Spain's Supreme Court on Thursday refused to recognise jailed Catalan separatist Oriol Junqueras as a European MP because of his October conviction over a failed 2017 independence bid.
In a long-awaited ruling, the court said it would not authorise his temporary release from prison to collect his European parliamentary credentials, thereby rejecting a December ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
"The court found that Junqueras should not be freed (to collect his MEP credentials) following his October conviction, which implies the suspension of his status as a European parliamentarian," it said.
Junqueras won a seat in the European Parliament in May elections, despite being in pre-trial detention in Spain on charges linked to his role in a banned Catalan referendum and a short-lived declaration of independence.
But he was prevented from leaving prison in June to attend a Spanish swearing-in ceremony, and thus from travelling to Brussels to take up his post, prompting him to .

Spain court refuses to recognise Catalan separatist as MEP

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A court in Uzbekistan on Thursday sentenced a retired diplomat who served in countries including Britain to five and a half years in prison for treason in a case criticised by international rights groups.
Kadyr Yusupov, 68, has been in custody since his arrest in December 2018.
Relatives told Human Rights Watch that he has suffered psychological torture such as threats to harm family members. The rights group has called for his immediate release.
A military tribunal Thursday hearing Yusupov's case behind closed doors in the capital Tashkent found him guilty, the Supreme Court of the Central Asian country said in a statement.
It gave no details of the accusations against him.
One of his sons, Timur Yusupov, who attended court, told AFP that his father "has lost weight but is still smiling." The family intends to appeal, he said.
"We will continue to fight for justice for him through domestic and international mechanisms," his other son, Baibur Yusupov, wrote on Twitter.
Yusupov worked .

Uzbekistan sentences ex-veteran diplomat for treason

Bayern Munich will not make a fresh bid for Manchester City and Germany winger Leroy Sane in the January transfer window, sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic said Thursday.
Speaking to German media from Bayern's winter training camp in Doha, Salihamidzic said that Sane was "not a topic in winter".
Bayern came close to signing the 23-year-old last summer but the deal fell through after Sane tore his anterior cruciate ligament in the Community Shield game against Liverpool.
The German star has been sidelined ever since, though City coach Pep Guardiola said this week that he was "close" to making a return.
Bayern, who are expected to renew their efforts to sign Sane in the summer, have also lost first choice wingers Serge Gnabry and Kingsley Coman to injury in recent weeks.
Yet on Thursday, Salihamidzic hit back at Bayern coach Hansi Flick over his demands for action in the January transfer window.
With his squad suffering an injury crisis, Flick told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung on ...

Bayern will not make January bid for Sane - sporting director

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday observed massive military drills off the coast of Moscow-annexed Crimea that involved test launches of cruise and hypersonic missiles.
Russia's commander-in-chief was on board the cruiser Marshal Ustinov to watch the joint drills by the Northern and Black Sea Fleets, the Kremlin said.
He watched test launches of Kalibr (Caliber) cruise missiles and Kinzhal (Dagger) hypersonic missiles among others, the Kremlin said.
Russia annexed the peninsula of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, in a move condemned by the West that was followed by the outbreak of an insurgency in eastern Ukraine.
The conflict has claimed more than 13,000 lives.
Exercises in the Black Sea featured frigates and a large anti-submarine ship as well as a submarine, large landing ships and fast attack guided missile craft, while fighter jets and bombers also took part.
"A pair of MiG-31K interceptor aircraft fired Kinzhal missiles at a target at one of the test ranges," the Kremlin .

Putin attends massive war games off Crimea

A two-man catch to dismiss Hobart skipper Matthew Wade in a T20 Big Bash match in Brisbane has led to confusion over the laws with even Lord's weighing in.
Hobart batted first and had limped to 98 for five off 14.4 overs largely thanks to a captain's knock by Wade.
On 61, he launched the ball high to the long-on boundary.
Brisbane's Matt Renshaw, fielding just inside the ropes, leapt and parried the ball into the air as he fell backwards. He landed off the field and then jumped to slap the falling ball back over the ropes to Tom Banton, running round from deep mid-wicket, who caught the pass.
After a long video review the third umpire decided that Wade, who had already walked off, was given out.
"I had no idea of the rule really - once he hit outside the field of play I didn't know if he was allowed to touch the ball or not," Wade told match broadcaster Channel 7.
"Umpires said he was, and once they told me he was allowed to (go) outside the field of play and tap it back in, I knew I .

