Citic Securities, China's largest brokerage firm, said Thursday it is being probed for alleged "rule violations", while several of its directors are already the subject of separate investigations.
	The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) is investigating Citic Securities for "allegedly violating the Supervision and Management Regulation for Securities Brokerages," the company said in a statement filed to the Shanghai stock exchange, where it is listed.
	It did not give details of the investigation.
	"Citic Securities will actively assist the investigation and release any progress in a timely manner. The company is operating normally," it added. Shares in in the firm dipped one percent Thursday.
	Police are separately investigating executives of the firm for insider trading and leaking inside information, the official Xinhua news agency reported in September.
	They include general manager Cheng Boming, operations official Yu Xinli and the vice manager of its information ...

China's biggest broker Citic probed for 'rule violations'

PTI Automatic

Pope Francis today warned of a "catastrophic" outcome if vested interests blocked an agreement to tackle climate change at the UN talks opening in Paris next week.
	"In a few days, an important meeting on climate change will be held in Paris... It would be sad, and I dare say even catastrophic, were particular interests to prevail over the common good and lead to manipulating information in order to protect their own plans and projects," he said ahead of the summit which officially starts on Monday.
	"We are confronted with a choice which cannot be ignored: either to improve or to destroy the environment," he said in a speech at the world headquarters of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.
	Although he did not go into further detail, the pope has pointed the finger at big industry and blamed first-world countries for failing to act to curb global warming.
	Francis, who is on his first visit to Africa, arrived in Kenya late on Wednesday with a warning ...

Failure of Paris climate summit would be 'catastrophic': pope

Germany plans to send Tornado reconnaissance jets to support the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria, the defence spokesman of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives said today.
	A day after Merkel pledged in Paris to "soon" decide how to help battle the IS group in Syria, she met cabinet ministers in charge of security ahead of afternoon meetings of the major parties' parliamentary groups.
	"Germany will play a more active role than before," said the defence policy spokesman of her conservative CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Henning Otte, in a statement.
	While the government had not yet issued a statement, Otte said Germany would go beyond its current arms supplies and training to Iraqi Kurdish forces combating the IS.
	"We are not only strengthening the training mission in northern Iraq, but will step up our commitment in the fight against IS terror, among other things with RECCE reconnaissance Tornados," he said.
	The parliamentary groups of Merkel's conservatives as ...

Germany 'to send Tornado reconnaissance jets' to fight IS

Russia's foreign ministry today urged nationals currently in Turkey to return home after tensions with Ankara soared over the downing of a Russian warplane.
	"In connection with the existing terrorist threats on Turkish territory, we once again recommend that Russian citizens refrain from visiting Turkey, and recommend that Russians who are there for personal purposes return home," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Russia urges nationals in Turkey to return home

Tens of thousands of people around the world are expected to rally this weekend to put pressure on the Paris climate talks, which will open under tight security on the heels of France's worst terror attacks, organisers said today.
	From Melbourne to Tokyo and Manila to Los Angeles, some 2,000 events of all sizes are planned in about 100 nations in a bid to push leaders to craft a pact keeping Earth from overheating.
	However, following the terror attacks in Paris that killed 130 people, authorities in the French capital banned citizens' marches scheduled for Sunday -- the day before the summit officially opens -- and for December 12, the day after it closes.
	Activists have instead planned to link hands on Sunday in Paris creating a two-kilometre (1.2-mile) human chain along the cancelled march's route, while also passing in front of the Bataclan concert hall, where the worst violence occurred.
	In honour of the 90 people killed there on November 13 by jihadist gunmen, demonstrators ..

Global rallies to kick off Paris climate talks

Malaysia-based AirAsia, the region's biggest budget carrier by fleet size, said today it suffered a loss in the third quarter, bogged down by foreign exchange losses and its Indonesian operations.
	AirAsia registered a net loss of 405.72 million ringgit (USD 95.9 million) in the quarter ending September 30.
	The company had registered a profit of 5.4 million ringgit in the corresponding period of 2014.
	Revenue increased by 15 per cent to 1.52 billion ringgit due to an increase in passenger numbers, fuelled in particular by increased demand from Chinese travelers, AirAsia said.
	The discount carrier, in a statement, added that foreign exchange losses were 435.98 million ringgit, up from 152.66 million ringgit a year ago.
	AirAsia's flamboyant boss Tony Fernandes, a former record industry executive, remained optimistic for the rest of the year, insisting that in Malaysia, all signs were "pointing towards rational and sustainable growth in the coming quarters."
	The company's Indonesian 

