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.

Drone briefly flies over French presidential palace

PTI Automatic

The Chinese businessman who bought an unfinished Soviet-era vessel that became his country's first aircraft carrier was quoted today as saying that Beijing never repaid the USD 120 million it cost him.
	Entrepreneur Xu Zengping paid Ukraine a USD 20 million fee for the Varyag, which was eventually commissioned into the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy as the Liaoning. But the price ballooned once towing it to China -- a process that was delayed for years -- and other costs were included.
	Xu also revealed that the ship was still fitted with its original engines at the time it was transported to China, contrary to reports.
	Xu, a former PLA basketball player, was chosen to negotiate the acquisition, posing as a businessman who wanted to use it for a floating casino in Macau, and then giving it to the authorities.
	But he told Hong Kong's South China Morning Post newspaper: "I still haven't received one fen (one hundredth of a yuan) from our government. I just handed it over to the ..

'China 'never paid businessman' who bought aircraft carrier'

China's working-age population continued to fall in 2014, the government said today, as Beijing struggles to address a spiralling demographic challenge made worse by its one-child policy.
	Mainland China's total population stood at 1.37 billion at the end of 2014, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, an increase of 7.1 million over the end of 2013. It remains the world's largest, although India has been catching up in recent years.
	The working-age population -- which China defines as those between the ages of 16 and 59 -- dropped to 915.8 million last year, the NBS said, down 3.7 million from the end of 2013.
	The population aged 60 and over, by contrast, rose by more than 10 million to 212.4 million, or 15.5 per cent of the total population.
	Projections show that one in four of the population -- or 350 million Chinese -- will be aged 60 or older by 2030, compared with just five percent as late as 1982.
	China introduced its controversial family planning policies, which ..

China workers decline as demographic time bomb ticks

Indonesia's parliament backed direct elections for local leaders today, reversing an earlier decision to scrap a key reform of the democratic era and giving a boost to President Joko Widodo.
	The previous parliament voted in its dying days in September to end the system of mayors, provincial governors and district heads being chosen by the public in the world's third-biggest democracy.
	Instead, local parliaments were given the power to pick them - a move widely criticised as an attack on the process of democratisation started after the downfall of long-serving dictator Suharto in 1998.
	It was also a blow to Widodo, who backed local polls, just weeks after he was elected Indonesia's president from outside the political and military elites, and was seen as revenge by opponents still hurting from defeat in the vote.
	Supporters of scrapping the elections argued that the hundreds of polls held every few years are enormously costly and in reality only allow the wealthy to win ...

Indonesian MPs back direct elections in boost for Widodo

World number ones Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams showed no mercy in powering through to the Australian Open second round Tuesday as unseeded dark horse Victoria Azarenka won her grudge match.
     Defending men's champion Stan Wawrinka, Japanese fifth seed Kei Nishikori and women's fourth seed Petra Kvitova also stayed on course.
     Eighteen-time Grand Slam winner Williams opened her Melbourne Park account with a decisive 6-0, 6-4 display against Belgium's Alison Van Uytvanck, laying down the marker to her challengers.
     A sixth Australian Open title would take her to clear second on the Grand Slam Open Era winners list behind Steffi Graf's 22, having joined Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova on 18 with her win at the US Open last year.
     "If I could get to 19 in Australia that would be beyond amazing, so we'll see. I have a lot of work to do but I'm just going to enjoy myself," said the American.
     Serbian top seed Djokovic, gunning for a fifth Australian title, also .

Djokovic, Serena show no mercy as Azarenka romps

Armed men kidnapped a female UN employee in the capital of the strife-torn Central African Republic today, a day after two aid workers were seized, said a source with the UN force.
	The gunmen, who appeared to be linked to the mainly Christian militia known as the anti-balaka, seized the woman from a van taking UN staffers to work in Bangui, the source with the UN's Minusca force in the country said on condition of anonymity.
	"The kidnappers first wanted to put her on a motorcycle, but she resisted," the source said. "They then forced her into a taxi which took off in the direction" of a neighbourhood in which the Christian militia is active.
	The woman was said to be an expatriate, but her nationality was not immediately clear.
	On Monday, a 67-year-old French woman and a local man were kidnapped in central Bangui, reportedly by anti-balaka militia who are angry at the arrest of one of their leaders by UN peacekeepers on Saturday.
	Rodrigue Nagibona, alias General Andjilo, who was ..

