The Swedish navy stepped up its hunt today for a suspected foreign submarine in its waters with fingers pointing at Moscow in a throwback to the Cold War.
	Swedish soldiers and sailors were scouring the sea southeast of the capital Stockholm in the biggest operation of its kind for years, while the public was warned for the first time to keep a distance and airspace restrictions were enforced.
	The mystery around the alleged incursion thickened today, with Russia and the Netherlands denying that the vessel was theirs as tensions in Baltic rise over the crisis in Ukraine.
	"There's an increase in military exercises from both the Russian and the NATO side," Prime Minister Stefan Loefven said, speaking at a press conference in Helsinki.
	In one of two airspace violations in September, two Russian SU-24 fighter-bombers allegedly entered Swedish airspace in what Foreign Minister Carl Bildt at the time called "the most serious aerial incursion by the Russians" in almost a decade.
	The ...

Swedish navy widens search for mystery submarine

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A UN staff member in Sierra Leone has died from Ebola, the third employee from the world organization to succumb to the deadly virus, the UN spokesman said today.
	The man, who was a driver for the UN Women agency, passed away at the weekend in Sierra Leone and his spouse is currently receiving treatment, said spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
	"All measures to protect staff at the duty station in Sierra Leone are being taken as best as possible under the current circumstances," said Dujarric.
	A Sudanese national who worked as a UN health worker in Liberia died in Germany last week while a Liberian national died of probable Ebola last month.
	The world's worst Ebola outbreak has killed at least 4,500 people in West Africa where the United Nations is leading an effort to beat back the virus with a massive influx of aid.
	A UN trust fund set up to provide quick funding to confront the Ebola emergency got a boost when Australia deposited USD 8.7 million and more pledges have come in.
	Chile, 

Third UN employee dies from Ebola

A Norwegian woman who contracted the Ebola virus while working for Doctors Without Borders in Sierra Leone was cured and released from an isolation unit today.
	"Today I am in good health and am no longer contagious," Silje Lehne Michalsen told reporters just minutes after Oslo University Hospital announced she had recovered.
	"I feel very lucky and actually it doesn't feel like I have had Ebola," the 30-year old medical charity worker added with a smile as she hugged one of the medical staff.
	She had been kept in an isolation ward since her repatriation from Sierra Leon and given an experimental treatment. The medical team did not disclose details of the treatment.
	Michalsen was infected with the deadly virus which has claimed more than 4,500 lives when she was working in Sierra Leone's second city Bo.
	In her first public appearance since her recovery, she criticised the reaction of the international community to the disaster sweeping West African countries.
	"For three months I ..

Norwegian Ebola patient cured

Oscar Pistorius's brother and sister today gave a string of television interviews ahead of the sentencing of South Africa's star athlete for the fatal shooting of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
	The Paralympian could be jailed for 10 years or ordered to serve house arrest Tuesday when High Court Judge Thokozile Masipa hands down her sentence.
	The judge had last month acquitted the double amputee track star of murder, but found him guilty of culpable homicide, a conviction whose penalty ranges from a fine to time behind bars.
	The prosecution wants him locked away for 10 years while the defence argued for three years of "correctional supervision", which is the equivalent of house arrest.
	The defence also suggested that while serving house arrest Pistorius could do 16 hours of community service a month, cleaning a Pretoria museum.
	"It's obvious we can't speculate what the outcome will be tomorrow," said older brother Carl Pistorius in an interview with the eNCA television ...

Pistorius siblings speak out on eve of sentencing

Nepal's powerful football chief Ganesh Thapa stepped down from his post today, pending a parliamentary investigation accusing him of embezzling millions of dollars and accepting bribes during his 19-year tenure.
	Thapa, a vice-president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), is under investigation over allegations that 580 million rupees were embezzled.
	He announced his plans to stand aside as president of the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) at a press conference.
	"I am now handing over my responsibilities... For two months," Thapa said.
	ANFA's CEO Indra Man Tuladhar said that the association's treasurer Biraj Jung Shahi would also step down while an anti-graft commission investigates corruption claims involving the two men.
	The allegations include an unexplained deposit of USD 115,000 into Thapa's account from a Qatari company owned by businessman Mohammed bin Hammam, himself embroiled in a bribery scandal involving the Gulf nation's bid to win hosting rights for the ...

