Italy denied any involvement today in the CIA's "extraordinary rendition" of an Egyptian imam kidnapped in Milan in 2003 on charges of terrorist connections.
	Abu Omar was kidnapped "exclusively" by CIA agents and "was never in the hands of the Italian authorities," Paolo Accardo, lawyer for the Italian government, told the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
	Omar, also known as Osama Mustafa Hassan Nasr, brought the case after kidnapping convictions against top Italian spies were overthrown on appeal last year.
	His was one of the most notorious cases of the West's "extraordinary rendition" programme, in which terrorist suspects were kidnapped and taken to countries where they could be tortured and illegally detained with impunity.
	Omar was taken to Egypt, where he was held in secret for more than a year and says he was tortured.
	The kidnapping in broad daylight by an ally of Italy became a scandal in the country when it was revealed.
	In 2012, 22 CIA agents and a US ...

Italy denies role in CIA extraordinary rendition of imam

PTI Automatic

Qatar's pledge to abolish its controversial "kafala" labour system by the end of 2015 is in doubt after Doha's main consultative body expressed serious concerns about proposed reforms.
	Despite expectations that Qatar was close to announcing the end of "kafala", the country's Shura Council said a draft law could not yet be introduced and needed further examination, according to the Arabic-language newspaper Al Sharq today.
	The council's chairman Mohammed bin Mubarak al-Khulaifi also said there was "no need to hurry" in introducing the reforms, despite the government saying earlier this year that "kafala" would almost certainly be scrapped by December.
	The council also appeared to propose introducing other reforms, including punishing foreign workers who "deliberately" create problems.
	Government officials confirmed that further consultations would take place on the proposed changes to the system, which governs Qatar's vast army of foreign workers.
	It means the timetable set in May 

Qatar 'kafala' reforms face fresh delay

A French court today freed Yoo Som-Na, daughter of a South Korean tycoon blamed for a ferry disaster that killed more than 300 people, her lawyers told AFP, after Seoul had requested her extradition.
	"Taking into account the political context, the threats to the presumption of innocence... [the court] decided to release" Yoo while waiting for further information, said her lawyers in a joint statement.
	"It's a relief after 13 months of unjustified detention," said the statement from lawyers Olinka Malaterre, Herve Temime and Rachel Lindon.
	A court in Paris in January authorised her extradition, but the appeals court overturned the decision in April, meaning that her case would have to be reconsidered by a lower court.
	Yoo, 48, is wanted in South Korea on suspicion that she embezzled millions of dollars from subsidiaries of her family's company, Chonghaejin Marine Co.
	Authorities there believe the alleged embezzlement contributed to safety defects that led to the April 2014 Sewol ..

Daughter of S.Korea magnate linked to ferry disaster released

Hopes that Greece and its creditors can seal a debt deal with exactly one week left to avert default could fade as the Greek premier faces pressure to convince his anti-austerity party to approve concessions needed to unblock bailout funds.
	"We are very near (an agreement), the next 48 hours will be decisive," said Greek government spokesman Gabriel Sakellaridis, after yesterday's emergency eurozone summit ended with an optimistic assessment of Athens' latest proposals to its European Union and International Monetary Fund creditors.
	"I am convinced that we will reach an agreement," EU commissioner for economic affairs Pierre Moscovici told French radio today after Greece submitted an 11th-hour reform plan to free up crucial funds from its international bailout.
	Moscovici warned however that "work remained to be done" on the issues of value-added tax and pension reform -- key sticking points for the radical left government in Athens.
	And the Greek government also issued a word of ..

Hope of a Greek deal could face political hurdle in Athens

More than 3,000 dengue cases have been reported in conflict-ravaged Yemen since March, the World Health Organization warned today, adding that the actual figure could be far higher.
	The Saudi-led air strikes launched in late March have crippled an already weak health infrastructure, and lack of water and sanitation facilities are exacerbating the situation, WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier told reporters.
	"More than 3,000 suspected dengue cases have been reported since March 2015 but the numbers are expected to be considerably higher," he said.
	"Some NGOs are reporting more than 6,000 cases, that is double the officially reported cases."
	The mosquito-borne infectious disease is endemic in Yemen, the poorest country in the region, and spikes every year between April and August, he said, warning though that the figures were far higher this time around "as a result of the current conflict."
	"The crisis has severely impacted access to water and sanitation, preventive and clinical ...

