Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon sought to calm fresh tensions with Washington today as he began a five-day trip to the United States.
	In a statement released ahead of his departure, Yaalon warned that no dispute should be allowed to "cast a shadow" over Israel's crucial relationship with its closest ally.
	"The relationship between the United States and Israel is based on shared interests and values, and disputes of one sort or another must not cast a shadow over it," he said.
	On Friday, two senior Israeli cabinet ministers took aim at US Secretary of State John Kerry over remarks linking the growth of Islamic extremism to Israel's decades-long conflict with the Palestinians.
	At issue was a statement by Kerry in which he said regional leaders approached him over the need to broker peace between Israel and the Palestinians "because it was a cause of recruitment and of street anger and agitation".
	The two ministers seized on his words as linking the Middle East conflict to the 

Israel's Yaalon in US after spat over Kerry remarks

PTI Automatic

Chinese star Li Na ruled out a return to tennis despite quitting the sport just months after winning her second Grand Slam title.
     Li, speaking to reporters in Singapore one month after her shock retirement, said she was now busy making up for lost time with her family.
     "Of course I'm not going to come back to tennis. I'm already 32, at the beginning of (next) year I'm going to turn 33," she said ahead of the WTA Finals.
     "I think I have to take care of my family right now because I've lost 32 years."
     Li had been set to headline the WTA Finals, being played in Singapore for the first time, before she retired citing injuries in September.
     Her decision came just months after she won the Australian Open in January and reached a career-high ranking of world number two.
     But Li, a trailblazer who has vastly raised the profile of tennis in Asia, said she was now thoroughly enjoying her new life away from the pressures of elite sport.
     "I can have seven days ...

China's Li rules out retirement U-turn

Nearly 4,000 people took part today in a mass evacuation drill to test responses to a possible eruption of  Japan's highest peak Mount Fuji, weeks after a nearby volcano blew its top and killed at least 56.
	The 3,776-metre (12,389-foot) Fuji last erupted in 1707 but geologists have included it as one of 47 volcanoes in the Pacific Rim country believed to be at risk of eruption in the coming century.
	Some 3,900 residents in 26 cities, towns and villages in three prefectures around the volcano were taking part in the drill, said a disaster management official for the Shizuoka prefectural government.
	Fuji is just 100 kilometres (63 miles) west of  Tokyo.
	In the city of Gotemba, about 800 people used their own cars to evacuate along designated routes because public transportation is scarce there, the official, Hayato Mochizuki, told AFP.
	Elderly people in need of care were moved by bus. Firefighters, police and troops searched for people who could not evacuate in time, he ...

4,000 take part in Mount Fuji eruption drill

Taiwan's navy successfully test-fired two anti-ship missiles from a submarine, in the first such exercise since the weapons were acquired from the United States, local media reported today.
	The Harpoon missiles were launched from Hai Hu (Sea Tiger), a Dutch-built conventional submarine, during a drill last week, the Liberty Times and the United Daily News said, citing unnamed naval sources.
	Taiwanese navy started taking delivery of the missiles last year to arm two submarines.
	The missiles, which have a range of 150 nautical miles (278 kilometres), would boost the attack capabilities of the two submarines previously only armed with torpedoes with a limited range, the naval sources were quoted as saying.
	The defence ministry declined to comment on the reports.
	Taiwan, which already has Harpoons installed on frigates and F-16 fighter jets, ordered the submarine-launched missiles in 2008 as part of a USD 6.5 billion arms sale that sparked strong protests from Beijing.
	The deal also 

Taiwan tests submarine-launched missiles: report

Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko confirmed that an agreement has been reached with Russia on a provisional price for gas deliveries during the coming winter months.
	Poroshenko yesterday said the deal was agreed at talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Milan on Friday, and he hoped it would end the gas dispute between the two countries.
	"On the basis of consultations, I can say that Ukraine will have the gas, will have heating," Poroshenko said in an interview broadcast on Ukrainian television late yesterday.
	Progress towards settling the gas row has raised hopes of an EU-backed resolution of the broader conflict embroiling Moscow and Kiev over the insurgency in eastern Ukraine.
	Gazprom cut deliveries to Ukraine in June after Kiev disputed a price increase set by Moscow.
	But Poroshenko said that a price had now been agreed by both sides and that Russia had "accepted" the Ukrainian position.
	The agreed price will be USD 385 dollars (300 euros) per 1,000 cubic ...

