A German court today jailed a jihadist militant for three years and nine months in the country's first trial of a member of the Islamic State group fighting in Syria and Iraq.
	Kreshnik Berisha, 20, born near the business capital Frankfurt to a family from Kosovo, was found guilty of membership in a foreign terrorist organisation, said presiding judge Thomas Lagebier.
	Berisha had admitted in court to having joined IS and taken part in fighting in Syria.
	The prosecution had called for a sentence of four years and three months, while the defence had urged a lesser term of three years and three months.
	Federal prosecutors had told the court that Berisha travelled to Syria via Turkey in July 2013 with other Islamists planning to join the fight to create a "caliphate" straddling Syria and Iraq.
	He returned home for unclear reasons in December 2013 and was arrested at Frankfurt airport.
	The trial opened in September.
	Germany's domestic intelligence service believes about 550 German ...

Germany jails jihadist in first Islamic State trial

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France said today its fighter jets were conducting a "major" raid in Iraq as part of the US-led coalition offensive against the Islamic State group, days after members said the strikes were having effect.
	"At the moment, a major raid is taking place," Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told BFMTV, refusing to detail the targets or the number of jets involved.
	He said French planes based in the United Arab Emirates and more recently in Jordan had carried out "120 to 130 missions" since the start of the coalition offensive.
	These include intelligence gathering missions. Compared to the United States, France has carried out only a handful of strikes on the militants.
	The coalition of around 60 mainly Western and Arab states was formed several months after IS jihadists swept across northern Iraq, seizing swathes of territory and proclaiming a caliphate in parts of the country and neighbouring Syria.
	Paris has so far refused to join the United States in its air war against IS in ...

Paris says 'major' anti-IS raid taking place in Iraq

Japanese police investigating a so-called "Black Widow" who could be behind the deaths of six partners have found traces of cyanide in soil from her pot plants, reports said today.
	Chisako Kakehi, 68, who was arrested last month on suspicion of murdering her 75-year-old spouse, received one billion yen (USD 8.5 million) in insurance and other payouts over 10 years following the deaths of husbands and lovers, media have said.
	Police believe she killed Isao -- her fourth and most recent husband -- with cyanide in December last year.
	Investigators who tested plant pots she had taken to a recycling centre about six months after her husband died discovered a bag at the bottom of a planter. Lab results showed the presence of cyanide compounds, Kyodo News and other media reported.
	Since the death from illness of her first husband in 1994, Kakehi had reportedly been involved with more than 10 men, of whom six had perished.
	Reports say that most were elderly or ill and she was ...

'Black widow' pot plants show traces of cyanide: Japan reports

South Africans today began marking one year since the death of Nelson Mandela with services, blasting of vuvuzelas and a cricket match to honour his enormous legacy as an anti-apartheid icon and global beacon of hope.
	An interfaith service kicked off the day's events in Pretoria, at the Freedom Park building dedicated to the country's liberation heroes.
	"Twenty years of democracy has been possible because of Mandela," tribal chief Ron Martin said as the sun rose over the Pretoria hills and the smell of herbs burning in spiralled antelope horns wafted over the ceremony.
	Veterans of the anti-apartheid struggle attended a wreath-laying ceremony at the base of a five-metre statue of a smiling Madiba, the clan name by with South Africans affectionally call their nation's favourite son.
	"The body gave in but Madiba's spirit never, never changed, it was always the same until the end," Mandela's widow Graca Machel said before laying a huge wreath of white flowers with pale pink roses at ..

South Africa marks one year since death of Mandela

Australia's conservative government today further tightened immigration laws by introducing controversial temporary visas for refugees which do not allow them to settle permanently in the country.
	The amendments to the Migration Act narrowly passed the lower house today morning after a stormy late-night debate in the upper house.
	The "temporary protection visas" grant refugees protection for three years but do not give them the right to settle in Australia for good.
	They could also be returned to their home country after a reassessment at the end of that period.
	The government re-introduced the visas, used by previous conservative governments, to deal with a backlog of 30,000 asylum-seekers who arrived by boat.
	However it also pledged to increase the overall refugee intake by 7,500 and free hundreds of children held in detention.
	"This is a win for Australia," Prime Minister Tony Abbott said.
	He confirmed that in a trade-off agreed by the government to get the bill through the .

