Saudi-led coalition warplanes have resumed air strikes on Yemen's capital for the first time in three months, killing 14 people today and shutting the airport after UN-brokered talks were suspended.
	The coalition intervened in March last year after Shiite Huthi rebels and allied forces loyal to former president Ali Abdullah Saleh overran Sanaa the previous September.
	They later tightened their grip on power and forced President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi to flee in February 2015.
	Hadi is now based in Riyadh, as are members of his internationally recognised government who travel between Saudi Arabia and Yemen's temporary capital Aden in the south.
	Coalition spokesman General Ahmed Assiri confirmed that the air strikes against the rebels had restarted and led to the closure of Sanaa airport, saying warplanes hit military targets "around" the city.
	Medics there told AFP that 14 people were killed in coalition strikes which residents said hit a food factory in central Sanaa.
	Factory ...

Air raids again target Yemen capital after talks flounder

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The United Nations said today it was "greatly concerned" at Israeli claims that one of its staff helped Hamas fighters in Gaza and vowed an internal probe.
	"The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is greatly concerned by the allegation from the Israeli authorities," it said, promising "a thorough internal review of the processes and circumstances surrounding the allegation.

UN says 'greatly concerned' by Hamas aid allegations

Facebook today began letting marketing messages slip past ad-blocking software on desktop computers.
	The update to the leading social network's advertising platform came with assurances that Facebook understands how annoying ads can be and with enhanced tools for controlling the kinds of ads shown to users.
	"As we offer people more powerful controls, we'll also begin showing ads on Facebook desktop for people who currently use ad blocking software," vice president of ads and business platform Andrew Bosworth said in a blog post.
	Ad blocking software typically does not work on mobile devices, which account for most visits to the social network, but are estimated to stymie billions of dollars worth of ads annually.
	Advertising pays for online services that people have grown accustomed to accessing for free.
	"Facebook is one of those free services, and ads support our mission of giving people the power to share and making the world more open and connected," Bosworth said.
	Facebook .

Facebook sidesteps ad-blocking on desktop computers

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan today promised to reinvigorate ties after their first meeting since Ankara shot down a Russian warplane last November.
	Erdogan's visit to Putin's hometown of Saint Petersburg is also his first foreign trip since the failed coup against him last month that sparked a purge of opponents and cast a shadow over Turkey's relations with the West.
	"We lived through a very complicated moment in the relations between our states and we very much want, and I feel our Turkish friends want, to overcome the difficulties," Putin told journalists at a joint press conference after the encounter.
	The Kremlin leader insisted it would take "painstaking work" and "some time" to return to previous trade levels as Russia looks to roll back a series of economic sanctions against Ankara, but both sides said they wanted to restart major energy projects hit by the crisis.
	Erdogan said that he hoped Russian-Turkish relations would ..

Putin and Erdogan pledge reset after diplomatic rift

A French World War I memorial has been removed from Pokemon Go following complaints about players gathering to do battle at a site containing the remains of 130,000 soldiers, the site's management said.
	The Douaumont ossuary in northeast France contains the remains of some of the more than 300,000 French and German soldiers who died in the Battle of Verdun, one of the bloodiest of the 1914-18 conflict.
	In 1984, then French president Francois Mitterrand visited the site with West German chancellor Helmut Kohl, with the pair joining hands to symbolise their countries' post-war reconciliation.
	Both the underground ossuary and the plaque commemorating the Mitterrand-Kohl handshake featured in the Pokemon Go smartphone app until last weekend when the game's creator Niantic removed them at the site's request, Douaumount spokeswoman Elodie Farcage said.
	The ossuary had been the location of a Pokemon "gym", where rival teams do battle, while the plaque was a Pokestop, where players could .

Pokemon booted out of French World War I memorial

Brazil's Senate opened debate today before voting on whether to send suspended president Dilma Rousseff to an impeachment trial, bringing the Olympic host country's political crisis to a climax.
	At the start of the marathon session, Supreme Court President Ricardo Lewandowski reminded senators that they were about to "exercise one of the most serious tasks under the constitution."
	The Senate president, Renan Calheiros, also underlined the gravity of the impeachment process, which Rousseff, a one-time Marxist guerrilla, has likened to a coup d'etat.
	"I want to emphasize the gravity of the decision that we will soon take," he said. "I ask that we set aside as much as possible our party political convictions."
	Rousseff's opponents only need a simple majority of the 81 senators' votes to open an impeachment trial. They look set to clear the threshold easily, although the debate is expected to stretch into the early hours of Wednesday.
	It is the final vote before the one that will ...

