Canadian smartphone maker BlackBerry is wooing Apple customers with a cash offer for trade-ins of iPhones for its new square-screened, keyboard-equipped Passport.
	The promotion was announced yesterday and will be available starting next month until February 13, in Canada and the United States.
	Customers who trade in their iPhones could receive up to USD 400 cash back depending on the model and condition of their trade-in, plus a USD 150 gift card.
	This marks the first time that BlackBerry has gone head-to-head with Apple since the Canadian firm launched a turnaround plan last year aimed at stemming massive losses.
	The Passport was launched in September.
	Named for its approximate size to the travel document, the phone was designed to win back key corporate users after BlackBerry was effectively knocked out of the highly competitive consumer smartphone market dominated by Apple and Samsung.
	Investors seemed pleased, pushing up the Waterloo, Ontario-based company's share price ...

BlackBerry courts iPhone users with cash

PTI Automatic

Gangs are using social media sites such as Facebook to lure young women into crime and prostitution, the head of European policing agency Europol said today.
	Rob Wainwright said traffickers were drawing victims in by posting advertisements for childcare or cleaning vacancies and once ensnared, controlling their movements with webchats and webcams.
	"They are using modern technological tools to more efficiently monitor an increasing number of victims," Wainwright told the Centre for Social Justice think-tank in London.
	"So instead of paying them a visit every day they can use webchat services and also webcams to confirm that they are where they should be, in that brothel waiting for the next customer.
	"In the past pimps and traffickers had to do that by physically visiting them. Now they can just do it at the click of a button and therefore control 50 victims much more easily and readily in virtual form," he said.
	The police chief said criminal gangs regarded trafficking as a ...

Sex traffickers 'using Facebook' to lure victims

Napoleon's admirers will be able to carry his DNA on their wrists after a Swiss company announced today its plans to sell watches containing a fragment of the emperor's hair.
	Half-millimetre slices of his locks will be placed inside a limited series of some 500 watches that are to bear the likeness of Napoleon, said Viviane de Witt, CEO of De Witt watchmakers, told AFP.
	They will sell for the price of around USD 10,000.
	The first surgery-like operation to slice up the hair happened today in the presence of a bailiff at the De Witt factory in Geneva.
	"Napoleon was already quite idolised while he was alive, when he got his hair cut people picked it up and kept it," De Witt said.
	In this case the hair was part of a 1,000-piece trove of Napoleon memorabilia belonging to the royal family of Monaco, which fetched jaw dropping prices during an auction in mid-November near Paris.
	One of the most incredible sale prices was the 1.9 million euros (USD 2.4 million) a South Korean chicken ...

Swiss firm to put Napoleon's DNA in watches

Pope Francis launched a withering attack today on a "haggard" Europe, urging it to reclaim global leadership after years of crisis and to take in migrants before the Mediterranean becomes a "vast cemetery".
	The Argentine pontiff addressed the European Parliament and Council of Europe during a lightning visit to Strasbourg, during which he called for urgent economic and social change.
	Francis, the first non-European pope for more than a millennium, took a harsher tone than the last pontiff to visit the French city, John Paul II, in 1988 at the end of the Cold War.
	"Europe seems to give the impression of being somewhat elderly and haggard, feeling less and less a protagonist," the 77-year-old pope told the European parliament.
	"We encounter a general impression of weariness and ageing, of a Europe which is now a 'grandmother', no longer fertile and vibrant," he said.
	Francis whose four-hour trip was the shortest abroad by any pope was critical of the growing nationalist and ...

Pope Francis blasts 'haggard' Europe

Burial workers in eastern Sierra Leone were sacked today after snatching Ebola victims from a mortuary and dumping their bodies in the street in a pay dispute.
	The workers, who were on a one-day strike over non-payment of risk allowances, left at least a dozen corpses around the public hospital in the city of Kenema, once one of the epicentres of the epidemic.
	"I am disappointed that they displayed the bodies because of the quest for money," Paul Conteh, head of the National Ebola Response Centre, told reporters in the capital Freetown.
	"They ignored the dignity and respect for the dead. I am not against them withholding their services but this is unacceptable," Contech said.
	Bodies were also abandoned outside the offices of hospital managers, according to officials and witnesses, although it was not clear how long they were left lying around.
	Ebola is spread through contact with bodily fluids and the risk of infection is particularly high with the corpse of someone who has ...