More than 3,000 dengue cases in Yemen since March: WHO

Islamic State group fighters have destroyed two ancient Muslim mausoleums in the historic Syrian city of Palmyra, the country's antiquities director said today.
	Maamoun Abdulkarim said IS jihadists blew up the tombs of Mohammed bin Ali, a descendant of the Prophet Mohammed's cousin, and Nizar Abu Bahaaeddine, a religious figure from Palmyra, three days ago.
	Bin Ali's burial place is located in a mountainous region four kilometres (almost three miles) north of Palmyra, in central Syria.
	Photos published by IS depicted two armed men carrying cannisters, apparently filled with explosives, walking up the rocky hill to the site.
	Abu Bahaaeddine's tomb, nestled in a leafy oasis about 500 metres (yards) from Palmyra's ancient ruins, is said to be more than five centuries old.
	IS has destroyed at least 50 mausoleums dating between 100-200 years old in the regions under its control in north and east Syria, the antiquities director said.
	"They consider these Islamic mausoleums to be ...

IS destroys ancient Islamic mausoleums in Syria's Palmyra

A solar plane that has been trapped in Japan for three weeks is set to take off for Hawaii, on the most challenging leg of an attempt to circumnavigate the world without using fuel.
	Solar Impulse 2 is scheduled to taxi out along the runway in Nagoya, central Japan, in the small hours of the morning, to begin its hazardous trip across the Pacific Ocean, a distance expected to take at least five days and five nights of continuous flying.
	"Solar Impulse will attempt to fly to Hawaii tomorrow, at 2:30am local time," the team said.
	The featherweight flying machine was not supposed to land in Japan on its multi-leg trip around the globe, but bad weather en route from Nanjing, China, to Hawaii forced a diversion at the start of June.
	Ever since, the crew has been scouring long-range forecasts for an opportunity to restart its record-breaking journey.
	A chance to do so presented itself today.
	"We finally feel like we have a window to Hawaii in front of us. It will be confirmed at ...

Solar Impulse to leave Japan tomorrow: team

Tongue drooping as he leaps over rainbow coloured obstacles and through metal hoops, "Little Seven" is put through his paces at one of China's dog training camps.
	The two-and-a-half year old Labrador has even been trained to use a white porcelain toilet at the Mingshi Dog Industries training school, one of several in China's capital Beijing.
	Pet ownership has grown rapidly in the country over the past decade, with almost 30 million households now owning a dog, according to research group Euromonitor.
	The canine boom has boosted a wealth of sideline industries -- including facilities such as Mingshi, where owners can leave their pooches when they go on holiday.
	Movies and TV shows featuring dogs are also increasingly popular, and Mingshi's "Little Seven" stars in a TV series debuting this month.
	"He can understand commands from anyone. He's basically like a person, but can't speak," Zheng Chun, of the school's marketing department, told AFP about the golden haired dog.
	Apart from 

Dog days at China canine training camp

The United Nations today opened a new office in Seoul to monitor North Korea's human rights record, after accusing the isolated regime of abuses "without parallel in the contemporary world" in a report published last year.
	The office was formally opened in a ceremony attended by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, despite Pyongyang repeatedly threatening "merciless punishment" against South Korea if the mission was launched.
	South Korea urged the North to stop criticising the new UN office after it suddenly announced it would boycott next month's World University Games, also known as the Universade, in the southern city of Gwangju.
	In a message emailed to the Gwangju Universiade organising committee last week, a North Korean sports official said the UN office in Seoul drove inter-Korean relations to "the extreme situation" and "cooled down our atmosphere to participate in the games".
	"Less than 50 miles from here lies another world marked by the utmost ...

UN opens human rights office in Seoul to monitor N Korea

Thailand's crackdown on people smuggling and trafficking networks has successfully dismantled the grim trade, police announced today while admitting that dozens of suspects have yet to be apprehended.
	"The case will be submitted to the Office of Attorney General this afternoon for consideration of indictment," Deputy National Police Chief Aek Angsananont, the officer in charge of the probe, told reporters.
	"We have worked carefully and we have confidence in the evidence. We can confirm that the smuggling rings have been stopped," he added.
	Aek said a total of 120 arrest warrants had now been issued since a crackdown was launched in early May -- 30 of which were approved by a court in the country's south on Monday.
	So far 56 people have been detained, leaving 64 either on the run or unaccounted for.
	Among those arrested include Lieutenant General Manas Kongpan, a senior military officer charged with being a major smuggling kingpin in the lucrative trade.
	His detention raises ...

Thai police wrap up human trafficking probe

Ukrainian rebels today accused government forces of killing three civilians in attacks launched hours before the start of talks in Paris on ways to halt the 15-month separatist war.
	Kiev's Western-backed military command reported the death of one soldier and accused the pro-Russian rebels of launching the heaviest wave of mortar and artillery fire since the start of the year in one relatively peaceful region.
	The daily bloodshed and destruction of housing underscores a repeated failure by diplomats to find a way out of a crisis that has killed 6,500 people and plunged East-West relations to a post-Cold War low.
	It has also pushed Russian President Vladimir Putin to seek a closer alliance with China and build up Latin American military cooperation and trade - two developments of particular concern to Washington and its own strategic plans.
	Putin resolutely denies orchestrating the war to pay back Kiev for its February 2014 ouster of a Kremlin-backed leader who had ditched a ...