Brazil Senate debates opening impeachment end game

Russian President Vladimir Putin said today that restoring trade ties with Turkey will take time and work, after his first meeting with counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan since Ankara shot down a Russian warplane last November.
	Putin insisted that he wanted to see relations with "our Turkish friends" return to previous levels but stressed that it would take time for Moscow to roll back a series of economic sanctions against Ankara.
	"Ahead of us lies painstaking work to resuscitate trade and economic cooperation. This process has already started but it will take some time," Putin told a press conference in Saint Petersburg.
	"We lived through a very complicated moment in the relations between our states and we very much want, and I feel our Turkish friends want, to overcome the difficulties," Putin said.
	Erdogan's visit to Putin's hometown of Saint Petersburg was his first foreign trip since the failed coup against him last month that sparked a purge of opponents and cast a shadow ...

Painstaking work needed to rebuild Russia-Turkey trade: Putin

Fierce fighting in Helmand has sent thousands of Afghans fleeing to the capital of the southern opium-rich province, sparking a humanitarian crisis as Taliban insurgents besiege the city despite intensified US air strikes.
	The Taliban advance on Lashkar Gah has compounded fears that the city was on the brink of falling into insurgent hands, even as US and Afghan officials insist that they will not allow another urban centre to be captured.
	Local officials warned on Tuesday that the provincial capital was struggling to cope with an influx of people fleeing the fighting across Helmand, seen as the focal point of the expanding insurgency.
	"Around 30,000 people have been displaced in Helmand in the past several weeks. Most of them are coming to Lashkar Gah," Omar Zawak, the provincial governor's spokesman, told AFP.
	"It difficult for the city to contain all of them. Families, children, women, all have to sleep on the streets. There is a shortage of food and clean water. We need urgent 

Thousands flee fierce fighting in Afghanistan's Helmand

An attempt by Berlin to clamp down on properties being rented out as holiday homes on internet platforms like Airbnb suffered a setback today as a court ruled in landlords' favour.
	The administrative court backed the claims of three homeowners, who had sued for the right to rent out their second homes in the German capital to tourists when they weren't themselves staying there.
	The same court had in June quashed a legal challenge to the law, which outlaws property owners and tenants from renting out whole apartments or houses for short-term holiday lets.
	The ban still effectively prohibits primary residences from being advertised on Airbnb.
	Today's decision had been keenly awaited as a further indication of how judges would view the new regulation.
	Some landlords even received letters, seen by AFP, indicating that the city was waiting for a legal steer before proceeding against them.
	In the case of the three landlords -- who live in Rostock in northern Germany, Denmark, and ...

Court deals blow to Berlin's Airbnb ban

Norwegian police said today they had found no proof of insurance fraud as they closed a new inquiry into the 1990 Scandinavian Star ferry fire which killed 159 people, and was believed to have been arson.
	The Scandinavian Star car and passenger ferry caught fire in April 1990 as it sailed overnight between Oslo and the Danish port of Frederikshavn, killing a third of the 482 people on board.
	Blame was initially placed on a Danish trucker who had previously been convicted of arson attacks and who perished in the ferry blaze, but there was not enough evidence against him.
	Norwegian police reopened the investigation in 2014 to examine claims that the fire was part of an insurance fraud scheme.
	Experts and families of the victims had noted that several fires flared up on the ferry after the trucker's death, and suggested the blazes were set as part of an insurance fraud.
	In February, the former head of the Danish maritime transport authority, Flemming Thue Jensen, accused two crew ...

Norway says no proof of insurance scam in deadly ferry fire

Turkey suspended over 2,500 more staff from the powerful religious affairs state agency today in the latest purge after last month's failed coup blamed on US-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen.
	The religious affairs directorate, Diyanet, said in a statement that 2,560 people have been suspended in the latest wave, bringing the total dismissed to 3,672 since July 15.
	Diyanet, which is directly linked to the prime minister's office, was established in 1924 to control religion in officially secular modern Turkey.
	The agency has a budget larger than many ministries including health and takes care of close to 80,000 mosques in the predominantly Muslim country.
	It has 100,000 personnel including imams but Diyanet did not give details of those dismissed.
	Diyanet said "the commission created for this purpose (to find Gulen sympathisers) continued its rigorous work".
	The reclusive cleric is accused by Ankara of ordering the coup in which a rogue military faction tried to oust ...