AirAsia swings to Q3 loss, dragged by Indonesia, forex losses

Arrest warrants have been issued for a Thai general and two senior police officers for royal defamation, authorities said today, part of a snowballing probe linked to the palace that has seen two suspects die in military custody.
	Cases under Thailand's controversial lese majeste law have surged since the junta took over last year at a time of intense concern over the health of the kingdom's revered but ailing 87-year-old monarch Bhumibol Adulyadej.
	Under the widely-interpreted draconian law, anyone convicted of insulting the king, queen, heir or regent can face up to 15 years in jail on each count.
	The ongoing probe has given the Thai public a rare glimpse of alleged wrongdoing among the country's elite including high ranking members of the the security forces.
	Thailand's powerful army have long portrayed themselves as protectors of the monarchy and it is unusual for soldiers to be implicated in lese majeste.
	But a string of military and police officers have now been ensnared in .

Thai general sought as royal defamation probe widens

UN refugee chief Antonio Guterres warned today that closing borders on Muslims fleeing violence by Islamic State is counterproductive and only risks helping the group grow stronger.
	Guterres' speech in the Japanese capital to an audience of diplomats, NGOs and university students came as European countries are increasingly inclined towards tightening immigration rules in the worst refugee crisis the continent has faced since World War II.
	"The idea that Europe can announce the closure of borders to Muslim refugees or reject Muslim refugees is only an argument that will suit perfectly Daesh in its campaigns against Europe," Guterres said, using another name for IS.
	Policies that try to keep refugees out could also assist it "to recruit people in the same European countries," he added.
	"It's necessary to look at the complexity of the security situation and understand that the problem does not come from refugee movements," he added.
	Concerns about security have increased further ...

Closing borders not solution in IS battle: UN refugee chief

Four of the main suspects in the Paris attacks were on a list of radicalised people compiled by Belgium's intelligence services as early as June this year, officials said today.
	The list of 85 individuals included alleged Paris ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud, brothers Brahim and Salah Abdeslam and newly named suspect Mohamed Abrini, they said.
	The list was sent by the intelligence agencies to the local authorities in Molenbeek, a run-down Brussels district dubbed a haven for extremists, they said.
	"I confirm that they featured on a list sent in June 2015 by the Threat Analysis Coordination Agency to the mayor of Molenbeek and the local police chief," a local government source told AFP on condition of anonymity.
	The list was first drafted after a raid on an Islamist hideout in the eastern town of Verviers in January in which two suspects were killed and a major terror plot involving Abaaoud was foiled.
	Those raids followed the bloody attacks in Paris on the Charlie Hebdo satirical .

Four Paris suspects on Belgian radicals list before attacks

US President Barack Obama today delivered a Thanksgiving message in which he compared modern refugees to the pilgrims whom the holiday celebrates, urging Americans to open their arms to the potential immigrants.
	"Nearly four centuries after the Mayflower set sail, the world is still full of pilgrims -- men and women who want nothing more than the chance for a safer, better future for themselves and their families," Obama said in his weekly address, referring to the boat on which the pilgrims arrived in the New World.
	Thanksgiving was first celebrated by the group after fleeing religious persecution in England. For many Americans, it has become a family-oriented day marked with an enormous meal of roast turkey, an assortment of side dishes and a slice or two of pie.
	"I've been touched by the generosity of the Americans who've written me letters and emails in recent weeks, offering to open their homes to refugees fleeing the brutality of ISIL," Obama said, referring to the Islamic ...

Obama Thanksgiving message on refugees: world full of pilgrims

North and South Korean officials sat down today for rare talks aimed at setting up a sustainable high-level dialogue that has constantly eluded the two rivals.
	The meeting at the border truce village of Panmunjom began shortly before 1:00pm (0400 GMT) and marked the first inter-governmental interaction since August when the two sides met to defuse a crisis that had pushed them to the brink of an armed conflict.
	That meeting ended with a joint agreement that included a commitment to resume high-level talks, although no precise timeline was given.
	Although any dialogue between the two Koreas is generally welcomed as a step in the right direction, precedent offers little hope of a successful outcome.
	A similar effort back in June 2013 saw both sides agree to hold what would have been the first high-level dialogue for six years -- only for Pyongyang to cancel a day before the scheduled meeting.
	In the end, it was a matter of protocol -- the North felt insulted by the South's ...