Ukraine's Poroshenko says winter gas price deal agreed with

Home hero Roger Federer and ailing Rafael Nadal will be working to completely different agendas when the Swiss Indoors begins on Monday.
     The event, which Basel-born Federer has won five times, marks the penultimate week of the points race to the World Tour Finals in London, beginning in just over three weeks.
     The 33-year-old Federer is among those already qualified, along with Novak Djokovic, Nadal, Australian Open winner Stan Wawrinka and US Open champion Marin Cilic.
     Federer, who has played the last eight finals at the St Jakobshalle -- he stands 37-3 at home -- looks to close in on the year-end number one ranking held by Djokovic.
     Nadal, meanwhile, will be desperately seeking some reassurance.
     The nine-time French Open winner has not played in Federer's backyard for a decade and missed last year with fatigue after signing a three-year appearance fee contract in 2012 which he has yet to start honouring.
     Even with an appendix which will require surgery ..

Federer, Nadal tackle two extremes in Basel

Hong Kong police clashed with protesters early today, with the government saying 20 people were injured in a fourth night of violence after nearly three weeks of largely peaceful pro-democracy rallies.
	Dozens of police with shields and helmets pushed into a crowd of protesters gathered at barricades in the northern district of Mongkok, striking at them repeatedly with batons.
	Some demonstrators had to be carried away on stretchers and others treated for head wounds, fractures and bruising, according to AFP journalists and medics at the scene.
	Police said in a statement that they had used "minimum force" as protesters "suddenly attempted to charge" their cordon lines. However, protesters told AFP they had done nothing to provoke officers.
	The city's government information service said 20 people involved in protest activities had been injured between 10pm and 6am -- but would not specify how many were demonstrators or police, the extent of the injuries, or if they all took place in .

20 injured in new Hong Kong protest violence

A Russian container ship carrying tons of fuel and diesel was drifting once again off Canada's Pacific shore Saturday after a cable linking it to a tow ship ruptured, the military said.
	The ship is carrying 400 metric tonnes of bunker fuel and 60 metric tonnes of diesel, triggering fears of an environmental catastrophe.
	Around 0330 IST, the Simushir bulk carrier vessel was located 46 kilometers (25 nautical miles from the Haida Gwaii, or Queen Charlotte Islands, just south of the US state of Alaska, Royal Canadian Navy Lieutenant Greg Menzies said.
	A Canadian Coast Guard boat had managed to tow the cargo ship about 30 kilometers toward the open sea since late Friday, but the cable linking the two vessels ruptured for the third time late Saturday.
	"It's not unusual" given the rough seas in the area, Menzies told AFP.
	Two other Canadian Coast Guard ships are traveling alongside the Simushir. A powerful tow boat was expected to assist in the efforts later in the day.
	"We still have 

Fuel-laden Russian ship drifting off Canadian coast

Spain will begin training Iraqi forces later this year to battle Islamic State fighters but has ruled out taking part in ground operations in Syria, officials have said.
	Defense Minister Pedro Morenes made the announcement in Washington, where he met Friday with US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.
	"We could be starting up by the end of this year because the whole operation is evolving fast, all the time, every day; we have to adjust our abilities and what we are offering, in response to that evolution," Morenes told reporters yesterday.
	He visited US Central Command in Florida, where he discussed military operations with Iraq and against IS militants.
	In Washington, Hagel and Morenes said the two allies would be cooperating on the fight against IS fighters.
	Hagel and Morenes also vowed to cooperate against Ebola, which has killed more than 4,500 people mainly in West Africa.
	"The two leaders discussed how each of their nations is addressing the virus, focusing on the importance of 

Spain to train Iraqi troops to fight Islamic State

Days of torrential rains in Nicaragua left 22 people dead and left homeless more than 32,000 others, according to an official report.
	Nine of the victims died when a retaining wall collapsed and flattened four shacks near the capital Managua, government spokeswoman Rosario Murillo said yesterday.
	The report said 4,544 homes were damaged or destroyed by floods or were evacuated due to flood risk.
	The rains impacted 17 departments in the country and 5,630 people are in temporary shelters and receiving food aid, Murillo said.

Heavy rains leave 22 dead in Nicaragua

The United States has joined Britain, France, Germany and Italy in calling for an "immediate" end to long-running violence there between government forces and militias.
	The countries also said they were ready to use individual sanctions against hostile actors who "threaten the peace, stability or security of Libya or obstruct or undermine the political process," according to a joint statement yesterday.