Nepal football chief steps down pending graft probe

With no new Ebola cases in five days, US authorities were cautious but hopeful today that the virus has been contained in the United States after a flawed response revealed shortcomings in the system.
	The fiancee of a Liberian man who died of Ebola earlier this month in Dallas, Texas, was among nearly 50 people who emerged from three weeks of quarantine without any signs of illness from exposure to the virus that has killed more than 4,500 in West Africa since the beginning of this year.
	About 100 more people, most of them health care workers, are being tracked in Texas after coming in contact with the first patient diagnosed in the United States in late September.
	Still, officials said it was reassuring that no new infections emerged in recent days.
	"We are breathing a little bit easier, but we are still holding our breath," said Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings.
	Two US women were infected during the care of Liberian patient Thomas Eric Duncan. Both were nurses in the intensive care ..

US cautiously optimistic after no new Ebola in 5 days

Shares in French digital security company Gemalto slumped today as investors worried that Apple's new SIM card for its latest iPads could threaten part of Gemalto's business.
	"Apple's new iPads launched last week may begin a material shift in operators' attitudes towards SIMs... And a threat to Gemalto's largest revenue stream," analysts at Barclays said in a note to clients.
	Gemalto shares have lost as much a fifth of their value since last week when US tech giant Apple announced that it would begin integrating SIM cards directly into its tablets.
	"This new risk factor adds to the already cooling excitement for operators' SIM-based wallets," said Barclays, predicting that Gemalto shares could fall as low as 50.27 euros.
	They fell as much as 9.66 percent to 53.12 euros in Paris, before recovering to close the day just above the flatline at 59.17 euros. The broader CAC 40 index lost 1.04 percent.
	Gemalto makes part of its profits from installing chips and managing payments in the .

Apple's SIM move chips away at Gemalto's share price

Shares of IBM plummeted today after earnings collapsed on a USD 4.7 billion charge and weak sales raised questions about the technology giant's efforts to remake itself.
	Third-quarter earnings sank from USD 4.0 billion a year ago period to just USD 18 million, mainly due to a charge for offloading its money-losing microchip business to GlobalFoundries, a deal also announced today.
	Analysts said the results pointed to continued weakness in IBM's core businesses, as the iconic century-old "Big Blue" seeks to shift away from low-return commodity products and toward growing sectors such as data analysis and cloud computing.
	Revenues fell four percent to USD 22.4 billion, marking the 10th straight quarter of year-over-year sales decline, and operating earnings were lower.
	The company, meanwhile, dropped its previous forecast to grow profits to USD 20 a share in 2015 from USD 16.99 in 2013.
	At mid-morning, IBM shares stood at USD 169.70, down 6.8 percent, dragging the Dow Jones ...

IBM profit plunges on disposal of chip unit, poor sales

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has reportedly labelled Istanbul's Taksim Square, which was rocked by deadly anti-government protests last year, "as the ugliest square in the world".
	"If anyone tells me that Taksim is a perfect square, then I would tell him that it is the ugliest square in the world," Davutoglu told reporters.
	"I have seen the squares in Venice and Isfahan," he said, referring to St Mark's Square and the immense Naqsh-e Jahan Square in the historic Iranian city.
	"After seeing them, you feel yourself sucked into a vacuum on Taksim Square," he was quoted as saying by Milliyet newspaper today.
	A small campaign to save Istanbul's Gezi Park, adjacent to Taksim, in May-June 2013 eventually drew an estimated three million protesters in an outpouring of anger at the perceived authoritarian tendencies of the Islamic-rooted government.
	Eight people died and thousands were injured in the ensuing violence as police launched a brutal crackdown, frequently employing ...

Main square of Istanbul 'world's ugliest': PM

Last month was the hottest September for globally averaged temperature over land and ocean surfaces since record-keeping began in 1880, the US government said today.
	"It also marked the 38th consecutive September with a global temperature above the 20th century average," said the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
	When combining average temperature over land and ocean surfaces, NOAA found a record high for September at 15.72 Celsius, or 0.72 C above the 20th century average.
	"With the exception of February, every month to date in 2014 has been among its four warmest on record, with May, June, August and September all record warm," said the NOAA report.
	It said most of the land on Earth was warmer than normal last month, except for central Russia, some areas in eastern and northern Canada, and a small region in Namibia.
	"Record warmth was notable in much of northwestern Africa, coastal regions of southeastern South America, southwestern Australia, parts of the Middle 

Planet marks hottest September since 1880: US

Oil-rich United Arab Emirates on today launched a project that aims to send the first Arab unmanned probe to Mars by 2021.
	The Gulf state set up the UAE Space Agency to supervise and finance the "Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology to execute and manage all stages of the Mars probe project," a statement said.
	The two entities signed a seven-year partnership agreement today, setting the timing as well as legal and financial frameworks for the Mars project, said the statement.
	The UAE government had revealed in July a plan to create a space agency to drive the project.
	It said at the time that UAE investments in space technologies have already topped 20 billion dirhams ($5.44 billion).
	The UAE, a seven-emirate federation formed in 1971, will become the ninth country in the world with space programmes to explore the Red Planet, according to the statement.