North, South Korea hold rare talks

Eighteen people were killed and 100 homes torched in an attack in the dead of night by Nigeria's Boko Haram fighters on a southeastern village, local authorities said today.
	"The toll is 18 dead, 11 hurt, almost 100 homes burned down" in the village of Wogom late yesterday, the mayor of the nearby town of Bosso, Bako Mamadou said.
	A humanitarian worker said the Islamists came from Nigeria and crossed the Komadougou Yobe river, the border between Niger and Nigeria.
	Armed jihadists and suicide bombers from Nigeria's Boko Haram Islamist group have staged repeated attacks since February in Niger's southeast Diffa region near Nigeria, leaving hundreds of people dead.
	The United Nations has registered around 50 attacks and clashes between Islamist fighters and Niger troops since February.
	The last came in late October when they shot dead 13 people in a village near Diffa.
	Some 150 schools with more than 12,000 pupils have been forced to close due to the attacks in the southeast.
	This 

18 killed in Boko Haram attack in southeast Niger

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu today vowed that Ankara would not apologise to Moscow over the downing of a warplane on the Syrian border.
	Russian President Vladimir Putin said earlier his country had not received any apology from Turkish leaders.
	"We don't need to apologise on an occasion that we are right," Cavusoglu said.
	"But we said on the phone yesterday (Wednesday) that we are sorry," he added, referring to a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

Turkey will not apologise to Russia over jet downing: Minister

Russia is preparing a raft of retaliatory economic measures against Turkey after Ankara downed one of its warplanes, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said today.
	"The government has been ordered to work out a system of response measures to this act of aggression in the economic and humanitarian spheres," Medvedev told a cabinet meeting in televised comments.
	He said under Russian law the broad punitive steps could include halting joint economic projects, restricting financial and trade transactions and changing customs duties.
	Measures could also target the tourism and transport sectors, labour markets and "humanitarian contacts", Medvedev said.
	The measures would then likely be listed in a decree from President Vladimir Putin, Medvedev said.
	"In these documents the focus will be on introducing limits or bans on the economic activities of Turkish economic structures working in Russia, a limitation of the supply of products, including food products, and on the work and provision of .

Russia orders retaliatory economic measures against Turkey

A large but very deep 6.7 magnitude earthquake hit western Brazil today, the US Geological Survey said.
	The quake struck at 12:45 am local time at a depth of 599 kilometers. It occurred some 80 miles southwest of the town of Tarauaca and around 435 miles northeast of Lima, Peru.
	The USGS had initially reported the quake at a magnitude of 6.4 and depth of 375 miles.
	No immediate reports of damage or casualties were reported after the temblor.
	It follows a pair of major but also deep 7.6-magnitude earthquakes that jolted eastern Peru late Tuesday afternoon near the border with Brazil, occurring at a depth of 380 and 373 miles respectively.
	Tuesday's quakes were felt across several South American nations causing buildings to sway in a handful of Peruvian cities as well as in parts of northern Chile, Argentina and Bolivia, local media reported.
	Deep South American earthquakes are concentrated in two zones: beneath the Peru-Brazil border, where Thursday's quake hit, and also in an ...

Magnitude 6.7 quake hits western Brazil: USGS

French President Francois Hollande will hold talks today with Russian leader Vladimir Putin as part of his diplomatic marathon to forge a broad coalition against Islamic State jihadists in the wake of the Paris attacks.
	The French president met Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in Paris early today and will later head to Moscow.
	Hollande has been on a whirlwind tour seeking to build a coalition to crush IS in Iraq and Syria but has won few concrete pledges so far, and his campaign has been further complicated by a spat between Russia and Turkey over a downed jet.
	Renzi offered only vague support for "a coalition of greater and greater strength that is up to the task of... The destruction of Daesh", using another name for IS.
	France invoked a clause requiring EU member states to provide military assistance after the November 13 attacks in Paris, when 130 people lost their lives in a wave of killings by suicide bombers and gunmen claimed by IS.
	German Chancellor Angela Merkel ...

