Namibia and China are discussing plans for a Chinese naval base in the southwest African country, the Namibian newspaper reported today, prompting an immediate denial from Beijing.
	The Namibian quoted a confidential letter from Namibia's Beijing ambassador to his foreign ministry stating that a Chinese delegation would visit Windhoek for discussions "on the way forward regarding plans for the proposed naval base in Walvis Bay".
	The letter from Ambassador Ringo Abed to foreign affairs permanent secretary Selma Ashipala-Musavyi, dated December 22, 2014, followed a meeting he had with Chinese defence ministry official Geng Yansheng, the Namibian said.
	The detailed letter said the Chinese delegation would include technical staff and naval architects who would do an exploratory feasibility study, the newspaper reported.
	In response to a query, the Chinese defence ministry told AFP that "the exchange of communication between Chinese defence officials and Namibian embassy officials ...

China planning naval base in Namibia: report

PTI Automatic

The trial of a Saudi businessman accused in the 1998 Al-Qaeda bombings of US embassies in East Africa got underway in New York today with jury selection.
	Khalid al-Fawwaz is accused on four counts of conspiracy to kill Americans and conspiracy to destroy US property, and faces life behind bars if convicted.
	The attacks on the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania killed 224 people and wounded around 5,000 others.
	 Arrested in Britain in 1999, when he was allegedly head of the British cell of Al-Qaeda, he has already spent 16 years in custody and pleads not guilty.
	 Fawwaz on Tuesday took a seat in the Manhattan court room, just a short walk from the site of the former Twin Towers destroyed by Al-Qaeda in the 9/11 attacks.
	He wore a crisp white tunic, neatly pressed and of the type traditionally favored by men in Saudi Arabia, with a crocheted white prayer cap on his head.
	He had dark shadows under his eyes, his face was pale and partially obscured by a long, pointy grey beard.
	 He 

Al-Qaeda Saudi trial gets underway in New York

A regional summit opened in Niger today aimed at stopping Boko Haram as the Islamist insurgents step up attacks both inside Nigeria and in neighbouring countries.
	 "The increase in strength of Boko Haram reflects our slowness and our inability to put up a robust response," Niger's Foreign Minister Mohamed Bazoum said at the talks in Niamey.
	 "We are watching, as was the case in Mali, the loss of sovereignty in Nigeria over large tracts of its territory and the exporting of the violence to neighbouring countries."
	Ministers from Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Benin, Equatorial Guinea were due to attend, along with representatives from the US, the European Union, China and several other countries.
	Leaders from Ghana and Chad have called for a unified effort in confronting the Islamist militants, whose insurgency has left 13,000 dead and forced 1.5 million from their homes since 2009.
	Chad sent on Saturday a convoy of troops and 400 military vehicles into neighbouring Cameroon to ..

Talks open in Niger on regional Boko Haram fight

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on armed factions in Yemen to stop fighting immediately today, after Shiite militiamen seized the presidential palace in Sanaa.
	Ban said he was "gravely concerned" as the Security Council met behind closed doors to hear a report from his special envoy on the apparent bid to overthrow President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi.
	The UN chief urged "all sides to immediately cease all hostilities, exercise maximum restraint, and take the necessary steps to restore full authority to the legitimate government institutions."
	UN envoy Jamal Benomar told the council that the Shiite militia known as the Huthis had launched a "masssive attack using heavy weapons" on the palace, a diplomatic source said.
	The envoy, who briefed from Doha by video link, said he would travel to Sanaa immediately to try to help restore stability.
	The Security Council meeting was requested by Britain following heavy clashes on Monday between the Huthis and the presidential guard in ...

UN chief calls for immediate halt to Yemen fighting

The high-fenced US Interests Section on Havana's postcard-pretty seafront was a symbol of the Cold War friction that is now finally dissipating as it prepares to become an embassy.
	Transforming the concrete and glass mission into an embassy will be a central part of historic negotiations between US and Cuban officials this week aimed at restoring diplomatic relations.
	Guarded by stone-faced Cuban police officers, the building that was built in 1953 lies along the famous Malecon seawall, a favorite meeting spot for locals and tourists alike.
	Cars are forbidden to park in front of it and police chide pedestrians who want to walk along the facility.
	The United States closed its embassy in 1961, when diplomatic relations with Fidel Castro's revolutionary government broke off, and reopened it as an interests section in 1977 under then US president Jimmy Carter.
	Since then, the mission and its 360 staff members -- most of them Cuban nationals -- officially mostly handle consular ...