Sierra Leone Ebola burial teams dump bodies in street

The lawyer for the family of Michael Brown denounced today the "unfair" process that resulted in no indictment for the police officer who shot and killed the unarmed black youth.
	"This process is broken. This process should be indicted," Benjamin Crump told reporters, a day after a grand jury opted not to send police officer Darren Wilson to trial.
	The decision prompted a night of violent unrest in the St Louis, Missouri suburb of Ferguson, as well as protests in cities around the United States.
	Crump said he and his team had gone through much of the "data dump" of testimony from the prolonged, closed-door grand jury hearing into the August 2 shooting.
	"We went through it as much as we could and saw how completely unfair this process was," he said.
	He criticized the way Wilson had not been cross-examined when he appeared before the grand jury in September, saying "a first-year law student would have done a better job."
	"When was his credibility ever challenged?" he asked.
	Crump 

Brown family lawyer denounces 'unfair' Ferguson process

The Palestinian leadership today slammed the Israeli government's approval of a law determining the country's status as the national Jewish homeland, saying it "killed" Middle East peace prospects.
	The Palestine Liberation Organisation's executive committee expressed in a statement its "strong condemnation and rejection of this law".
	"The law aims to kill the two-state solution by imposing the project of a 'greater Israel' as well as the Jewishness of the state upon the historical land of Palestine," said the PLO, which dominates the Palestinian Authority.
	Israel's cabinet on Sunday endorsed a proposal to anchor in law the country's status as "the national state of the Jewish people," voting 14 to six in favour of the initiative.
	The country's parliament, the Knesset, is to vote on the law on December 3.
	Critics, who include the government's top legal adviser, say the proposed change could institutionalise discrimination against its 1.7 million Arab citizens, descendants of the ..

Palestinians slam Israel approval of 'Jewish state' law

Keen-nosed Turkish police have seized more than 118,000 bottles of fake perfume in the biggest such haul in recent years, the Istanbul police force said today.
	Police raided nine warehouses in the Zeytinburnu and Bahcelievler districts in the city's European side, where fake perfumes bearing the names of luxury brands were being stored and produced.
	Over 622,000 empty bottles, as well as boxes, containers and chemicals used in the manufacturing of the fake perfume were also seized during the week-long operation.
	One person was arrested during last week's raids, Istanbul police department said in statement on its website.
	The seized products were worth over USD 10 million, police said, warning that they were being sold "well below their market price."
	The consignment was headed for Europe, presumably intended for sale during the busy Christmas season.
	It was the largest haul of counterfeit perfumes in Turkey, a key transit route for fake goods from Asia and elsewhere into western 

Scent of deceit: Turkey seizes 118,000 fake perfume bottles

The detention of Portugal's former prime minister Jose Socrates on suspicion of tax evasion and money laundering has set off a new political earthquake in a country already rocked by high-level scandal.
	Socrates, 57, has been held since his shock arrest at Lisbon airport on Friday, a first for a former leader of Portugal since its military dictatorship ended in 1974.
	After lengthy questioning on Monday in connection with the corruption probe, a judge ordered the brash former Socialist leader be held in custody in a prison in the southeast of the country.
	Socrates, who was prime minister from 2005 to 2011, has been placed under formal investigation suspected of "tax evasion, corruption and money laundering", according to the judge's statement read out to reporters.
	His attorney Joao Araujo branded the decision "deeply unjust and unjustified" and vowed to appeal.
	Under "provisional detention", Socrates can be held for up to a year because his case is of "extreme complexity", ...

Ex-Portuguese PM remanded in custody in fraud case

Dutch police have arrested three men including an ex-jihadist fighter suspected of planning terror attacks and funding other fighters in Syria, prosecutors said today.
	The three men, two aged 26 and a third aged 30, were arrested in the southern Dutch cities of Eindhoven and Arnhem, the prosecutor's office said in a statement.
	"They are suspected of preparing terror attacks and wanting to join the Al-Nusra Front," Al-Qaeda's Syrian affiliate, it said, but did not give further details.
	One of the men is also suspected of giving money to jihadist fighters in Syria.
	Prosecutors started their probe during the summer after receiving information from the Dutch security services (AIVD), said the statement.
	Law enforcement officers raided the suspects' homes late last month in various cities and confiscated computers, tablets and mobile phones.
	They also seized the men's passports as well as the passports of three other suspects.
	Around 130 Dutch jihadists have left to fight in Syria, .