France's Hollande heads to Russia to press anti-IS coalition

An art show highlighting domestic violence has been shut down at the last minute by Beijing authorities, organisers said today, apparently the latest victim of Chinese cultural controls.
	More than 60 artists -- half of them women -- contributed work to the show, timed for yesterday's United Nations-designated International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.
	But when the artists arrived at the venue in the centre of the capital for the opening they found themselves locked out, while gallery staff were absent.
	Curator Cui Guangxia told AFP a source close to the venue said the show had "not received approval from relevant departments".
	Beijing's municipal cultural bureau said it was not responsible for overseeing visual art shows, while a gallery employee told AFP that it only provided the space for the exhibition, and was not involved in the organisation.
	She could not comment on the reasons for the closure, she said, adding that the works would be returned to the ..

China authorities 'shut down' anti-violence art show:organiser

Multiple arrests were made overnight in Chicago and New York during protests over police shootings of two black males, US media reported.
	   In Chicago, several people were arrested after protesters began taking lights off a Christmas tree in Millennium Park, local NBC affiliate WMAQ reported.
	   The broadcaster said authorities did not say how many arrests were made, but newspaper USA Today said two protesters had been detained as of today.
	   CNN reported that some 100 to 200 demonstrators were still walking through downtown streets before dawn Thursday following a second night of protests.
	   Racial tensions flared in Chicago after officials released a graphic video on Tuesday of a police officer shooting a black teen 16 times.
	   The dashcam video, shot in October 2014 from an approaching cruiser, shows officer Jason Van Dyke open fire on Laquan McDonald, 17.
	   The Chicago Tribune reported Wednesday that it had obtained the video from four other police vehicles, including ..

Arrests in Chicago, NY at protests over police shootings

Singapore has drastically cut its blacklist of banned books and publications, finally allowing citizens to read an erotic novel first published in the 18th century, but a host of adult magazines remain proscribed.
	It is no longer a crime to own a copy of the historic English text "Fanny Hill" or some anti-colonial and communist publications dating back to Singapore's troubled early years as a republic in the 1960s.
	Long ridiculed as a nanny state that controls what its people can read and watch, Singapore has cut an archaic list of prohibited books and publications from 257 to just 17, most of them adult magazines.
	The "de-gazetting" of 240 titles took effect yesterday.
	The Media Development Authority, a regulatory body that also oversees film, broadcasting and Internet standards, said today that it "routinely reviews prior classification decisions, in order to ensure that they keep pace with societal norms".
	"For the 17 publications which are still prohibited, the decision to ...

No nudity please, we're Singaporeans

Egypt's Coptic Pope Tawadros II left for Jerusalem today for the funeral of a senior cleric, the first visit by the head of Coptic Christians in decades, a church spokesman said.
	He will attend the funeral of Archbishop Anba Abraham, the head of the Coptic Church in the Holy Land who died yesterday at the age of 73.
	Egyptian Copts were forbidden from visiting Israel by their late Pope Shenouda III in protest at Israel's occupation of east Jerusalem.
	Shenouda passed away in 2012 after leading the ancient orthodox church for 40 years.
	"The visit is to attend the funeral and nothing more," church spokesman Boulos Halim told AFP.
	"The position of the church remains unchanged, which is not going to Jerusalem without all our Egyptian (Muslim) brothers."
	Despite the ban, hundreds of Egyptian Copts have visited Israel over the past few years during Easter.

Egypt's Coptic pope in rare visit to Jerusalem

Britain should join air strikes against the Islamic State group in Syria and should not "sub-contract" its security to allies, Prime Minister David Cameron said today in a written statement to MPs.
	"I believe that we should now take the decision to extend British air strikes against ISIL into Syria," he wrote, ahead of a speech in parliament where he will formally argue his case for war.
	Cameron said that it was in Britain's national security interests to strike IS jihadists and deny them a "safe haven" in Syria, arguing that the burden should not fall only on Britain's allies.
	"It is wrong for the United Kingdom to sub-contract its security to other countries," he said.
	"We have to deny a safe haven for ISIL in Syria. The longer ISIL is allowed to grow in Syria, the greater the threat it will pose," he added, using another name for IS.
	Cameron is expected to call a vote in parliament on the issue before recess begins on December 17.
	He has stepped up pressure for MPs to back ...

AFP

AFP

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