UN employee kidnapped in capital of C. African Republic:source

Chinese President Xi Jinping and the other six members of the Communist Party's elite Politburo Standing Committee have been given 62 percent 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 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 amounts.
	Civil service 

China's Xi gets 62 percent pay rise: report

Two Russian performance artists were being held by police today after throwing holy water at the Lenin Mausoleum on Red Square and shouting "Rise up and leave!"
	The men were held overnight in a police station and were awaiting a court hearing after the protest they carried out on Monday, an Orthodox holiday, a spokeswoman for OVD Info, a website that monitors detentions of activists.
	The men were being charged with petty hooliganism, which carries a punishment of up to 15 days in police detention, the site said.
	A Moscow police spokeswoman said she had no information on the case.
	The two men were Oleg Basov and Yevgeny Avilov, members of an art group called Blue Rider, OVD Info told AFP.
	In a video of the performance posted on YouTube, the two young men are shown carrying 5-litre bottles of holy water marked with a cross from a church across the square.
	They move aside barriers in front of the mausoleum and throw the water at the doors and steps, shouting "Rise up and leave!" ...

Protesters arrested for throwing holy water at Lenin mausoleum

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu today signed a military cooperation deal with Iran that his Iranian counterpart touted as a joint response to US "interference".
	Shoigu is the most senior Russian military official to visit Tehran since 2002, according to Iranian media, and the agreement comes with both countries facing Western sanctions.
	The deal provides for joint exercises and military training, as well as "cooperation in peacekeeping, maintaining regional and international security and stability, and fighting against separatism and extremism," the Iranian defence ministry website said.
	Defence Minister Hossein Dehqan told state television that Iran and Russia had a "shared analysis of US global strategy, its interference in regional and international affairs and the need to cooperate in the struggle against the interference of foreign forces in the region."
	Russia has long been Iran's principal foreign arms supplier but their ties took a major hit in 2010 when Moscow ...

Russia signs military cooperation deal with Iran

Turkey today arrested 20 people, including former senior officials in its telecoms and science agencies, in a new wave of raids against suspects accused of wire-tapping senior officials including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
	The official Anatolia news agency said prosecutors issued warrants for 28 people in Ankara, Istanbul and other cities, with those arrested former employees of the telecommunications agency TIB and the TUBITAK science and technology agency.
	Anatolia said it was the fourth raid targeting suspects in the illegal wire-tapping case which is linked to last year's stunning corruption allegations against Erdogan and his inner circle that were based on bugged telephone conversations.
	Among those targeted are the former deputy head of TUBITAK Hasan Palaz and communications agency former deputy chief Nihat Sen, it added.
	As with previous raids, the current swoops and their targets were predicted with extraordinary precision by the mysterious Twitter user Fuat Avni ...

Turkey arrests 20 in new raids on wire-tapping suspects

Unidentified assailants blew up the car of a Hamas security official in Gaza during the night, the interior ministry said today in a sign of increasing instability in the Palestinian territory.
	"A home-made bomb damaged a car belonging to a military police officer which was parked in front of his house in Gaza City, without causing casualties," Gaza interior ministry spokesman Iyad al-Buzum said in a statement.
	Witnesses said the car belonged to Helmi Khalaf, administrative and financial manager of the Hamas-run military police.
	It was unclear who carried out the alleged attack.
	It came after Hamas police yesterday arrested several dozen hardline Islamist protesters who tried to storm the French cultural centre in Gaza City, threatening the lives of staff and chanting slogans against satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
	A series of explosions in November targeted officials of Hamas's rivals Fatah, which is headed by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, but caused no ...

