A shootout has erupted between police and a gunman inside a Planned Parenthood family planning centre in the US state of Colorado, police said.
	Four police officers have been injured in the ongoing standoff with a shooter inside the facility in Colorado Springs, said police spokeswoman Catherine Buckley.
	An unknown number of civilians have been wounded, but there are no known fatalities so far, she said yesterday.

Shootout inside family planning building in Colorado: police

PTI Automatic

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles were made to wait for world leaders at a drinks reception in Malta today after the high-level guests got stuck in traffic on the Mediterranean island.
	The queen and her eldest son were hosting a drinks party at the presidential San Anton Palace after the opening ceremony of the 2015 Commonwealth summit.
	But the pair were left waiting for five minutes for some of the 10 new Commonwealth leaders attending, after most of them fell foul of heavy security measures which closed many roads.
	"Are you sure they're here?" quipped Charles as the queen, dressed in an aqua-green coat and hat with pink flowers on it, peered around the entrance to the Grand Master's Hall where the reception was to be held.
	Relief came in the form of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari -- the first to arrive at the reception, where pomegranate and orange juice and Australian sparkling wine were served with a selection of ...

World leaders make Queen wait at Malta party

British radical preacher Anjem Choudary, who faces charges for inviting support for the Islamic State group through social media, returned to jail today after breaking his bail terms, according to court authorities.
	The 48-year-old Choudary, who has been frequently interviewed by British and US media on his views on Islam and the Middle East, was arrested in August but was granted bail on September 4, pending a trial to be held in January.
	But London's Westminster court revoked his bail after he was seen meeting a person he was "precluded from contacting".
	At an earlier hearing, Choudary, from east London, said he would plead not guilty.
	Choudary and his co-accused, Mohammed Rahman, are charged with inviting support for the banned terror group between June 2014 and March 2015.
	0He is the former head in Britain of Islam4UK or al-Muhajiroun, a group that called for Islamic law in Britain and which was banned under counter-terrorism legislation in 2010.
	On granting bail, judge John 

UK radical preacher on IS charges jailed over bail breach

Brazil's government said today it will sue mining giants BHP Billiton and Vale for USD 5.2 billion in clean-up costs and damages after the deadly collapse of a waste water dam at an iron-ore mine.
	Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira said a lawsuit would be filed demanding the companies, plus mine operator Samarco, which they co-own, create a fund of 20 billion reais. The money would go to environmental recovery and compensation for victims.

Brazil to sue dam spill mining companies for USD 5.2 billion

Several people were wounded today when an attacker opened fire at a Planned Parenthood family planning center in the US state of Colorado, police said.
	"A police operation is still under way," a police source in Colorado Springs told AFP, adding that "multiple" people had been shot from outside the building.

Shooting at US family planning centre, several wounded: police

Billions of dollars in environmental aid were announced today as cities worldwide prepared for marches to pressure leaders heading for Paris to negotiate a historic pact to tame global warming.
	In Ottawa, the Canadian government announced climate funding of 2.65 billion Canadian dollars (USD 1.98 billion) over the next five years, while the 53-nation Commonwealth bloc agreed to set up a billion-dollar "Green Finance Facility" for environmental projects.
	French President Francois Hollande, addressing the Commonwealth summit in Malta as head of the climate conference's host nation, called for humanity to unite in the fight against global warming.
	"Man is the worst enemy of man. We can see it with terrorism," said Hollande, who spoke after leading ceremonies in Paris to mourn the victims of the November 13 terror attacks in the French capital.
	"But we can say the same when it comes to climate. Human beings are destroying nature, damaging the environment. It is therefore for human ...

