragic loss of civilian ...

Canada demands probe of Yemen funeral air strike

Obama condemns Trump's 'demeaning, degrading' comments on

Eighteen people were killed today when a van packed with five tonnes of explosives blew up in Turkey's restive southeast in an attack blamed on Kurdish militants, the prime minister said.
	The bombing, which killed 10 soldiers and eight civilians, was one of the most deadly attacks on Turkish security forces since the attempted coup of July 15 when a rogue military faction tried to oust President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
	"The attack was perpetrated by a suicide bomber who detonated a van (packed) with five tonnes of explosives," Prime Minister Binali Yildirim told a news conference in Istanbul.
	The attack targeted a security post in Hakkari province as security forces were searching vehicles in Semdinli district, the official news agency Anadolu said.
	In a statement, the Hakkari governor said a vehicle refused to stop as it approached a checkpoint, resulting in soldiers responding with gunfire.
	Militants then also started shooting, the governor's office said, quoted by Dogan news ...

Truck bomb kills 18 in Turkey

Skipper Mashrafe Mortaza starred with bat and ball as Bangladesh outplayed England by 34 runs in the second one-day international to level the three-match series 1-1 in Dhaka today.
	Mortaza hit 44 off 29 balls after Mahmudullah Riyad top-scored with 75 off 88 balls, leading Bangladesh to 238-8 at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.
	Mortaza then brought his bowling skill into play, picking up 4-29, including three wickets in his opening spell that left England tottering at 26-3.
	England couldn't recover from the position before they were all out for 204 runs in 44.4 overs, despite the best efforts by captain Jos Buttler, who scored the highest 57 runs for the visiting side.
	Taskin Ahmed dismissed Buttler leg-before thanks to a television review after his initial appeal was turned down by the on-field umpire.
	Taskin had earlier removed Jonny Bairstow for 35 to end his 79-run fifth-wicket partnership with Buttler as the duo attempted to revive England's innings after the initial ...

Cricket: Mortaza sinks England as Bangladesh level series

Hungary's leading opposition newspaper Nepszabadsag will be put up for sale, its chief editor said today, a day after its owner suspended publication, sparking fears of a government clampdown on press freedom.
	Citing heavy losses in previous years, Nepszabadsag's owner Mediaworks said yesterday that halting the left-leaning paper's online and print operations was done purely for commercial reasons.
	Journalists at the paper said they had been given no advance notice and were suddenly prevented from entering the workplace.
	Talks between Mediaworks management and senior editors today failed to reach agreement on publishing the paper's Monday edition or restarting its online version, editor-in-chief Andras Muranyi said.
	"We agreed only to work on the terms of the paper's sale and on finding it a new owner," Muranyi told reporters outside the newspaper's headquarters in Budapest.
	Regardless of who the new owner is, Nepszabadsag "should remain independent" he said.
	Opposition parties, 

Suspended Hungarian opposition paper to be sold: editor

A leader of a former Tuareg rebel group who was killed in a blast in northern Mali this weekend was in fact "assassinated", an umbrella ex-rebel group said today.
	Cheikh Ag Aoussa, the military leader of a former rebel group, was leaving a meeting yesterday at the office of the UN MINUSCA mission in Kidal when his car exploded.
	An African military source who is part of the UN deployment said his car struck a mine and that he died on the spot. A local official confirmed he was killed by a mine.
	"All the findings have ruled out (the possibility) that the car passed over the mine. The car was booby-trapped and therefore it is a targeted assassination,"  said the former rebel Coordination of Azawad Movements (CMA) of which Aoussa was a member.
	"Every indication is that the explosive device was placed on the deceased during the meeting.
	"As usual, the vehicles of the CMA representatives were parked inside the MINUSMA camp for the duration of the meeting."
	The CMA called on the UN ...

Former Mali rebel leader 'assassinated': ex-rebels

The number of war-displaced civilians in Kunduz has more than doubled to 24,000, the UN said today, as street battles persisted a week after the Taliban stormed into the northern Afghan city.
	Terrified residents facing a growing humanitarian crisis have been fleeing explosions and gunfights to neighbouring provinces of Balkh, Takhar, Baghlan and the capital Kabul.
	"Initial reports indicate that around 24,000 internally displaced persons" have fled Kunduz, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement.
	"As assessments are ongoing and families are still on the move, this figure will almost certainly change."
	The UN had earlier said up to 10,000 people had fled the city, which briefly fell last year to the Taliban in a similar assault.
	Kunduz residents have faced crippling shortages of food and medicine after the Taliban launched an all-out assault last Monday, capturing parts of the city.
	Afghan forces have struggled to flush them out ..

Thousands flee pitched battles in northern Afghan city

A Palestinian astrophysics professor accused of inciting violence was sentenced to seven months in prison today by an Israeli military court, a Palestinian NGO said.
	Imad Barghouti, 52, was arrested in April and imprisoned without trial for an initial three months, under an Israeli procedure known as administrative detention.
	His lawyer said he was arrested for comments posted on his Facebook page.
	He has been accused of inciting violence against Israel, and Israeli media have said he is suspected of ties to the militant Islamist group Hamas.
	His lawyers appealed to an Israeli military court after his arrest, which in May ruled that he should be freed.
	However military prosecutors opted to put him on trial, leading to his sentence today.
	He was also given a fine of 2,000 shekels (450 euros, USD 525), according to the Palestinian Prisoners' Club. He could be released in a month if he is given credit for time served.
	Barghouti is a professor at a university in the West Bank, ...

AFP

AFP

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