Big Bash boundary catch causes cricket law confusion

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged Iran's President Hassan Rouhani on Thursday to end the confrontation with the United States and underlined Britain's commitments to Tehran's nuclear agreement, Downing Street said.
Johnson "called for an end to hostilities" and said Britain viewed the 2015 nuclear deal as "the best arrangement currently available to deliver on our goal of stopping Iran from having a nuclear weapon", his spokesman said.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said "the time has come" for Britain, Germany, France, Russia and China to follow Washington's lead and abandon the 2015 nuclear agreement, which sets limits on Iran's enrichment levels.
Iran began breaking the deal's rules once Trump pulled the US out in 2018, resulting in a new wave of tension.
The US launched a drone attack in Iraq last week killing Iran's top military commander.
In a 20-minute call, Downing Street said Johnson wanted to "deliver the clear message" to Iran that "there is an urgent need for ..

UK's Johnson urges 'end to hostilities' in Iran call

The news Prince Harry and his wife Meghan will step back from being "senior royals" knocked the Iran crisis and Brexit from the headlines in Britain on Thursday.
The pair announced Wednesday evening they were quitting to "carve out a progressive new role within this institution" -- but reportedly without the approval of Queen Elizabeth II.
That prompted immediate headlines of "Megxit" and palace intrigue.
"Queen's dismay as Harry and Meghan step back from royal life," screamed the Daily Express.
Every British newspaper, including the Financial Times, put the news on their front pages -- with the country's infamously lurid tabloids getting characteristically creative with their headlines.
"Megxit" screamed top-selling The Sun on the day lawmakers will finally approve Prime Minister Boris Johnson's Brexit deal to leave the European Union.
Its rival the Daily Mirror went with "They didn't even tell the Queen". The Daily Star opted for "The Royal formerly known as Prince".
Broadsheet The .

'Megxit' trumps Brexit and Iran in UK after royal bombshell

The brother and mother of a prominent Turkish businessman received long prison sentences on Thursday for membership of the group blamed for a failed coup in 2016, state media reported.
Businessman Akin Ipek headed the Koza-Ipek conglomerate before fleeing to Britain to escape prosecution.
He is accused of providing financial support to US-based Muslim preacher Fethullah Gulen, who denies accusations that he ordered the attempted putsch.
The Ankara court sentenced Ipek's brother, Cafer Tekin Ipek, to more than 79 years in prison for a series of charges including being a member of an armed terrorist organisation, according to state news agency Anadolu.
Their mother, Melek Ipek, was sentenced to 11 years and eight months on similar charges.
The court ordered their shares in the family conglomerate to be seized by the government.
Ipek's company was targeted over its alleged links to Gulen even before the coup.
He fled in 2015 to Britain, which last year rejected a Turkish extradition ...

Turkey court sentences top businessman's family

Iranian authorities have said a Ukrainian airliner, which crashed outside Tehran with the loss of all 176 people on board, had turned back after suffering a problem, as Ukrainian experts joined the investigation Thursday.
Both Canada and the United States called for a full investigation to determine the cause of Wednesday's crash, which came shortly after Tehran launched missiles at US forces in Iraq in response to the killing of a top Iranian general in a US drone strike in Baghdad.
There was no immediate indication that foul play may have caused the Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) plane to go down soon after take-off, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned against speculating on the crash causes.
"The plane, which was initially headed west to leave the airport zone, turned right following a problem and was headed back to the airport at the moment of the crash," the Iranian Civil Aviation Organisation said on its website late Wednesday.
"The plane disappeared from ...

Iran says Ukrainian plane turned back before crashing

A US airstrike killed a Taliban splinter-group commander and several other fighters in the western Afghan province of Herat, Afghan and military sources said Thursday.
The commander, named as Mullah Nangyalay, was killed in Shindand district, close to the border with Iran, said Herat provincial governor's spokesman Jailani Farhad.
Nangyalay split from the main branch of the Taliban after the 2013 death of founder Mullah Omar and joined a smaller breakaway faction led by a commander known as Mullah Rasool.
A senior provincial police source said the airstrike had been carried out by a US drone.
Resolute Support, NATO's mission in Afghanistan, told AFP their forces had launched "a defensive air strike in support of Afghan forces", with a spokesman confirming US participation in the operation.
The main Taliban group has been negotiating with Washington for more than a year over the withdrawal of US troops in exchange for security guarantees from the militants that could pave the way to ...