Dutch arrest three for planning jihadist terror attacks

The Islamic State group stoned two men to death in Syria today after claiming they were gay, a monitor said, in the jihadist organisation's first executions for alleged homosexuality.
	"The IS today stoned to death a man that it said was gay," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, adding that the victim was around 20 years old.
	He was killed in Mayadeen in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, near the border with Iraq.
	The Britain-based Observatory said IS claimed it found videos on his mobile phone showing him "practising indecent acts with males".
	In a separate incident today, an 18-year-old was also stoned to death in Deir Ezzor city after the group said he was gay, the Observatory said.
	Activists on social media said that the dead men were opponents of IS and that the group had used the allegation as a pretext to kill them.
	The United Nations said this month the IS had carried out several executions by stoning of women in Syria it accused of adultery.
	The jihadists ...

IS stones 2 'gay men' to death in Syria: NGO

Kenya are set to tour Pakistan to play against a second-string team as part of efforts to revive top-flight international cricket in the country, five years after it was halted due to a terror attack.
     Kenya will tour next month for five one-day games, said Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar Khan.
    	"We have been making efforts to bring smaller teams to Pakistan and the object is to open the door for teams to our country, and we have got the government's clearance on that," Khan told AFP.
     Pakistan have not hosted any international cricket since militants attacked the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore in March 2009, killing eight people and injuring nine. Team members were among the injured.
	Bangladesh twice backed away from touring for a short series in 2012 and a year later, citing security fears.
	Ireland were due to play a short limited-over series in Pakistan in September this year, but militant attacks on Karachi airport resulted in the tour being called ...

Kenya to tour Pakistan

British businessman Shrien Dewani will have to wait two weeks to see whether a South African judge throws out charges that he organised the murder of his bride on their honeymoon.
	After hearing two days of argument on a defence bid to have the case dismissed, Western Cape High Court judge Jeannette Traverso said today she would give her decision on December 8.
	Dewani's lawyers had applied for his discharge at the end of the state's case, arguing that the evidence against him was so weak he should be acquitted without even having to mount a defence.
	Dewani, 34, is accused of organising the murder of his 28-year-old Swedish bride Anni during their honeymoon in South Africa in November 2010.
	Prosecutors say he hired hitmen to kill her in a staged hijacking because he is a gay man who felt trapped into marriage by family pressures. Dewani says he is bisexual and loved Anni.
	The driver of the hijacked taxi and one of the hijackers -- both serving long jail terms for the murder -- ...

Dewani honeymoon murder case decision delayed

The weak eurozone economy poses a key threat to global growth, the OECD warned today, urging more flexibility in fiscal rules for struggling EU members like France and Italy to prevent another recession.
	Forcing the two major European economies to meet the EU's tough deficit criteria "would likely depress activity further and even risk tipping the euro area into another recession," it said.
	France and Italy's "slower pace of structural fiscal adjustment... Proposed in their 2015 budget plans seems appropriate," said the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, which provides economic analysis and advice to its 34 industrialised members.
	Its assessment came as an EU source said the Commission would give the two countries until the spring to implement tough reforms, delaying a final verdict on national overspending originally set for this week.
	The Commission was expected to deliver the detailed opinions next Thursday or Friday, but will now only give an initial ...

Stagnant eurozone poses 'major risk' to world growth: OECD

Gulf labour ministers today agreed on minimum terms in the contracts of domestic staff to improve the widely criticised working conditions of over 2.4 million foreign maids, an official said.
	The move comes as labour ministers of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), home to 23 million foreigners, mostly unskilled workers, are to meet with their Asian counterparts in Kuwait City this week to discuss the conditions of foreign labour in the oil-rich region.
	The new contract entitles domestic workers to a weekly day off, annual leave and the right to live outside their employer's house, the director general of Kuwait's Public Manpower Authority, Jamal al-Dossari, told AFP.
	It also limits the working day to eight hours.
	The GCC, comprising Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, has repeatedly come under strong criticism by international rights groups for alleged maltreatment of foreign workers, particularly domestic helpers.
	"The contract has ...

Gulf agrees new contract for domestic workers

A copy of William Shakespeare's First Folio, the first-ever compilation of the Bard's plays published in 1623, has been discovered in the library of a small town in northern France, a librarian said today.
	One of the most valuable and coveted books in the world, the First Folio was uncovered when librarian Remy Cordonnier dusted off a book of Shakespeare's works dating to the 18th century for an exhibition on English literature in the town of Saint-Omer near Calais.
	"It occurred to me that it could be an unidentified First Folio, with historic importance and great intellectual value," he told AFP.
	The copy of the book, which was published seven years after Shakespeare's death, was authenticated on Saturday by First Folio expert Eric Rasmussen from the University of Nevada.
	"It is the 231st copy found in the world and the second in France," said Cordonnier.
	The book, a compilation of 36 of Shakespeare's plays, is in good condition but missing about 30 pages, including the title ...