US, European powers call for'immediate' halt to Libya violence

Roman Catholic bishops today failed to reach consensus on opening the Church's doors to remarried divorcees and gays after a special synod on the family, in a blow to Pope Francis.
	Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said participants had approved a "re-balanced" final report that took into account the concerns of the most conservative members.
	In a final vote today after two weeks of heated debate, three paragraphs touching on the hot-button issues of a more welcome stance towards gays and divorcees did not receive the two-thirds majority needed.
	The vote closed a synod of bishops from around the world which has seen conservatives clash publicly with liberals over a drive spearheaded by the pope to soften the Church's approach to sinners.
	Francis, 77, has called for the Church to take a more merciful approach to unwed mothers, remarried divorcees and gays, famously saying of homosexuals, "Who am I to judge?"
	Ahead of the vote, the cardinals overwhelmingly approved a message to ..

Setback for Pope Francis as synod fails to agree on gays,

US Secretary of State John Kerry today congratulated Iraq after lawmakers there finally approved new defence and interior ministers, following weeks of delay.
	"We had a very positive step forward in Iraq today," Kerry said.
	"These were critical positions to be filled, in order to assist with the organising effort with respect to (the Islamic State group). So we're very pleased."
	Kerry was speaking from Boston, where he is meeting for two days of talks with a top Chinese official, State Councillor Yang Jiechi.
	Khaled al-Obaidi of the Iraqi parliament's Sunni Arab Itihad al-Quwa al-Wataniyah bloc was voted defence minister, and Mohammed al-Ghabban of the Shiite Badr bloc was picked for the interior post.
	"We congratulate Prime Minister Abadi and we look forward to working with them as we continue to grow the coalition and move forward," Kerry said.
	Kerry's talks with Yang began informally at dinner yesterday and come as Washington and Beijing wrestle with a number of bilateral ...

Kerry congratulates Iraq on defence, interior ministers

Authorities in Saudi Arabia say they have seized half a tonne of ivory being smuggled from Africa to east Asia.
	Customs agents at King Khaled International Airport in Riyadh intercepted the shipment, which was in transit, the official SPA news agency said today.
	They found 588 pieces of different shapes and sizes weighing about 490 kilograms (1,078 pounds) hidden in the luggage of a passenger on a flight from an African country to east Asia, it said, without elaborating.
	A 1989 ban on the ivory trade has not stopped criminal gangs seeking to exploit a continued demand for tusks in Asia.
	Poaching of African rhinos is increasing to meet demand from Asia, where the horn has long been used in traditional medicines for a variety of ailments, including fever and rheumatism.
	Thousands of elephants are also killed across Africa very year for their tusks, which are prized especially in China for use in making decorations and trinkets.
	According to the World Wildlife Fund, the African ...

Half-tonne of smuggled ivory seized in Saudi: media

Libya's internationally-recognised prime minister said today that military forces in the strife-torn country had united to try to recapture Tripoli and the second city Benghazi from Islamist militias.
	Abdullah al-Thani also expressed his frustration over a lack of support from the international community, calling for foreign weapons and assistance in the fight against the Islamists.
	"All military forces have been placed under army command to liberate Tripoli and Benghazi soon, inshallah (God willing)," Thani told AFP in a telephone interview from the eastern town of Al-Baida.
	Since a 2011 revolution which toppled Libya's longtime leader Moamer Kadhafi, interim authorities have failed to establish a regular army and had to rely on state-backed militias.
	Former rebels who fought against Kadhafi have formed powerful militias and seized control of large parts of turmoil-gripped Libya over the past three years.
	On Wednesday, retired general Khalifa Haftar launched an operation against 

Libya PM says united forces aim to retake capital

US war planes struck more than two dozen times in Syria and Iraq, hitting Islamic State jihadists and oil infrastructure they control, the American military said.
	Of 15 air strikes in Syria, 12 were aimed at "degrading and destroying their oil producing, collecting, storage and transportation infrastructure," the US Central Command said in a statement.
	The jihadists control a swath of territory straddling northwestern Iraq and eastern Syria, home to most of Syria's main oilfields.
	Experts say the jihadists were earning as much as $3 million daily from oil before the coalition began launching strikes on Syria, building on the air war under way against IS in Iraq since August 8.
	Seven of the US strikes were east of Diban; they "successfully struck an ISIL (IS) crude oil collection point consisting of crude oil collection equipment and a modular oil refinery," the statement said.
	Another of the five others against oil targets was southeast of Deir Ezzor and damaged a modular ...