Climate pledges, mass marches ahead of UN summit

Francois Hollande today urged British MPs to back air strikes on Islamic State targets in Syria "in solidarity with France", in a tight vote expected early next week.
	British Prime Minister David Cameron on Thursday argued his case to members of parliament for Britain to join air strikes on the jihadist group in Syria, amid signs that opposition was weakening after the Paris attacks two weeks ago.
	"David Cameron told me that he would consult parliament to take part in strikes in Syria. And win over the House of Commons," French President Hollande told AFP at the Commonwealth summit in Malta.
	"I can only call on all British members of parliament, in solidarity with France but, above all, conscious of the fight against terrorism, to approve this intervention."
	Cameron told the lower house that Britain should not "wait until an attack takes place here" before acting, adding it was "morally" unacceptable to be "content with outsourcing our security to our allies".
	A vote is expected .

French president urges British MPs to back Syria air strikes

Several wounded in shooting at US family planning centre:

Some surviving relatives of drowned Kurdish toddler Aylan Kurdi, whose beached corpse became a global symbol of the Syrian refugee crisis, will be admitted to Canada, media reported today.
	The three-year-old died after his family, sheltering in Turkey from the war in Syria, decided to make a desperate bid to reach Greece in a flimsy inflatable boat.
	The sight of Aylan's body, face down on the Turkish shore, was captured by news photographers and galvanized public opinion around the world as hundreds of thousands of refugees arrived in Europe.
	Aylan's mother and brother died in the same accident.
	Now, according to the boy's aunt Tima Kurdi, who already lives in Canada, authorities have said Aylan's other aunt, uncle and five cousins will be granted asylum as part of a bigger package of arrivals.
	"It will happen," she told broadcaster CBC. "They will bring them."
	The boy's uncle had previously made an application for refugee status at the Canadian mission in Turkey, but was ...

Drowned Aylan's family to be admitted to Canada

Al-Qaeda's North African arm said today that it had killed two men last month for spying for France in Mali.
	The two men, named as Mohammed Ag Abdellah and Fajr Ag Sidi Mohammed, were killed on October 9 and October 19 respectively "in their hiding place in Bourj el-Barajneh in Algeria," according to a statement by the Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) group.
	Neither the nationality nor other details of the two men were given in the AQIM statement which was published by the Mauritanian news agency Al-Akhbar.
	The agency is one of the private Mauritanian media sources which regularly publish statements from AQIM and other jihadist groups.
	The agency said that the two men involved were both Tuaregs from northern Mali who the Al-Qaeda group accused of "spying on behalf of France" which has been involved militarily in Mali since an international military operation was launched in January 2013.
	The two men "collected information" on the location of possible targets for France and .

AQIM Islamists say killed two men for spying for France

A man lived with his father's dead body for four months, even watching television alongside the skeleton, but escaped prosecution, an inquest in Britain reportedly heard today.
	Timothy Brown, 59, placed his 94-year-old father Kenneth's body in his favourite armchair after he suffered a fall at the house they shared in Stafford, central England, in 2014.
	"Unfortunately, Timothy didn't call the emergency services," Detective Constable Andrew Weatherley of the local police told an inquest hearing, according to British media reports.
	"He couldn't come to terms with the fact his father had passed away. The pair had led a reclusive life together and were very close."
	Months later, a neighbour called at the house and spotted Kenneth Brown's pyjama-clad remains and police were notified.
	They arrested Timothy Brown, who had been his father's carer for ten years, on suspicion of concealing a body and preventing a burial but he was not charged as officers decided it was not in the public ...

Briton kept father's skeleton in armchair for months: inquest

Thousands of protesters blocked traffic in Chicago's busy commercial district during the Black Friday shopping extravaganza demanding justice for a black teen killed by a police officer.
	Racial tensions have soared in the US city over the shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, for which a white police officer was charged this week with first-degree murder.
	Graphic footage of the October 2014 shooting has set Chicago on edge and reignited angry debate about the use of force by US law enforcement.
	Protesters thronged Chicago's "Magnificent Mile" where police and private security guarded upmarket outlets like Tiffany and Co. And the Apple Store, locking arms in front of stores to keep shoppers from entering.
	They wove their way between cars and buses halted on Michigan Avenue until police closed the street to vehicles to make room for the demonstrators.
	A group of Black Power activists marched with red, green and black flags chanting "You can't see it and hide no more" while civil 