UAE launches project to send unmanned probe to Mars

With a week to go before Brazil's presidential elections, a new poll shows incumbent Dilma Rousseff edging ahead of rival Aecio Neves in a race that is still too close to call.
	The poll by MDA consulting gave Rousseff 45.5 percent to 44.5 for Neves, a Social Democrat who is mounting a stiff challenge for the presidency of the South American giant in yesterday's run-off elections.
	Discounting for blank and spoiled ballots, the poll found that Rousseff had a 50.5 to 49.5 percent lead.
	A 2.2 percent margin for error meant the candidates remain in a technical tie with Rousseff pulling marginally ahead, having trailed Neves by a two-percent margin in polling last week.
	Rousseff, candidate of the leftist Workers Party (PT), topped the October 5 first round poll with a 42 percent vote, while Neves trailed by eight percent.
	But a number of parties have since thrown their support behind the challenger, including environmentalist Marina Silva, whom came in third in the first round.
	The ...

Rousseff leads by whisker in latest Brazil poll

Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi today ruled out any foreign ground intervention to assist government forces in retaking territory lost to jihadists and urged Sunnis to give up such hopes.
	Abadi was speaking in the city of Najaf after a rare meeting with the most revered figure among Iraqi Shiites, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, and before a trip to neighbouring Iran.
	"No ground forces from any superpower, international coalition or regional power will fight here," Abadi told reporters, reiterating previous remarks on the issue.
	"This is my decision, it is the decision of the Iraqi government."
	Some officials and Sunni tribal leaders in areas most affected by the unrest have argued the world should step up its involvement from air strikes to a ground intervention against the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group.
	"I am telling our brothers in Anbar and Salaheddin (Sunni majority provinces) who asked for foreign ground troops that such an appeal should not be made for two ...

Iraq PM rules out foreign boots on the ground

Hong Kong pro-democracy leaders today angrily rejected claims by the city's chief executive that "external forces" are orchestrating their mass rallies, ahead of talks intended to end three weeks of political stalemate.
	The denials came as the United States -- the implicit target of previous foreign meddling allegations by Beijing -- also denied any involvement in stirring up tensions in the financial hub.
	In a television interview broadcast yesterday evening, embattled city leader Leung Chun-ying blamed foreign forces for the ongoing protests but refused to identify them.
	The claims sparked ridicule from democracy leaders in the semi-autonomous Chinese city, who insist their movement is fuelled by local demands for greater democratic freedoms and growing discontent at increased inequality.
	In a sarcastic post on his Facebook page today, teenage student leader Joshua Wong said: "My links with foreign countries are limited to my Korean cellphone, my American computer and my ...

Hong Kong protest leaders ridicule 'external forces' claim

The UN's climate chief urged country negotiators today to "build bridges" at talks in Bonn towards a new, global pact that received fresh endorsement from world leaders last month.
	The six-day forum must lay the foundations for the annual round of ministerial-level UN talks to be held in Lima in December, Christiana Figueres told delegates as the meeting opened.
	Lima, in turn, must pave the way to a historic pact in Paris in December 2015 that will for the first time apply to 195 nations, rich and poor alike.
	Figueres said a September 23 climate summit called by UN chief Ban Ki-moon had "shifted the ground on what is possible in climate change".
	"Collectively, your heads of state have reassured the world that we will address climate change," she said via webcast.
	"Today, dear delegates, the world's eyes turn to you. It is up to you to chart the path of that solution."
	Negotiators face a tough task ironing out long-standing differences over how to share responsibility for curbing 

Climate negotiators urged to 'build bridges'

Uganda police fired live bullets and tear gas today to break up protests by university students, wounding several people, authorities and witnesses said.
	"We were holding a peaceful strike but police came and fired bullets and tear gas, several students have been injured -- one was hit by a stray bullet and was taken to hospital," student leader Ivan Boowe told AFP.
	Police said only one student was wounded.
	"There was a student who was hit by a stray bullet and we took him to hospital, but it was a minor injury," said senior police officer Sam Omara.
	The students, from the capital's Makerere University, were calling for graduation fees to be lowered, from some 85 dollars to 35 dollars.
	University vice-chancellor Dumba Ssentamu said it was "unfortunate" the students had protested, saying the fee rise was unavoidable.
	Since the beginning of this year, Makerere students have staged numerous demonstrations against rising costs.