Rare first Shakespeare edition found in French library

OPEC's biggest crude producer Saudi Arabia will have its sights set on the upstart US shale oil business at a crucial cartel meeting to debate possible output cuts on Thursday.
	Analysts say the kingdom is content to see shale oil producers -- and even some members of the cartel -- suffer from low prices and will resist pressure to reduce output and shore up the cost of oil.
	A barrel of crude has plunged by about one third in value since June to around USD 80 in an increasingly competitive market.
	Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi was silent about his government's intentions Monday as he arrived in Vienna ahead of the OPEC gathering.
	"Is this the first time we have oversupply?" he was quoted as saying by Dow Jones Newswires when questioned about current supply and demand.
	However his Iraqi counterpart Abdel Mahdi arrived in Vienna pushing for action, deeming the steep price drop "not acceptable".
	Analysts say the kingdom is strong enough to withstand lower prices.
	"Saudi Arabia ...

Saudi sights set on US shale at crucial OPEC meeting

Syrian regime air raids on Raqa city, which the Islamic State jihadist group has proclaimed as its capital, killed at least 23 civilians today, a monitoring group said.
	"At least 23 civilians, including three children, were killed in a string of air strikes" against the northern city, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, adding that dozens of others were wounded.
	"Most of the casualties were caused by two consecutive air strikes targeting the city's industrial area," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said.
	"The first strike came, residents rushed to rescue the wounded, and then the second raid took place," said Abdel Rahman, whose Britain-based group has multiple sources on the ground across Syria.
	The Islamic State emerged in Syria's war in spring 2013.
	It took over Raqa, the only provincial capital to fall from government control since the outbreak of a 2011 revolt, and turned it into its bastion.
	The government has launched frequent air strikes against Raqa and .

Syrian air raids on jihadist-held town kill 23 civilians

Ten Bangladesh convicts on death row won the right to a final appeal against their conviction and sentence for war crimes, the country's top legal official said today.
	The Supreme Court ruled that the seven Islamists and three other convicts were eligible to seek review of their sentences, delivered by a controversial tribunal probing Bangladesh's 1971 independence war against Pakistan.
	Prosecutors had argued that convicts did not qualify for the additional appeal because they were convicted under the country's special war crimes laws.
	"They will be allowed to seek review," Attorney General Mahbubey Alam told AFP of the court's ruling handed down earlier today.
	One convict, a senior figure of the country's largest Islamist party, was executed late last year following his conviction for mass murder and rape during the war.
	The tribunal has convicted and sentenced 14 people since it was set up in 2010 by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's secular government in a bid, it says, to heal ..

B'desh war criminals on death row win right to final appeal

A group of British lawmakers cancelled a visit to China today after one MP who defended Hong Kong's autonomy was not granted a visa, officials said.
	Richard Graham, head of the All-Party Parliamentary China Group and a former diplomat in Beijing and Macau in the 1980s, was refused a visa at the last minute ahead of a three-day trip, the Guardian newspaper said.
	The delegation had been due to fly out today.
	Members of the group were scheduled to take part in the UK-China Leadership Forum in Shanghai, a joint initiative with the Chinese Communist party.
	"We have raised this with the Chinese government and sought an explanation for their decision to deny a visa," a Foreign Office spokesman said.
	"The UK-China Leadership Forum has an important role in UK-China relations," the spokesman said.
	At a briefing in Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said: "We always welcome visits from British MPs so we may inject more positive energy into our mutual ...

British MPs cancel visit to China after visa ban

More than 45 people died today in twin bomb blasts, including one by a female suicide bomber, at a packed market in the Nigerian city of Maiduguri.
	The explosions in the Borno state capital targeted the same Monday Market area where at least 15 people died July 1 in blast blamed on the Boko Haram militant group.
	The attack came after the militants seized control of another town in Nigeria's restive northeast.
	Health worker Dogara Shehu said he counted more than "45 people killed, some of them completely decapitated" in the Maiduguri blasts in an account supported by another witness.
	An official with Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) confirmed that "many people have been killed" but did not have an official death toll.
	One senior police officer, who requested anonymity, described the explosion, which happened at about 11:00 am (1000 GMT), as a "powerful bomb", which was felt across the city.
	Market trader Usman Babaji told AFP the explosives were hidden in a ..

AFP

AFP

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