US slams IS with 25 new air strikes in Iraq, Syria

Rome's left-wing mayor Ignazio Marino today registered 16 gay marriages carried out abroad in defiance of Italian law, which does not recognise same-sex unions.
	The ceremony, involving gay men and women, took place in Rome's town hall on the Capitoline Hill as Catholic bishops from all over the world met at the Vatican on the other side of the river Tiber for a synod on the family, which is discussing whether the Church should open up to homosexuals.
	The couples, accompanied by their families and sometimes their children, walked up one after the other to have their unions registered by Marino.
	The prefecture of Rome later annulled the registrations, which are illegal under Italian law, which does not recognise gay marriage.
	Italy's centre-right Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said on Facebook that "we must remember that this is not possible under Italian law".
	The diocese of Rome criticised the mayor for his "ideological choice" and "the institutional affront" of registering ...

Rome mayor defies law to register 16 gay marriages

The Palestinian Liberation Organisation called today for a comprehensive strategy against Islamic extremism while addressing the conflict with Israel, alluding to controversial remarks by US Secretary of State John Kerry.
	The top US diplomat, after his return from a Middle East trip, infuriated Israeli ministers Thursday when he said the unresolved conflict was fuelling recruitment for the Islamic State group.
	"There wasn't a leader I met... Who didn't raise with me spontaneously the need to try to get peace between Israel and the Palestinians, because it was a cause of recruitment and of street anger and agitation," he said.
	Reacting to that, PLO secretary general Yasser Abed Rabbo told AFP that "linking the fight against terrorism and the end of the Israeli occupation is a strategic position that we support."
	The PLO is "ready to work hard with the American administration and all regional leaders to develop mechanisms to implement different levels of the strategic direction ...

PLO wants to link ending Islamic extremism, Israeli conflict

Ebola could become the "definitive humanitarian disaster of our generation", the aid agency Oxfam warned today, as it issued a call for more troops, funding and medical staff to be sent to west Africa.
	The appeal was targeted at EU foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg on Monday, and came as British Prime Minister David Cameron urged fellow European leaders to step up their collective action against the deadly virus.
	"The Ebola crisis could become the definitive humanitarian disaster of our generation," said a spokesperson for the British-based charity, which is working to reduce the impact of Ebola in Sierra Leone and Liberia.
	Oxfam admitted it was "extremely rare" for it to urge military intervention but said that troops had the logistical expertise and capacity to respond quickly in great numbers.
	Chief executive Mark Goldring added: "We are in the eye of a storm. We cannot allow Ebola to immobilise us in fear, but instead we must move toward a common mission to stop it from .

Oxfam urges more troops to stop Ebola 'disaster'

German rail travellers were hit today by delays and disruptions on one of autumn's busiest travel weekends as the train drivers' union began one of its largest strikes in recent years.
	Only about a third of traffic on major lines was running, the Deutsche Bahn said in a statement, adding that service would be assured on around 30 per cent of regional and city lines.
	Launching its biggest strike since 2008, the GDL union called on its members to walk out yesterday on freight services and from today on long-distance and regional passenger services.
	The stoppages -- on traditionally one of the busiest weekends because of a school holiday -- are due to last until Monday.
	The union accused national rail operator Deutsche Bahn of stone-walling in talks over its demands for a five-percent wage hike and a shorter working week of 37 hours.
	Deutsche Bahn slammed the new industrial action -- the fifth in recent weeks -- as excessive, accusing GDL chief Claus Weselsky of putting his own ...

Biggest strike in years cripples German rail service

Tens of thousands of people marched through central London on Saturday to protest against falling real wages and public spending cuts introduced to tame Britain's deficit.
	Organisers the Trades Union Congress (TUC), a federation of the country's main trade unions, estimated that around 80,000 supporters had gathered on the banks of the River Thames.
	Led by TUC chief Frances O'Grady, other union leaders and a marching band, the mile-long train of demonstrators set off from Waterloo Bridge at noon (1100 GMT) before snaking past Trafalgar Square on its way to Hyde Park, where it was to end.
	The "Britain Needs a Pay Rise" march organisers are calling on the government to take action to increase wages in both public and private sectors, claiming they have slumped by 50 pounds (USD 80) a week since 2008.
	"This is the worst I've known it," said Keith Martin, a 49-year-old labourer.
	"Everyone in public services has been hammered for the last three or four years, I've had a 25 percent pay 

AFP

AFP

Page 2773 - Afp