US in Cuba: 'Imperialist' mission to become embassy

The foreign ministers of Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France are set to meet tomorrow in Berlin in a bid to stem fresh fighting in Ukraine, Germany said.
	"The chief aim now is to prevent a further deterioration of the military conflict and a renewed political escalation between Kiev and Moscow. This is worth every effort," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said in a statement.
	He said he had called the meeting at the request of his Russian and Ukrainian counterparts Sergei Lavrov and Pavlo Klimkin, and that Laurent Fabius of France would also take part.
	The group last met in Berlin on January 12 when they ended their talks without being able to set a date for a hoped-for peace summit on ending the conflict.
	Steinmeier said that a flare-up in fighting in eastern Ukraine in recent days had again created a "threatening situation".
	"We have spoken intensively with each other in recent days in order to look for political compromises in the ever more difficult situation," 

New Ukraine talks to dampen flare-up in fighting

Dutch police have raided the home of a young man believed to have links to a jihadist cell dismantled by Belgian security forces last week, prosecutors said today.
	"Police today raided the home of the man's parents and confiscated laptops and mobile phones," the Dutch public prosecutor's office said in a statement after the raid in central city of Utrecht.
	"He's being investigated for suspected involvement in terrorism," it added.
	Belgian security services discovered the Dutch passport of the man after Thursday's raid in the eastern town of Verviers, during which two suspected militants were killed.
	He is believed to have fled Belgium for Spain or France.
	Spanish media have identified the suspect as Zaid Kouliss, who was reported missing by his parents last year.
	A second suspect identified as Abdelmounaim Haddad is also believed to be in Spain and investigators fear the two may try to reach Syria.
	The cell was allegedly plotting an imminent attack on Belgian police when it was 

Dutch police raid Belgium-linked jihad suspect's home

The Maldivian president today announced the sacking of his defence minister Mohamed Nazim, days after police carried out a pre-dawn raid on the former army officer's home.
	"President Abdulla Yameen has today dismissed... Col Mohamed Nazim from the post of minister of defence and national security," the presidency said in a statement, without giving any reason for Nazim's removal.
	Yameen had appointed retired army general Moosa Ali Jaleel, 54, as the new defence minister, the statement said.
	Nazim's sacking comes after police were seen taking away unspecified documents during a raid early on Sunday, after reportedly obtaining a search warrant on suspicion that he was "harbouring weapons and explosives".
	The sacked minister played a key role in toppling the country's first democratically elected leader, Mohamed Nasheed, who claimed he was the victim of a coup in February 2012.
	Nazim, then a retired officer, sided with mutinous police and troops who forced Nasheed to step down. ...

Maldives president sacks defence minister

It seems incongruous in Iran, where politicians chant "Death to Israel" and the Israeli flag is often burned, but a new memorial in Tehran is bringing recognition to the country's "Jewish martyrs".
	The memorial has been raised in the three-hectare (eight-acre) Jewish cemetery in south Tehran -- a striking reminder of a minority faith whose more than 1,000-year heritage in Iran dwarfs the comparably short 35 years of the Islamic republic.
	For leaders of Iran's small Jewish community, the memorial is a welcome sign of openness from authorities despite continued concerns over discrimination.
	 "When someone looks at this monument, they will think about the sacrifices that were made by these martyrs," said the head of Tehran's Jewish community, Homayoun Sameyah Najaf Abadi.
	The names of 10 people have been etched in stone in the memorial, erected in December at the cemetery where thousands of Jews are buried.
	Five of them died fighting in the 1980-88 war against Iraq, three were ...

Memorial brings recognition to Iran's Jewish 'martyrs'

Five Russians from Chechnya have been detained in southern France on suspicion of preparing an attack, local prosecutors said on today.
	The five suspects were detained on Monday in the town of Beziers near the Mediterranean coast, around 70 kilometres from Montpellier.
	The prosecutor said certain "products" had been recovered during their searches, without giving further details.
	One of those arrested lived in Beziers, and another "probably" in Montpellier, the prosecutor added. The addresses of the other three were still being sought.
	France is on high alert following three days of attacks by jihadists earlier this month in Paris that left 17 dead.
	Chechnya, a highly restive and predominantly Muslim region in Russia, has seen the largest demonstrations against cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed published by French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo last week.
	Authorities said about one million people attended the state-organised rally against Charlie Hebdo in Chechnya on Monday.