US strike kills Taliban splinter commander in Herat: officials

Britain's economic recovery is "not assured" despite a drop in Brexit uncertainties, the Bank of England's outgoing governor Mark Carney said Thursday.
"UK GDP growth was projected to pick up from current below-potential rates, supported by the reduction of Brexit-related uncertainties, an easing of fiscal policy and a modest recovery in global growth. This rebound is not, of course, assured," BoE chief Carney said in a speech ahead of his departure in March.
"The economy has been sluggish, slack has been growing, and inflation is below target.
"Much hinges on the speed with which domestic confidence returns," Carney said, referring to recent monetary policy committee (MPC) findings.
"As is entirely appropriate, there is a debate at the MPC over the relative merits of near term stimulus to reinforce the expected recovery in UK growth and inflation."
The pound fell half a per cent against the euro and dollar following his comments.
Andrew Bailey, head of the UK's Financial Conduct ...

UK recovery 'not assured' despite reduced Brexit uncertainty: Carney

Investigators are pursuing several leads following the crash of a Ukrainian passenger plane in Iran, including a surface-to-air missile strike, an act of terror and engine failure, a Ukrainian security official said on Thursday.
The Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) Boeing went down outside Tehran shortly after take-off on Wednesday, killing all 176 people on board.
"For the moment we are working on seven different versions of the event that took place in Iran," Oleksiy Danilov, the secretary of Ukraine's national security and defence council (RNBO), told AFP.
The council is tasked with coordinating the probe into the disaster, the first fatal crash involving Ukraine's biggest carrier UIA.
Danilov also said on Facebook that the leads being studied include both technical malfunctions and foul play, but told AFP that "there is no priority version" yet.
The leads under consideration include a collision with another airborne object, a rocket from Iran's missile defence system, an ...

Ukraine says missile, technical malfunction among Iran crash leads

Road accidents have become more frequent but less deadly over the last 30 years as developing nations transition to more stable economies, according to a global injury and death analysis released on Thursday.
In 2017, the latest year for which complete data is available, 54 million people were injured in crashes, leading to 1.2 million deaths, said the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), which releases annual assessments of causes of death and injury.
It found that those most likely to be injured in collisions were men aged 25-29, and that accident rates among that demographic were twice as common as among women of the same age.
While the global likelihood of being killed in a car crash has decreased since 1990, in five countries -- Central African Republic, Jamaica, Somalia, Swaziland and the United Arab Emirates -- the risk of death has increased.
Spencer James, senior author of the IHME study, said a number of factors, including vehicle and road safety, as well as ..

Global road accidents up, deaths down: data

Pope Francis accused world leaders on Thursday of failing to listen to the concerns of youngsters pushing for global action against climate change.
In his annual speech to Vatican diplomats, the pontiff said climate change was a "concern of everyone," despite a tepid response from the international community.
"Many young people have become active in calling the attention of political leaders to the issue of climate change. Care for our common home ought to be a concern of everyone," he said.
"Sadly, the urgency of this ecological conversion seems not to have been grasped by international politics, where the response to the problems raised by global issues such as climate change remains very weak and a source of grave concern."
Since his papacy began in 2013, the Argentine pontiff has often argued for better protection of the environment. In April, he met teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg, who launched the Fridays for Future youth moment against climate change.
That movement has .

Pope slams leaders on 'weak' response to climate change

Global airline titan IAG on Thursday said its chief executive Willie Walsh had quit, after a long stint that saw him oversee the group's creation and rapid expansion, and would be replaced by Luis Gallego, head of Spanish division Iberia.
Walsh stands down on March 26 ahead of retirement, the owner of British Airways said in a statement.
The announcement brings down the curtain on Walsh's 15-year career with BA and IAG. Starting as BA chief executive, he went on to oversee the 2011 merger of British Airways and Iberia.
IAG has since expanded to include Aer Lingus, Level and Vueling.
The Irishman also spearheaded a cost-cutting drive to compete with budget airlines, despite criticism from some quarters that this cheapened the brand of BA -- which once called itself the world's favourite airline.
Walsh, 58, was originally a pilot at Ireland's Aer Lingus but rose to become chief executive, before taking up the same role at BA in 2005.
"Willie has led the merger and successful integration 

British Airways-owner switches pilot as CEO quits

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has urged Iran's President Hassan Rouhani to end to its confrontation with the United States and stressed Britain's commitments to Tehran's nuclear deal, Downing Street said on Thursday.
Johnson "called for an end to hostilities" and underlined Britain's commitment to Iran's nuclear agreement with foreign powers, calling it "the best arrangement currently available to deliver on our goal of stopping Iran from having a nuclear weapon", his spokesman said.