Australia toughens up immigration but lets in more refugees

Thailand's ailing but much adored King Bhumibol Adulyadej cancelled plans to hold an annual audience to mark his 87th birthday today on the advice of his doctors, the palace said.
	The king, who is the world's longest-serving monarch, has spent most of the last few months in hospital as fears over his health mount in a nation where he is seen as a unifying, father-figure throughout a turbulent six-decade rule.
	"A team of royal physicians examined the king on Thursday evening... And agreed that he is not ready to grant a royal audience therefore they have recommended he cancels royal activities," the Royal Household Bureau said in a statement today.
	Plans to hold a grand audience and live broadcast the ceremony were also scrapped, an official at the Royal Household Bureau told AFP.
	In October the king underwent an operation to remove his gall bladder after tests revealed it was swollen.
	He was last seen in public in early November.
	The king's birthday -- also known as "Father's ...

Ailing Thai king cancels appearance for 87th birthday

Police have detained 15 people from Myanmar over a string of gruesome murders in a popular Malaysian tourist destination, and believe the killings are linked to ethnic unrest in their native country, reports today.
	Public anxiety has risen in Malaysia's historic state of Penang over the past few months as mutilated corpses or severed body parts have turned up with at least 18 mysterious and unexplained murders of Myanmar nationals.
	Authorities had made little comment until now but the state's police chief was quoted Friday saying they now believe the killings are linked to violent clashes between Muslims and Buddhists in Myanmar.
	"We can tell that these are the work of Myanmar nationals. They bring their hatred here from their country of origin," Abdul Rahim Hanafi was quoted as saying by the Malay Mail.
	"It was revenge they brought here from their country."
	He said police were still investigating. The report provided little further detail and AFP was not immediately able to ...

Malaysia says 18 deaths could be linked to Myanmar unrest

Restaurants in Japan are rushing to secure supplies of french fries after shipment delays from the US, with one chain readying to airlift 200 tons of chips.
	Giants of the fast food and "family restaurant" sectors, which serve Western style meals with a Japanese twist, are dependent on imports, Kyodo News reported, citing the chains and the Japan External Trade Organization.
	But a dockworkers' dispute on the US West Coast has caused a months-long slowdown, creating a backlog and crimping imports to Japan.
	The Japanese arm of McDonald's has been having problems since mid-November, Kyodo said, while Royal Holdings, which runs several family restaurant chains, said it has a few months' worth of stock, but was keeping a close eye on things.
	Meanwhile, the operator of the Gusto chain said it planned to fly in around 200 tons of french fries to avoid running short, the agency reported.
	News of the chip woes came with Japan already in the throes of a butter shortage that is threatening ..

Airlift to ease Japan french fry shortage

Thousands of protesters clogged streets in New York and other major US cities for a second straight night to condemn police killings of young black suspects.
	The largely peaceful demonstrations came as details emerged of another racially tinged death.
	America's largest city of 8.4 million again saw bursts of outrage after a grand jury on Wednesday decided not to indict a white officer for the death by chokehold of an unarmed black father-of-six.
	Demonstrators blocked roads, tunnels and bridges, with many of them shouting "I can't breathe" -- the words that heavy-set asthma sufferer Eric Garner, 43, gasped repeatedly as police wrestled and held him to the ground during his arrest in July for selling un-taxed cigarettes.
	Video of the arrest has been aired repeatedly on TV. Garner, a father of six, died of what was called a heart attack.
	Dozens of people were arrested in Thursday's rallies, the New York Times reported, quoting police.
	Demonstrations were also held in Chicago, ...

New York race protests vent anger over police killings

The White House has denounced human rights violations in Gambia, calling on the government to allow UN experts into the country and revoke laws discriminating against homosexuals.
	"The United States is deeply concerned by continued reports of human rights abuses in the Gambia," said Bernadette Meehan, National Security Council spokeswoman.
	"Since October, the government of the Gambia has denied access to UN Special Rapporteurs investigating reports of torture and extrajudicial execution," Meehan said in a statement yesterday.
	Meehan also noted that Gambia has arrested people over their sexual orientation and enacted a law that imposes up to life imprisonment for the "so-called crime of 'aggravated homosexuality.'"
	Homosexuality is prohibited in Gambia despite calls from the international community.
	Gambian President Yahya Jammeh enacted a law in October creating the crime of "aggravated homosexuality," which international bodies are concerned targets people with HIV or those who .