Thousands protest police shooting in Chicago

Former Ivorian president Laurent Gbagbo has been declared "physically and mentally able" to stand trial for crimes against humanity trial next year, the International Criminal Court said today.
	Three ICC-appointed experts "underlined a vast improvement in Mr Gbagbo's state of health and observes that he no longer suffers from clinical post-traumatic stress syndrome or hospitalisation syndrome," the Hague-based court said in a statement.
	Gbagbo, 70, and his former militia chief Charles Ble Goude, 43, are due in the dock on January 28, where they face charges of triggering political unrest after Gbagbo refused to concede defeat to bitter rival Alassane Ouattara in the 2010 elections.
	The trial had been scheduled to open on November 10, but the ICC decided to give judges more time to examine expert reports on Gbagbo's health.
	Weeks of tensions in the western African nation after the 2010 elections led to a bloody standoff in which some 3,000 people were killed.
	Gbagbo was eventually 

Former Ivory Coast leader Gbagbo 'fit for trial': ICC

Pope Francis hailed Africa as "a continent of hope" today as he toured Uganda on the second leg of a landmark trip that has seen him railing against corruption and poverty.
	The 78-year-old pontiff was given a rapturous welcome as he flew in to the central town of Entebbe, heading straight to Uganda's presidential palace in a small hatchback car as waving crowds gathered along the roadside, four deep in some places.
	In his opening speech, Francis said his visit was "meant to draw attention to Africa as a whole: its promise, its hopes, its struggles and its achievements.
	"The world looks to Africa as the continent of hope," he said.
	The pontiff arrived after three days in neighbouring Kenya, where vast crowds turned out for an open-air mass, and where he lashed out at corruption and wealthy minorities who hoard resources at the expense of the poor.
	The pope has made humility and help for the impoverished a hallmark of his tenure.
	Veteran Ugandan leader Yoweri Museveni, widely ...

Pope hails Africa as 'continent of hope'

Ukraine today accused Russia of reducing its coal deliveries to Kiev in a move that could further ratchet up tensions with Moscow.
	"Coal deliveries from the territories that are not under our control and from Russia have been reduced," Ukrainian Energy Minister Volodymyr Demchyshyn told parliament, referring to the eastern parts of the country that are controlled by pro-Russian separatists.
	The latest rise in tensions between Kiev and Moscow follows Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak's threat on Tuesday to suspend coal supplies to Kiev after explosions on power lines coming from Ukrainian territory left the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula without electricity.
	The explosions -- orchestrated by unknown attackers -- last week left some 1.6 million people in the dark and further infuriated Moscow as Kiev expects its free-trade agreement with the EU to come into force from January 1, 2016.
	"Russia's goal is to destabilise Ukraine," Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk said .

Ukraine accuses Russia of reducing coal deliveries

Abengoa said today its chief executive Santiago Seage had resigned after it emerged the Spanish renewable energy giant was close to bankruptcy, as concerns rise over the fate of a firm that employs close to 29,000 people.
	The company announced Wednesday that a deal with Spanish engineering group Gestamp -- which had been due to inject much-needed cash into the firm -- had fallen through, leaving it with a mountain of debt and the threat of becoming Spain's biggest-ever corporate failure.
	Today, it said it had accepted "the resignation of Santiago Seage", adding all operational powers would now be in the hands of board chairman Jose Dominguez Abascal.
	Gestamp subsidiary Gonvarri had planned to buy up 28 percent of Abengoa for some 350 million euros ($370 million), which would have made it the renewable energy firm's biggest shareholder.
	But the deal fell through, and a court in the southern city of Seville -- where the company is headquartered -- said Friday it had launched ...