UK PM Johnson urges 'end to hostilities' in call with Rouhani

Suspected vandals on Thursday burned a wooden statue of US President Donald Trump built last year by a group of villagers to criticise populist politics, local authorities said.
The eight-metre-high (26 feet) statue of Trump complete with his trademark mane, blue suit, white shirt and red tie was built last August. It was named "statue of liberty" by architect Tomaz Schlegl who wanted it to serve as a criticism of populist politics.
Initially installed in the Sela pri Kamniku village, 30 kilometres (20 miles) north of the capital Ljubljana, the statue was moved in December to the nearby town of Moravce after protests by villagers annoyed at the increase of tourists wanting to see it.
But shortly after its arrival to Moravce, vandals damaged the statue by drawing a moustache on its face in a clear reference to Adolf Hitler.
Early Thursday, firefighters rushed to extinguish the blaze that completely destroyed the statue. Police are expected to launch an investigation, according to ...

Trump 'statue of liberty' burned in Slovenian town

Pope Francis called for restraint from the United States and Iran on Thursday after a military tit-for-tat that he warned could trigger a "vaster conflict" in the Middle East.
"Particularly troubling are the signals coming from the entire region following the heightening of tensions between Iran and the United States," the pope said in his annual speech to Vatican diplomats.
Iran on Wednesday launched 22 ballistic missiles at bases in Iraq hosting American and other foreign troops, in a calibrated response to the killing of a top Iranian general in a US air strike last week.
The attacks "risk above all compromising the gradual process of rebuilding in Iraq, as well as setting the groundwork for a vaster conflict that all of us would want to avert," Francis said.
"I therefore renew my appeal that all the interested parties avoid an escalation of the conflict and keep alive the flame of dialogue and self-restraint, in full respect of international law," he added.
The Argentine also ...

Pope warns Iran-US tensions risk sparking 'vaster conflict'

Chinese makers of televisions, smartphones and much more were very much present at the premier Consumer Electronics Show here, undeterred by their country's trade war with the US.
"Companies are all capitalists, and I think everyone is just holding their breath," said analyst Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights and Strategy.
"I think nobody wants to burn any bridges right now, and almost everybody is acting like there are not any issues." Titans such as Huawei, TCL, Skyworth, Hisense and Lenovo once again had eye-catching booths on the show floor where throngs of CES goers checked out their latest innovations.
The number of Chinese exhibitors, overall, was down slightly with some smaller companies skipping the show, according to Sarah Brown, communications director of the Consumer Technology Association that runs the annual gadget extravaganza.
TCL showed off new 8K televisions, and teased a set of new smartphones, one of them synched to super-fast 5G telecom networks, aimed ...

Chinese firms push ahead at CES despite trade war

Eighteen UN troops and two civilians were wounded on Thursday in a mortar attack on a military base in northern Mali, a UN official said, in fresh violence in the war-torn West African country.
Olivier Salgado, the spokesperson for the UN mission in Mali, said the toll was "preliminary." Mali has been struggling to contain an Islamist insurgency that erupted in the north in 2012, and which has claimed thousands of military and civilian lives since.
An internal UN report seen by AFP said 15 mortar rounds landed "inside and around" the military base in Tessalit, in northern Mali close to the border with Algeria.
Camp personnel took shelter in a bunker, the report said, adding that two Malian civilians were wounded in the section of camp harbouring French soldiers.
Some 4,500 French troops are deployed in the Sahel region, while the UN has a 13,000-strong peacekeeping force in Mali.
The Tessalit camp hosts a battalion of troops from Chad, as well French troops.

18 UN troops, 2 civilians injured in Mali mortar attack

Lebanon banned former auto tycoon Carlos Ghosn from travelling on Thursday after questioning him over an Interpol "red notice" of charges of financial misconduct in Japan, judicial sources said.
The 65-year-old businessman -- for years venerated in Japan for turning around once-ailing Nissan -- fled while awaiting trial on charges including allegedly under-reporting his compensation to the tune of USD 85 million.
His shock arrival in his native Lebanon last month was the latest twist in a story worthy of a Hollywood plot and prompted outrage from the Japanese government as well as from Nissan.
"The state prosecution issued a travel ban for Ghosn, and asked for his file from the Japanese authorities," a judicial source told AFP.
A second judicial source said: "He has been banned from travelling until his judicial file arrives from Japan." Lebanon's judiciary received a "red notice" from Interpol last week urging Ghosn's arrest.
A "red notice" is a request to police across the world to .

AFP

AFP

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