White House denounces Gambia 'rights abuses'

Greenland's social democratic party leader, Kim Kielsen, will become the territory's prime minister after forming a coalition with two smaller parties following a closely fought election, the parties have announced.
	The Social Democrat Siumut party will form a government with the centre-right Democrats and the anti-secessionist Atassut, newspaper Sermitsiaq reported.
	A snap election, held today, was called in October after another Siumut-led coalition collapsed when it was revealed that former prime minister Aleqa Hammond had used public funds to cover private expenses.
	But the scandal only had a limited impact on Siumut, which has ruled Greenland for all but four years since the granting of home rule in 1979, and the party won 34.3 per cent of the votes cast -- just slightly ahead of the leftist Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA) with 33.2 per cent.
	Both parties won 11 seats in the 31-member parliament, and with a total of 17 seats the new government will only have a narrow majority.
	As ...

Greenland's ruling party forms coalition after close vote

Mexico's embattled President Enrique Pena Nieto visited violence-plagued Guerrero state for the first time since a security crisis erupted over the apparent massacre of dozens of students.
	His yesterday's trip to the Pacific resort of Acapulco came a day after federal police and troops took over security in the port and several other crime-riddled towns from the state's weak municipal forces.
	Pena Nieto, who had visited the impoverished state many times before, had not been back since gang-linked police attacked busloads of students in the city of Iguala on September 26.
	Authorities say officers delivered 43 students to members of the Guerreros Unidos drug gang, who told investigators they killed the young men and incinerated their bodies.
	Pena Nieto had been expected to visit Iguala on Wednesday to announce the new security measures, but his trip was called off and his interior minister and national security chief went in his place.
	The case of the missing students has caused ...

Mexico's president visits violence-torn state

Fast-food workers and others in low-pay jobs have launched one-day strikes and protests across the United States demanding a USD 15 an hour minimum wage and union rights.
	Organisers yesterday said workers at major chains like McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's and Taco Bell walked off their jobs in more than 190 cities, from Los Angeles and Phoenix to Chicago, New York and Washington.
	For the first time since fast-food workers began walkouts two years ago, they were joined by workers from convenience stores and markets in 24 cities, the Fight for USD 15 campaign said in a statement.
	Employees in low-wage jobs and labour unions supporting them are pushing to raise the minimum hourly wage to USD 15 -- about double the current federal minimum of USD 7.25.
	Workers say they are fed up with pay that does not come close to keeping them out of poverty and the threat of retaliation from employers hostile to them joining or forming unions.
	"Every day I look my kids in the face and they ...

Fast-food workers strike across US for USD 15 minimum pay

French President Francois Hollande has slammed an "unbearable" attack on a couple by assailants who apparently targeted them because the man is Jewish, storming into their flat, raping the woman and stealing jewelry and bank cards.
	Both the country's prime minister and interior minister have already blasted the brutal assault, which happened on Monday in the Paris suburb of Creteil, as "anti-Semitic."
	And yesterday, Hollande said these types of violent tragedies did not only hurt the families but that "it's the best of France that finds itself hurt, broken."
	He said the assault showed that "evil sweeps through our societies" and denounced "a form of violence all the more unbearable because it aims to divide."
	According to the male victim, the assailants who barged into the flat told them they had not chosen the place at random.
	"We know that your brother is the manager of a big clothing chain. We know he has the cash till," one of them said according to the victim, who was ...

France's Hollande slams 'anti-Semitic' attack on couple

A Bahrain court has sentenced an opposition figure to three years in prison for insulting the king by tearing up a photograph of him, Amnesty International said today.
	Zainab al-Khawaja, the daughter of prominent rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, who is serving a life term, was also fined about USD 8,000, said the London-based rights watchdog.
	Khawaja was convicted of tearing up the photo in a court in October, it said, arguing that this "should not be a criminal offence".
	"Amnesty International is calling for this and all of Zainab al-Khawaja's other convictions to be quashed and all outstanding charges to be dropped," said Said Boumedouha, deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa.
	The ruling comes after a court in the Gulf archipelago sentenced her sister Maryam, who lives in exile, to one year in prison for assaulting police officers.
	Amnesty said Zainab al-Khawaja was not in court when the verdict was delivered today as "she is still recovering after giving ...

Bahrain dissident gets 3 years for tearing up king's photo

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani today voiced the hope his country would never again need foreign combat troops and said he wanted to "do business differently" with the international community.
	"Afghans in our very long history have only needed direct combat support in the last 30 years. We hope that we will never need direct combat support," he said after a conference in London.
	"The world is not responsible for everything for Afghanistan. It is us who are responsible for everything," Ghani told reporters, speaking alongside British Prime Minister David Cameron.
	Ghani, who formed a national unity government with his election rival Abdullah Abdullah in September, has spoken about the need for Afghan self-reliance as foreign combat troops withdraw after 13 years.
	He also referred to the ongoing security challenges.
	"It's not always that we have to face these threats with military power. We have to focus on softer ways to deal with these things, on investment, on economic activities," 