Gaza bomb hits car of Hamas security official: ministry

At least eight civilians including women and children were killed when their van struck a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan today, officials said.
	The incident occurred in the Jaghuri district of Ghazni province, Deputy Provincial Governor Mohammad Ali Ahmadi told AFP.
	It comes weeks after the NATO combat mission which began in 2001 was downgraded to support and training duties to help the Afghan army and police.
	"Eight civilians, including one woman and a child, were killed in this morning roadside blast. One child and one woman were wounded," he said, adding that the injured child and woman were taken to the hospital in critical condition.
	Asadullah Safi, the deputy police chief of the province told AFP that four of those killed belonged to one family.
	No one has claimed responsiblity for the attack but roadside bombs have been the Taliban's weapon of choice in their war against foreign and Afghan security forces, now in its fourteenth year.
	The bombs also increasingly ...

Roadside bomb kills eight Afghan civilians: officials

The Islamic State group threatened to kill two Japanese hostages unless it receives a USD 200 million ransom within 72 hours, but Tokyo today vowed it would not give in to "terrorism".
	IS has murdered five Western hostages since August last year, but it is the first time that the jihadist group -- which has seized swathes of Syria and neighbouring Iraq -- has threatened Japanese captives.
	In footage posted on jihadist websites, a black-clad militant brandishing a knife addresses the camera in English, standing between two hostages wearing orange jumpsuits.
	"You now have 72 hours to pressure your government into making a wise decision by paying the USD 200 million to save the lives of your citizens," he says.
	The militant says that the ransom demand is to compensate for non-military aid that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged to support countries affected by the campaign against IS during an ongoing Middle East tour that on Tuesday saw him in Jerusalem.
	But the Japanese government .

IS threatens to kill Japan hostages, Tokyo vows not to give in

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe today demanded that the Islamic State group immediately free two Japanese hostages unharmed after the jihadists posted a video threat to kill them.
	"I strongly demand that they not be harmed and that they be immediately released," he told a news conference during a visit to Jerusalem. "I am extremely indignant at such an act."
	IS has threatened to kill the two Japanese hostages unless it receives a USD 200 million ransom within 72 hours, but Abe vowed not give in to "terrorism".
	"The international community will not give in to terrorism and we have to make sure that we work together," Abe said as he wound up a Middle East tour and prepared to fly home.
	In a video posted on jihadist websites, a militant said that the ransom demand was to compensate for USD 200 million in non-military aid that Abe pledged in support of countries hit by IS violence.
	Abe was to make the short drive from Jerusalem to visit Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in the ...

Japan PM demands immediate release of IS hostages

A court in Guatemala sentenced a former police chief to 90 years for an assault on the Spanish embassy in 1980 when a group of protesting Indians, peasants and university students were holed up inside.
	The attack left 37 people dead and came during the Guatemalan civil war pitting a rightist government against leftist rebels and people accused of supporting them.
	Some 200,000 people were killed or vanished without a trace in the country's 1960-1996 civil war, according to a 1999 UN-sponsored report.
	The convicted police chief, Pedro Garcia, will only have to serve 30 years, however, because that was the maximum possible sentence at the time of the attack.
	Before the sentence was announced yesterday, indigenous people held a Maya ceremony with an altar holding flowers and candles.
	Nobel peace laureate Rigoberta Menchu, whose father died in the attack, praised the verdict. "It is essential that we still create a drop of hope in justice," she said.
	The embassy was attacked after ...

Guatemalan ex-police chief handed 90 years over embassy raid

World number one Novak Djokovic and defending champion Stan Wawrinka showed no mercy in powering through to the Australian Open second round today as unseeded dark horse Victoria Azarenka won her grudge match.
     Japanese fifth seed Kei Nishikori and women's fourth seed Petra Kvitova also stayed on course, with 18-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams opening her Melbourne Park account later Tuesday.
     Serbian top seed Djokovic, gunning for a fifth Australian title, found his groove early against Slovenia's Aljaz Bedene to post a commanding 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 win.
     "For a first round performance it was pretty good, obviously I still need to work on a few things, I'm still developing my game," said Djokovic, who lost to Wawrinka in the quarter-finals last year.
     The Swiss fourth seed went on to stun Rafael Nadal and win his maiden Grand Slam, and he is keen to repeat the heroics again this year.
     He got his title defence off to to a solid start with a 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 ...