Ugandan student shot as police break up protest

Cyprus today accused Turkey of taking "provocative and illegal" action by sending a survey boat to an area where the Cypriot government has licensed exploratory drilling for oil and gas.
	Defence Minister Chistoforos Fokaides said the vessel was being closely monitored and that Nicosia would examine "its response to defend its rights and sovereignty".
	Nicosia is unhappy that Ankara is determined to search for oil and gas in the same region where the Cypriot government has already licensed exploratory drills in an exclusive economic zone.
	Turkish troops invaded and occupied the northern third of Cyprus in 1974 in response to an Athens-engineered coup aimed at uniting it with Greece.
	Ankara opposes the Cypriot government's exploitation of offshore energy reserves before a deal is reached to solve the decades-long division of the east Mediterranean island.
	Earlier this month Cyprus suspended its participation in UN-led peace talks launched in February, during which Greek Cypriot ...

Cyprus cries foul as Turkish vessel enters waters

Lufthansa pilots launched a strike today, deepening Germany's travel chaos after train drivers stopped work at the weekend just as school holidays began in much of the country.
	The top-selling Bild daily complained that "ping-pong strikes are crippling our economy", Europe's biggest, as about 10,000 pilots and 20,000 train drivers had "taken hostage" 80 million Germans.
	The German Industry Federation charged that the pilots strike, following the "disproportionate" railway stoppage, "harms the entire economy" by impacting logistics, tourism and business travel.
	The Economy Ministry said the strikes will certainly "impact some sectors of the economy", though there was no reason to change the 2014 growth forecast which was lowered this month to 1.2 percent.
	Pilots for Lufthansa, Europe's biggest airline, said they would broaden strike action to long-haul flights on top of a previously announced stoppages on short- and medium-length routes.
	The industrial action on Monday and Tuesday 

German pilots strike after weekend rail chaos

Joko Widodo, Indonesia's first leader from outside the political and military elite, was sworn in as president today and reached out to political foes to seek support for his ambitious reform agenda.
	After the inauguration, Widodo capped his remarkable rise from an upbringing in a riverside slum by travelling through the streets of the capital Jakarta in a horse-drawn carriage, with tens of thousands of flag-waving supporters cheering and shouting his name.
	Widodo, a 53-year-old former furniture exporter known by his nickname Jokowi, won the presidency in July after a close race against controversial ex-general Prabowo Subianto.
	The former Jakarta governor, who won legions of fans with his man-of-the-people image, is the country's first leader since the end of Suharto's three decades of dictatorship in 1998 to have no major links to that era.
	Hopes are high for a new style of leadership in the world's third-biggest democracy, but there are also fears an opposition-dominated ...

Indonesia's Widodo takes office, reaches out to foes

Al-Qaeda militants have killed at least 20 Shiite rebels in fresh clashes for control of parts of central Yemen, tribal sources said today.
	The rebels, known as Huthis, have been facing fierce resistance from Al-Qaeda fighters and Sunni tribesmen as they seek to expand their territory after seizing the capital Sanaa and the Red Sea port city of Hudeida.
	Heaving fighting erupted in the central town of Rada, a mixed Sunni-Shiite area that has been the scene of frequent clashes.
	The rebels were killed in a car bombing that targeted a building where they had gathered and in subsequent clashes, tribal and security sources told AFP, adding that 12 rebels were also captured by Al-Qaeda militants.
	The town was rocked by heavy explosions, with rocket-propelled grenades and artillery used by both sides in several hours of clashes, security officials said.
	The Al-Qaeda militants also attacked rebel positions northeast of Rada and along a road connecting the town in Baida province to ...

Qaeda kills 20 Shiite rebels in fresh Yemen clashes

Turkey today said it was assisting Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga fighters to cross its borders to join Syrian Kurdish forces battling jihadists for the Syrian town of Kobane.
	"We are assisting peshmerga forces to cross into Kobane," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told reporters in Ankara, adding that talks on the issue were ongoing but without giving further details.
	"We have no wish at all to see Kobane fall" to the jihadists, he added.
	The announcement represented a major switch by Turkey, which until now has refused to allow Kurdish fighters to cross its border to join the fight for Kobane just a few kilometres to the south.
	The Turkish security forces have waged a 30-year conflict with the Kurdish fighters of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), whose battle for self rule has left 40,000 dead.
	However Turkey in the last years has built up strong relations with the Kurdish authorities in the Kurdistan region of Iraq who control the peshmerga forces.
	It appears that despite 

AFP

AFP

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