Ghani hopes Afghanistan will never need foreign troops

Several thousand Hungarians protested against corruption in Budapest today, the latest demonstration challenging the government of controversial Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
	The crowd, estimated at around 3,000 by an AFP photographer, marched from the parliament to the presidential palace, chanting for "zero tolerance" of corruption.
	"Our government got rich very quickly, while most people got poorer very quickly," Gabor Vago, one of the organisers, told the crowd.
	Marchers held placards condemning some senior members of Orban's government for their alleged roles in recent corruption scandals.
	They also demanded the resignation of Ildiko Vida, Hungary's Tax Office chief after she admitted last month being handed an entry ban by the US State Department over corruption allegations.
	Vida fiercely maintains her innocence while Orban has insisted that the US must provide its evidence before an investigation into corruption at the Tax Office takes place.
	"If someone accuses then ...

Several thousand march in Hungary in anti-graft protest

A Belarussian journalist who specialises in defence has been missing for several days, his colleagues said today, raising fears he has been detained by security forces.
	Journalist Alexander Alesin "has not come to work for several days now," Irina Krylovich, deputy editor of Belarussians and the Market independent newspaper where the journalist works in Minsk, told AFP.
	Colleagues said Alesin, who is well known as a commentator on defence issues and an expert on the arms trade, had not turned up for work yesterday or today and his cell phone was switched off.
	Opposition politician Yury Chausov wrote on Facebook: "Alexander Alesin is in a KGB prison," referring to the security services, still known by their Soviet-era initials.
	Chausov added the suggestion that Alesin "will be exchanged for someone," apparently referring to a prisoner exchange.
	The opposition news site Charter 97 alleged that Alesin had been arrested on suspicion of espionage, citing colleagues who wished to ...

Journalist missing in Minsk, feared detained

The first major attack in the disputed Iraqi city of Kirkuk in months killed 18 people today, while two car bombs in a frequently targeted Shiite district of Baghdad left 15 dead.
	"It's a busy street with restaurants and shops, there is great destruction," a Kirkuk police colonel said, adding that a suicide car bomb was used.
	He said the target of the explosion was a popular cafe called Dawooda in the predominantly Kurdish northern neighbourhood of Shorjah.
	Both he and the head of the health directorate for Kirkuk province, Sabah Mohammed Amin, said the blast killed at least 18 people and wounded 22.
	In the capital Baghdad, two car bombs went off at around 6:30 pm (1530 GMT) near markets in different parts of the sprawling northern district of Sadr City that are usually bustling with people on Thursday evenings.
	At least nine people were killed and 25 wounded in one blast, while at least six died and 22 were hurt in the other, a police colonel and a hospital source said.
	The ...

Car bombs in Kirkuk, Baghdad kill 33

Hundreds of people -- most of them African Americans -- paid tribute today to the US capital's former mayor Marion Barry, passing by the coffin of the popular but controversial Washington political fixture.
	Despite the cold weather, Washington residents waited on the sidewalk in long lines outside the mayor's office, where the coffin of the former four-term mayor was available for viewing through tomorrow.
	"We're here to pay our last respects to him," said Deborah Avent, a city employee wrapped in a massive scarf. Barry "was a great man, he did a lot for this city, for the youth," said the woman in her 50s.
	"He was a people's man. He did a lot for us, African Americans," added Vanessa Barksdale, 61.
	"You could always count on him," Barksdale added before heading into the building where the coffin rested in the lobby, topped with a red wreath, and sitting next to a portrait of Barry.
	This morning, the widow of the former mayor, Cora Barry, was standing beside the coffin receiving .

Hundreds mourn Washington's controversial ex-mayor

Qatar today lodged a "final offer" to buy the owner of London's landmark Canary Wharf office quarter for 2.6 billion pounds.
	Sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority and US group Brookfield Property Partners said in a statement they have increased their bid for Songbird, a property firm which controls 69 per cent of Canary Wharf Group.
	The cash bid, pitched at 350 pence per share, compared with the previous 295-pence-per-share or 2.2-billion pound offer that was rejected last month by Songbird. The group has yet to respond to the improved bid.
	"QIA and Brookfield... Believe the Songbird final offer price to be full and fair, based on their view of the fundamental value of Songbird's existing assets," the pair said in a statement.
	They added that they "wish to avoid a protracted debate on value and so minimise the uncertainty for the management of CWG".
	The QIA, which owns Harrods department store and the Shard skyscraper in London, already has a 28.6-per cent stake in ...

AFP

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