Djokovic, Wawrinka show no mercy as Azarenka romps

Pope Francis has said that good Catholics do not have to breed "like rabbits", defending the Church's stance on artificial contraception and appealing to the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics to practise responsible parenting.
	Speaking to journalists on his flight back from the Philippines, the pope said that he once asked a mother of seven children who was pregnant with her eighth if she wanted to "leave behind seven young orphans".
	"She said, 'I trust in God.' But God gave us the means to be responsible," the pope said. "Some think, and excuse the term, that to be good Catholics, they must be like rabbits."
	Francis said creating new life was "part of the sacrament of marriage" and in Manila strongly defended his predecessor Paul VI's outlawing of artificial contraception for Catholics in 1968.
	Following the church's teachings did not mean "Christians should have children one after the other", he said.
	His comments came at the end of a trip to the Philippines, the Catholic ...

Pope says Catholics do not need to breed 'like rabbits'

Philippine police arrested three people for cracking jokes about a bomb while on their way to attend Pope Francis's mass in Manila, an official said today.
	The man and two women were arrested at a police checkpoint on Sunday while heading to the mass in Rizal Park which attracted a record six million people, said officer Alberto de Guzman of Manila police radio control office.
	As they went through the checkpoint, witnesses heard one of the three saying "Hey, I've got a bomb. Why didn't you detect it?" de Guzman said.
	His companions then joked about carrying guns, de Guzman said.
	"They were making fun of the police officers. If people had heard them, it could have caused a stampede," he told AFP.
	The three are being held under a law that penalises "pranksters" who make false reports about bombs. The crime is punishable up to five years in jail or a fine of 40,000 pesos (USD 894) or both.
	Security was tight during the five-day visit of Pope Francis to the devoutly Catholic ...

Philippine police arrest three for bomb joke during popal mass

Kane Williamson made a welcome return to the New Zealand side with an elegant century to set up a four-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in the fourth one-day international today.
     Backed by lusty hitting from Corey Anderson and Luke Ronchi, New Zealand overtook Sri Lanka's 276 with 11 balls to spare and move 2-1 ahead in the seven-match series.
     In a tense finish New Zealand needed 47 off 36 balls when the 24-year-old Williamson was removed for 103, his fifth ODI century.
     Anderson was run out for 47 with New Zealand needing 32 runs with 26 balls left.
     Up stepped Luke Ronchi to blast a rapid 32 including three sixes and Daniel Vettori hit a four as New Zealand finished with a flourish.
     After losing the early wickets of Brendon McCullum, Martin Guptill and Ross Taylor cheaply, an unflustered Williamson led the rescue mission, first in partnership with Grant Elliott and then with Anderson.
     He brought up his century with a steady accumulation of singles, only ...

Williamson ton sees New Zealand to 2-1 series lead

Six young firemen were killed today as they battled a blaze engulfing a bowling alley in northern Taiwan, officials said.
	The men, all in their 20s, were trapped and killed in a "sudden burst of flames", which caused the partial collapse of the building in Taoyuan county. Fire had broken out in the early hours of the morning, when the venue was shut.
	Around 90 firefighters had been sent to the scene and two workers were rescued uninjured, the Taoyuan fire department said.
	"There was a lot of smoke -- we decided that (our firemen) should stop going in and requested our colleagues to pull out, but they did not have time to evacuate during a sudden burst of flames," said fire department official Shih Shou-yang.
	Taoyuan mayor Cheng Wen-tsan told reporters that the cause of the fire was under investigation and expressed his sadness over the loss of the firemen.
	"Great sadness. Six firemen unfortunately died in the line of duty," Cheng wrote on his Facebook page.

Six Taiwan firemen killed in bowling alley fire

A worker at Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant died today after falling into a water tank, the country's nuclear operator said, the second fatal accident to blight efforts to stabilise the tsunami-battered facility.
	Separately today, another worker died because of an incident at the Fukushima Daini nuclear power plant, which is located several kilometres (miles) south of the damaged plant, operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said.
	The victim at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant, reportedly in his 50s, was inspecting an empty water tank with two other workers when he fell from the top of the 10-metre (33-feet) container, according to TEPCO.
	The worker was trying to remove the lid of the giant tank by himself when he fell into the unit.
	"He was wearing a harness, but the hook was found tucked inside the harness. This means the harness was not being used," said a TEPCO spokesman.
	"We are investigating whether safety measures were appropriately observed," he ...

AFP

AFP

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