Abengoa CEO resigns as concerns mount over Spanish firm's fate

Tanzanian authorities suspended today the head of the tax revenue authority in a corruption probe, as the new government cracks down on graft in the east African nation.
	The suspension of Rished Baden came after newly elected Prime Minster Kassim Majaliwa visited the main port in Dar es Salaam, and found 349 shipping containers listed as having arrived in the port had vanished.
	Senior officials in the revenue authority and customs have also been suspended pending investigations, according to official statements quoted in Tanzania media.
	Tanzania's President John Magufuli, who took power earlier this month after winning October 25 elections, has introduced a swathe of austerity cuts and crackdowns on public corruption.
	Earlier this week, Magufuli scrapped independence day celebrations to spend the money on a clean-up campaign as Tanzania struggles with an outbreak of cholera.

Tanzania suspends tax revenue chief in graft investigation

Poland today ruled out the extradition of Oscar-winning director Roman Polanski to the United States to face sentencing for a 1977 case of statutory rape.
	The prosecutor's office in the southern city of Krakow said the October 30 decision by a local court "to refuse to hand Roman Polanski over to US authorities was justified"and so there was no justification to appeal it.
	The decision "ends the legal proceedings" against the 82-year-old French-Polish director of "The Pianist", "Chinatown" and "Rosemary's Baby", leaving him free to reside in Poland, one of his lawyers, Jerzy Stachowicz, told AFP.
	For the court decision to take effect, the justice minister must now communicate it to US authorities.
	Zbigniew Ziobro, justice minister in Poland's new conservative government, had previously spoken in favour of extraditing Polanski over the 1977 rape in Los Angeles of Samantha Geimer, then 13 years old.
	Polanski's lawyer today brushed aside questions over what would happen if Ziobro did 

Poland rules out Polanski extradition to US

Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat unveiled today a new USD 1 billion Commonwealth Green Finance Facility to support environmental projects within the 53-nation bloc as the race against climate change intensifies.
	The CGFF will start with a working group, bringing together representatives from countries including Australia, Britain, Canada, Malaysia and Nigeria, and financial companies including HSBC and PricewaterhouseCoopers, the facility said in a statement.
	The USD 1 billion (950-million-euro) facility would be capitalised initially through sovereign contributions and then through so-called green bonds, and is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2016.
	The project was announced during the first day of the 2015 Commonwealth summit, which is being seen as a stepping stone towards a UN climate conference in Paris on Monday.
	The CGFF hopes to "improve the bankability of green projects in Commonwealth countries, including the Commonwealth's small island states, by ...

Commonwealth sets up USD 1 billion green finance facility

The Netherlands will double the number of beds and shelters for tens of thousands of asylum-seekers after striking a deal with local authorities, officials said today amid a burgeoning refugee crisis.
	As Europe grapples with its biggest flow of migrants since World War II, the Dutch government is also freeing up a further 350 million euros (USD 370 million) for this year to help it meet the challenge.
	An additional 42,500 spaces will be created for new asylum-seekers arriving in the country, of which 10,000 will only be available for three to six months.
	"Given how many people are coming, it is inevitable that it will only be a modest welcome," Prime Minister Mark Rutte told reporters today.
	A further 24,000 places will be created for people whose requests for asylum have already been granted.
	Hundreds of thousands of people fleeing war and poverty mainly in the Middle East and Africa have landed on European shores in recent months.
	Some 46,000 people are already being housed in 

Dutch to double places for asylum-seekers

Chicago police pressed first degree murder charges against a gang member today after a nine-year-old boy was lured into an alley and shot dead.
	The US city is notorious for gun crime, but Tyshawn Lee's November 2 death managed to horrify a Chicago already reeling from more than 450 murders this year.
	"This is a crime that shook our city," city police superintendant Garry Mccarthy told reporters.
	"It was an act of barbarism: The assassination of a nine-year-old child as a gang retaliation to get back at his father."
	McCarthy said 27-year-old Corey Morgan had been arrested and charged and cited the suspect's criminal history as an illustration of the challenge facing Chicago.
	"When we solve this case," he said, "we're going to find an individual with an extensive, violent criminal history who likely should not have been on the streets.
	"That's the way it happens almost every single time. Corey Morgan is a documented gang member, a convicted felon," he complained.
	"As you know, we 

AFP

AFP

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