Five Russians held in France on suspicion of planning attack

A Bulgarian court ruled Tuesday that a Frenchman who admits knowing the Charlie Hebdo attackers but denies being an Islamic extremist could be extradited to France following an arrest warrant issued by Paris.
	Muslim convert Fritz-Joly Joachin, 29, arrested on January 1 as he tried to cross from Bulgaria into Turkey, told the court in Haskovo in southern Bulgaria: "I am innocent. I want to return to France."
	Joachin, of Haitian origin, has admitted to being "old friends" with the Kouachi brothers who shot dead 12 people in Paris on January 7 in an attack on the Paris offices of French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo.
	Last week he said he used to play football with the brothers and had a "business connection" selling clothes but denied knowing about their plans to launch an Islamist attack.
	According to the arrest warrant issued by French authorities, Joachin was travelling on a bus with three other people who knew the Kouachis when he was arrested. They were allowed to continue ...

Bulgaria to extradite Frenchman who knew Charlie Hebdo

Russian-backed insurgents today assaulted the remnants of a Ukrainian force hanging onto a ruined airport near the rebels' main stronghold as Moscow poured cold water on the prospect of peace talks.
	Blasts of incoming and outgoing artillery echoed all night across Donetsk a once bustling industrial city but now the crucible of one of Europe's worst humanitarian and diplomatic crises since the Cold War.
	Rebel city administration member Ivan Prikhodko said two civilians were killed and eight seriously wounded when a shell hit a bus stop on the war-wrecked northwestern edge of town.
	"The bus stop itself and a store nearby have been levelled," Prikhodko told AFP by telephone.
	The past week's escalation in fighting and effective shredding of a repeatedly violated September truce has been accompanied by claims from Kiev's pro-Western government that 700 new Russian soldiers have deployed across the border into Ukraine's separatist east.
	Russia's defence ministry called the charges ...

Ukraine airport battle intensifies, Russia against peace talks

Kuwait has scrapped the commercial licence of leading newspaper Al-Watan, which has been highly critical of the government, citing its failure to comply with legally required financial terms.
	Al-Watan, owned by a member of the Al-Sabah ruling family, said on its website, which was still operating, that it had challenged the decision in court.
	An urgent hearing had been set for Wednesday, it said.
	The decision was issued late Monday by the ministry of commerce and industry, which said the newspaper had violated minimum capital requirements.
	  Under Kuwaiti law, the commercial licences of companies with losses worth more than 75 percent of their capital are cancelled.
	The ministry said in a statement Tuesday that it had applied the law on a number of companies after warning them to rectify their financial position.
	The state minister for cabinet affairs, Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah al-Sabah, told reporters outside parliament Tuesday that the decision was "not politically ...

Kuwait shuts newspaper critical of government

A plane with the top speed of a homing pigeon is set to embark on a landmark round-the-world flight using nothing but the sun's energy to power it, organisers said today.
	Solar Impulse 2, the first solar-powered plane to be able to fly for several days and nights, will land in 12 destinations along its roughly 35,000 kilometre (22,000 mile) trip including a five-day stretch above the Pacific Ocean without a drop of fuel.
	"We want to demonstrate that clean technology and renewable energy can achieve the impossible," said Solar Impulse chairman Bertrand Piccard, the scion of a dynasty of Swiss scientists-cum-adventurers.
	Its route, which was unveiled Tuesday in Abu Dhabi, begins in the emirate and includes stops in Oman, India, China, Hawaii and New York. It will take around 25 days of total flying time.
	Although groundbreaking in its distance, the trip will not be undertaken at a lightning pace.
	With flight speeds of 50-100 kilometres (30-60 miles) per hour, the entire ...

Solar plane set for landmark round the world flight

Shiite militiamen seized the presidential palace in Yemen's capital Tuesday in what a minister said was a bid to overthrow President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi and his US-backed government.
	Witnesses said the heavily armed gunmen were also clashing with troops outside the residence of Hadi, who was reportedly inside receiving visitors at the time of the attack.
   "The Yemeni president is under attack by militiamen who want to overthrow the regime," Information Minister Nadia Sakkaf said on Twitter.
	The fresh unrest came after the Huthi militiamen, who have tightened their grip on Sanaa since overrunning it unopposed in September, surrounded the prime minister's residence at the end of a bloody day on Monday.
	Prior to the attack on the presidency, the government had sought to hold "urgent" talks Tuesday to produce a roadmap to end violence.
	The United Nations Security Council is to hold closed door consultations about the worsening crisis Tuesday, with special envoy Jamal Benomar to ...