Four reported killed in Ukraine ahead of crunch Paris talks

Activists aboard a flotilla of boats are to soon set sail for Gaza in a fresh bid to break Israel's blockade of the territory, five years after a similar attempt ended in a deadly raid.
	The so-called Freedom Flotilla III -- a convoy of ships carrying pro-Palestinian activists, at least one European lawmaker and an Arab-Israeli MP -- will try to reach the shores of the Gaza Strip by the end of the month.
	Their campaign comes as Israel faces heavy international pressure over its actions in Gaza, with a UN report released yesterday saying both the Jewish state and Palestinian militants may have committed war crimes during last year's conflict in the besieged coastal enclave.
	Israel's blockade of the territory dates to 2006, after Hamas captured an Israeli soldier, and was tightened a year later when the Islamist movement consolidated control of Gaza.
	"We're not alone in considering the blockade to be inhumane and illegal," Staffan Graner, an activist who is sailing aboard Swedish ...

Activists set sail for Gaza in bid to break Israeli blockade

Iran's parliament passed a bill today obliging the government to safeguard the country's "nuclear rights and achievements," despite talks with global powers on curbing the Islamic republic's disputed atomic programme.
	The measure was met by anger from President Hassan Rouhani's government, with a spokesman saying the draft law was unconstitutional as it contravened the country's defence and security policies.
	The bill's adoption reflects tension between Rouhani, a moderate who aims to end Iran's diplomatic isolation, and a conservative-dominated legislature, where hardliners often dispute the worth of negotiations with the West.
	The bill, which still has to be signed into law by Iran's Guardian Council, says the government must "preserve the country's nuclear rights and achievements" and states that lawmakers have to approve any deal that may be struck with the West.
	Some 214 lawmakers out of 244 present supported it, with 10 against, six abstentions and the remainder not ...

Iran MPs pass bill to safeguard nuclear 'rights'

China's e-commerce giant Alibaba and a financial affiliate part-owned by its chairman Jack Ma will pour nearly USD 1 billion into a local services mobile platform to compete with rival Tencent.
	Alibaba and Ant Financial Service Group will each invest USD 483.3 million and take 50 per cent stakes in mobile shopping and dining information app Koubei, Alibaba said in a statement emailed to AFP today.
	Koubei connects users to businesses and service providers such as restaurants in their immediate area, and will initially focus on food and beverages before expanding into offline retail and healthcare.
	Alibaba's rival Chinese Internet giant Tencent has already established a foothold in the field. It acquired 20 per cent of local service provider Dianping in February last year, and followed up four months later by spending USD 736 million for a similar stake in 58.Com, another such firm.
	"Location-based services is a really big market," Li Yujie, Hong Kong-based analyst at RHB Research ..

Alibaba and Ant Financial to invest USD 1bn in local services

South Korea's ageing victims of Japan's wartime sex slavery said today they would file a USD 20 million lawsuit next month at a US court to seek financial compensation from Tokyo.
	The suit from 10 "comfort" women led by Kim Bok-Dong, 89, will be lodged at a California district court on July 1 against Japan, their attorney Kim Hyung-Jin told reporters.
	The case, which is now being pursued in the US as previous suits in Japan have failed, also targets Mitsubishi and other companies allegedly involved in war crimes.
	Originally a dozen women who were forced to serve Japanese soldiers during World War II had offered to join the legal battle, but two have since died.
	"The Japanese government should offer an official and sincere apology for wrongdoings by their ancestors and restore our honour," Kim Bok-Dong told a press conference outside the Japanese embassy in Seoul.
	Mainstream historians say up to 200,000 women, mainly from Korea but also from China, Indonesia and other Asian ...

S Korea 'comfort women' seek USD 20 mln lawsuit in US

Australia said today it will introduce new laws this week to strip dual nationals linked to terrorism of their citizenship, but backed away from putting the power in the hands of a single minister.
	The legislation will see the Citizenship Act - which currently stipulates a person ceases to be a national if they serve in the armed forces of a country at war with Australia - expanded to include people who "fight against us in a terrorist group".
	There are currently 20 such groups on Canberra's list of terrorist organisations.
	"If people have become terrorists, our intention as far as we humanly can is to stop them from coming back," Prime Minister Tony Abbott told reporters.
	"Today's announcement is all about... Giving the government additional mechanisms for stopping hardened terrorists returning to Australia."
	The announcement came as the government sought to confirm reports that two high-profile Australians fighting with the Islamic State group, Khaled Sharrouf and Mohamed ...