Turkey suspends 2,500 more from religion agency after coup bid

Iraq's parliament today voted to lift the immunity of its speaker and two lawmakers to allow for corruption allegations to be investigated.
	Speaker Salim al-Juburi said in a statement that he had agreed to submit the lifting of his own immunity to a parliamentary vote.
	A majority of the 237 members in attendance subsequently voted to lift parliamentary immunity for Juburi and two others MPs, Mohammed al-Karbouli and Taleb al-Maamari, a parliamentary official said.
	Juburi then testified before a judiciary commission in response to corruption allegations Defence Minister Khaled al-Obeidi made publicly earlier this month, judiciary spokesman Abdelsattar Bayraqdar said in a statement.
	Juburi has denied the accusations against him, which Obeidi made while appearing in parliament to answer graft allegations he said were brought in retribution for his rejection of corruption.
	Corruption is widespread in Iraq's government, from senior officials to low-level functionaries, and while ...

Iraq parliament lifts speaker's immunity to probe graft

The Maldives' parliament passed a new defamation bill today despite US-led international concern that it risked undermining basic freedoms on the troubled honeymoon islands.
	The parliament dominated by lawmakers from President Abdulla Yameen's Progressive Party of Maldives voted 47 to 31 in favour of the controversial bill that criminalises defamation.
	The main opposition as well as rights activists say the law allows the government to impose severe penalties on those seeking to exercise freedom of speech, including shutting down news organisations and jailing journalists for up to six months.
	A coalition of opposition parties said the passage of the controversial law was a retrograde step in a country which abolished criminal defamation in 2009, a year after its first democratic elections.
	"The Maldives United Opposition (MUO) views the passage of the law as clear proof of regression of democracy in Maldives and a step backwards from democratic norms," the group said in a ...

Maldives passes defamation law despite UN warnings

Philippines tourism officials today said a threat by an Islamic State-related group to bomb the Miss Universe beauty contest was "serious", but insisted the country would be ready to hold the pageant next year.
	A pro-IS social media channel tracked by the terror-monitoring SITE Intelligence Group showed a video on how to "create a bomb for Miss Universe", referring to the beauty pageant to be held in Manila in January 2017.
	The video, posted yesterday, appeared to show how to make an explosive belt for suicide operations.
	"We consider this as serious," said the tourism department, which last month announced it won the contest to host the 2017 pageant.
	It cited the country's successful hosting of Pope Francis last year, as well as world leaders for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, as proof that it was ready for the expected influx of visitors for Miss Universe.
	The threat would be referred to an intelligence group assigned to the pageant, national police spokesman ...

Philippines says Miss Universe IS threat is 'serious'

The Maldives' parliament passed a new defamation bill today despite US-led international concern that it risked undermining basic freedoms on the troubled honeymoon islands.
	The parliament dominated by lawmakers from President Abdulla Yameen's Progressive Party of Maldives voted 47 to 31 in favour of the controversial bill that criminalises defamation.
	Local rights activists say the law allows the government to impose severe penalties on those seeking to exercise freedom of speech, including shutting down news organisations and jailing journalists for up to six months.
	"This is truly the end of free media in the Maldives. The government no longer needs an excuse to shut down media outlets or crack down on dissenters," Ali Naafiz, assistant editor of the private Mihaaru news website, told AFP.
	The Maldives went ahead with the vote nine days after the United States and European Union member states urged Yameen to withdraw the bill and "return to the path of democracy".
	Yameen has ..