Shiite gunmen seize Yemen presidential palace

Chinese President Xi Jinping and the other six members of the Communist Party's elite Politburo Standing Committee have been given 62 per cent pay rises, state-run media said today, as civil servants get their first increases since 2006.
	Xi's basic monthly pay will go up to 11,385 yuan (USD 1,832) from 7,020 yuan, the China Daily said, citing announcements by the ministry of human resources and social security.
	Despite leading the world's second-largest economy, Xi's pay falls far short of US President Barack Obama, who earns USD 400,000 a year.
	At the bottom of China's scale, the lowest-ranked civil servants have seen their pay more than double to 1,320 yuan.
	Increasing numbers of officials are quitting over low compensation, the paper said, but it pointed out that basic salaries make up just one component of civil servants' monthly compensation.
	Additional allowances are also provided based on their positions and duties, it said, though it did not provide breakdowns or ...

China's Xi gets 62 per cent pay rise: report

Last week a Singapore navy ship located the jet's main body, with the AirAsia motto "Now Everyone Can Fly" painted on the side. Rescue teams hope they will be able to find many of the passengers and crew inside.

Police said a suspect package found in the City of London today was declared safe after briefly closing streets in the financial hub to traffic.
	City of London police had earlier cordoned off the area, where many banks and insurance companies have their headquarters, an AFP reporter on the scene said.
	A police officer said the package was safe and the City of London said in a tweet that the streets -- London Wall and Moorgate -- had been reopened.
	City police earlier said in a tweet: "Cordons in place in the Moorgate area due to suspect package found. Officers on scene".
	On social media, several office workers said they had been asked to remain inside their buildings while the package was being investigated.
	Andrew Parker, head of Britain's domestic intelligence service MI5, warned this month that the country faced "ongoing and increasing" threats from Islamist radicals returning from fighting in Syria, who were planning "mass casualty" attacks at iconic sites.
	The current ...

Package sparks false alarm in City of London

Saudi Arabia today beheaded one of its citizens for murder in its 12th execution this year, warning it would mete out the same fate to perpetrators of similar crimes.
	Mansour bin Awad bin Ziniegih al-Jabri was sentenced to death after being convicted of shooting dead another Saudi in a family dispute, the interior ministry said.
	Authorities carried out the sentence in the central Qassim region, the ministry said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.
	The government is committed "to maintaining security, realising justice and implementing God's law on those who shed blood," the ministry said.
	"It warns others tempted to carry out any similar act that their fate will be the same legitimate punishment."
	The conservative kingdom has faced international criticism for its frequent use of the death penalty.
	An independent expert working on behalf of the United Nations expressed concern in September about the judicial process in Saudi Arabia, calling for an immediate 

Saudi beheads murderer, warns others will face same fate

A Libyan senior oil official who represents his company in the OPEC cartel is believed to have been abducted in the militia-held capital Tripoli, a company official said today.
	Samir Salim Kamal, an engineer with the National Oil Company who is also Libya's governor for OPEC, has not been seen since Thursday when he left the company's offices.
	"His friends last saw him on Thursday afternoon as he left the NOC headquarters" in central Tripoli, an official at the company, who did not want to be named, told AFP.
	Nobody has claimed responsibility for his apparent abduction and the family of the engineer has received no news about him since his disappearance, the official said.
	Libya is one of 12 members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), whose current secretary general Abdullah El-Badri is Libyan.
	Kidnappings are common in Libya, which has been sliding deeper into chaos since the 2011 overthrow of longtime leader Moamer Kadhafi, with rival governments ...

Libyan OPEC representative missing in Tripoli

A drone briefly flew over the French presidential palace in central Paris late on Thursday, a source at the presidency said.
	Confirming a report on iTELE channel, the source with the Elysee Palace said the device spent only "a few seconds" over the palace and was "immediately spotted" by police guarding the building.
	The Paris prosecutor's office had launched an investigation into the incident, which came a week after three days of jihadist attacks in Paris, which left 17 people dead and put the country on heightened alert.
	The drone sighting at the Elysee follows a series of mysterious drone overflights at French nuclear plants in October and November, for which no one ever claimed responsibility.

AFP

AFP

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