Australia set to strip citizenship for terror links

An internationally celebrated South Korean novelist has apologised over a plagiarism scandal that has shocked her country and prompted a publisher to stop printing one of her books, a report said today.
	Man Asian Literary Prize-winning author Shin Kyung-Sook met with public fury after allegations surfaced last week that she had copied a piece by the famed late Japanese author Yukio Mishima.
	Seoul literary critic Lee Eung-Jun wrote in an online essay published last week that Shin's 1996 short story "Legend" included paragraphs lifted from "Patriotism" written by Mishima in 1960.
	The allegation prompted a storm of controversy, with one civic activist calling for Seoul prosecutors to investigate Shin for fraud.
	Shin, 52, has been the face of South Korean literature abroad since winning the prestigious Man Asian Literary Prize in 2012 for her international bestseller "Please Look After Mom"
	Last week Shin denied she had read "Patriotism" but according to an interview published today, 

Star S Korean author apologises over plagiarism scandal

At least 18 people have died of cholera in war-torn South Sudan, the health ministry said today, as it declared an outbreak of the highly contagious infection.
	Minister of Health Riek Gai Kok told reporters that 171 cholera cases have been confirmed in the outbreak, which began in crowded United Nations bases in the capital Juba and spread elsewhere in the city.
	Tens of thousands of people have sought shelter in the UN camps during 18 months of civil war.
	At least 167 people died with over 6,400 cases reported in an outbreak last year, which was later contained.
	"After subjecting cases to laboratory tests it was confirmed that there is a cholera outbreak," Kok said, adding that the first case recorded was on June 1.
	"The confirmation of the cases automatically triggers the activation of a full-scale response," he added.
	Stamping out cholera - transmitted through drinking water or eating food contaminated with faeces or dirty hands - poses an additional major challenge for the ...

Cholera outbreak kills 18 in South Sudan: health ministry

Families of 57 of the dead in the Philippines' worst factory fire have dropped their claims against the company in exchange for a 151,200-peso (USD 3,360) settlement, a company lawyer said today.
	Families of more of the  workers who died in the May 13 fire at the two-storey Kentex Manufacturing factory in suburban Manila are expected eventually to agree to the settlement, said Kentex lawyer Renato Paraiso.
	The fire at the factory which makes rubber slippers claimed 72 lives and sparked outrage over the allegedly unsafe conditions which contributed to the high death toll.
	Labour groups also denounced Kentex for relying on contract labourers who were not paid regular salaries.
	However Paraiso said the settlement includes a waiver against any further claims against Kentex.
	"More or less, we gave them what is due to them," he told AFP.
	He said the settlements were not achieved through coercion, stressing that they were negotiated with Labour Department arbiters present to explain ...

Victims of worst Philippine factory fire settle for $3,360

Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon pledged today to track down Druze rioters in the occupied Golan Heights responsible for the "lynching" of a wounded Syrian being transported to a hospital.
	Two Syrian men were being taken to hospital late yesterday when dozens of Druze in the town of Majdal Shams stoned their ambulance, forcing it to stop and dragging the wounded men from the vehicle.
	The mob then beat one of the men, who was later pronounced dead, and seriously wounded the other. An Israeli soldier and another officer with the ambulance were also lightly wounded.
	Israel has a policy of providing humanitarian assistance to wounded Syrians who seek help by crossing over to the Jewish state and has vowed to maintain the practice.
	Members of the Druze minority in Israel have however become deeply concerned over the fate of their brethren in Syria after attacks by rebels there.
	Syrian Druze are traditional allies of President Bashar al-Assad, and the rioters yesterday likely ...

Israel vows crackdown after 'lynching' of wounded Syrian

French President Francois Hollande said his country was doing "everything" it can to save a Frenchman accused of drug offences in Indonesia from the firing squad after he lost an appeal against his death sentence.
	Serge Atlaoui, 51, was due to be executed alongside eight other drug offenders two months ago but won a temporary reprieve after Paris stepped up pressure, with Indonesian authorities agreeing to let an outstanding appeal run its course.
	Yesterday the State Administrative Court in Jakarta dismissed Atlaoui's appeal, in which his lawyers argued that the president rejected the convict's plea for clemency without proper consideration.
	The court upheld its previous decision from April that it did not have the jurisdiction to hear the challenge to the clemency plea, which is typically a death row convict's final chance to avoid execution.
	"It will be up to the lawyers to decide what other avenues to pursue" said the French head of state to the press after a European summit in 

AFP

AFP

Page 2245 - Afp