Maldives adopts defamation law despite foreign concern

The Japanese city of Nagasaki today marked 71 years since its destruction by a US atomic bomb, with its mayor lauding a visit by US President Barack Obama to Hiroshima earlier this year.
	A bell tolled as thousands of people, including ageing survivors and relatives of victims, observed a minute's silence at 11:02 am (0732 IST), the exact moment of the blast.
	Some 74,000 people died in the initial explosion, while thousands of others perished months or years later from radiation sickness.
	The attack came three days after the US dropped the first ever atomic bomb on Hiroshima, which ultimately killed 140,000 people.
	Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue lauded Obama's landmark May visit to Hiroshima -- the first ever by a sitting US president.
	"Knowing the facts becomes the starting point for thinking about a future free of nuclear weapons," Taue said, calling on other world leaders to visit his city.
	Local officials and those who survived the bombing called for strict adherence to Japan's 

Nagasaki marks 71st atomic bombing anniversary

Thailand could issue all foreign tourists with location-tracking SIM cards under plans announced today by the telecoms regulator, which has denied the project is an invasion of privacy.
	Famed for its temples and tropical beaches the kingdom is a major global tourist hub, with about 32 million visitors expected in 2016 and the industry accounting for around a tenth of the economy.
	But a small number of foreigners fall foul of the law and the country's military rulers, who seized power two years ago, have vowed to crack down on those overstaying on their visas or committing crimes.
	The proposal to monitor foreign tourists comes from Thailand's National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC).
	At a press conference in Bangkok today the agency said the location-tracking SIM cards would help authorities.
	"It is not to limit tourists' rights. Instead it is to locate them which will help if there are some tourists who overstay or run away (from police),"  Secretary General 

Thailand mulls location-tracking tourist SIM cards

Opponents of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak applied today to register a new political party in an attempt to challenge the leader over a massive financial scandal.
	Muhyiddin Yassin, who was sacked as deouty prime minister by Najib last year, submitted the application for the Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, or United Malaysian People's Party.
	Former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, a trenchant critic of Najib, is expected to become the chairman, Muhyiddin's aides said.
	Mahathir, who was premier for 22 years, quit Najib's ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) in February, saying it had degenerated into an organisation whose sole purpose was to protect Najib.
	"We will fight corruption and abuse of power," said Muhyiddin, who is widely expected to be the new party's president.
	Party officials said they were not sure how long it would take for their registration to be approved by authorities, who have the power to refuse to do so.
	Muhyiddin had repeatedly supported .

New party seeks registration to challenge Malaysia PM

A Chinese tourist stabbed a woman to death and seriously wounded her husband after demanding they vacate a table at a luxury Kenyan safari lodge, police said today.
	The incident occurred at Keekorok Lodge in Masai Mara, a large game reserve in southwestern Kenya, where the couple -- also Chinese -- were having dinner.
	The assailant, identified as Lee Changqin, is said to have demanded that they leave their table, prompting an argument, before he stabbed them both in the chest.
	Rift Valley county police chief Gideon Kibunjah said the tourist was arrested and undergoing interrogation before being arraigned in court.
	"The woman died while undergoing treatment in hospital while her husband is still in hospital," Kibunjah told AFP by telephone. "The man is in custody.

Chinese tourist kills woman at luxury Kenya safari lodge

A Chinese man applying for a certificate of no criminal record had his request denied when police told him he was in fact dead, having been executed a decade ago for kidnapping, a report said.
	The man, a resident of the southern metropolis of Guangzhou surnamed Chen, requested the document to apply for a job.
	"The police told me that... I had already committed the crime of kidnapping and the death sentence penalty had already been carried out, so I was technically speaking already dead," he said, according to Guangdong Radio and Television's verified social media account.
	The mix-up was the result of his having the same name and identification card number as a criminal executed in 2006.
	Chen, 45, said that he had lived a perfectly normal life until he applied for the background check, even receiving entry-exit permits for Hong Kong and Macau without any trouble.
	Police called him last week to explain the unusual situation, and finally issued him with his certificate last ...

Chinese ID mix-up leaves dead man walking

With its regular live broadcasts, routine tirades and daily -- often curiously intimate -- photo posts, the Facebook page of Cambodian strongman Hun Sen has won a remarkable five million fans from countries including India and Indonesia.
	But a surge of "likes" from countries including the Philippines has reignited allegations that his digital adoration is purchased from so-called "click farms".
	The 64-year-old prime minister, a once self-confessed tech dinosaur who tolerates little dissent, has embraced Facebook with gusto in the last year after opponents used the platform to reach out to younger voters.
	He has vowed to remain prime minister until he is 74 with the next elections due in 2018.
	To do so he will need the support of Cambodia's youth -- a huge, tech-savvy demographic who voted in droves for the opposition at the last polls, wearied by the endemic corruption, rights abuses and political repression seen as the hallmarks of Hun Sen's rule.
	With loyalists controlling ...

AFP

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