Barcelona superstar Neymar thumped four goals past Japan in a spectacular solo performance as Brazil hammered the Asian champions 4-0, here today.
     The 22-year-old Barcelona forward was a class apart at Singapore's national stadium as he scored all of Brazil's goals and nearly provided more in front of a sell-out crowd.
     Neymar underlined his star billing as he moved to 40 goals in just 58 games for Brazil and gave new coach Dunga a fourth straight win with no goals conceded.
     The victory also rounded off a successful Asian mini-tour for this year's World Cup hosts after Saturday's convincing 2-0 win over arch-rivals Argentina in Beijing.
     Neymar looked dangerous from the off. In an ominous start, he had a penalty shout waved away and grazed the side-netting with a free-kick.
     He duly put Brazil ahead on 18 minutes when he ran on to Diego Tardelli's penetrating through-ball, scampered around goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima and finished with aplomb.
     Neymar pierced ...

Awesome foursome for Neymar as Brazil thrash Japan

PTI Automatic

At least 10 Syrian soldiers were killed today in clashes with Islamic State group jihadists in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, a monitor said.
	The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the deaths came in fighting in Hawijat Sakr on the Euphrates River.
	The clashes took place not far from Deir Ezzor military airport, a key remaining post for the Syrian army in the oil-rich province.
	The Islamic State controls the majority of the province, but parts of the provincial capital, Deir Ezzor city, are still in government hands, along with the airport.
	Deir Ezzor has been a key target of strikes against IS by the US-led coalition fighting the jihadist group in Syria and Iraq.
	When the raids began, IS withdrew from several of its positions, and there have been few reports of active clashes involving the group in the province since.
	Elsewhere in Syria, the Observatory reported at least 12 people killed in Syrian regime air strikes on the Ain Tarma area outside the ...

10 Syrian troops killed in clashes with IS: monitor

A gunman shot dead an American and wounded another at a petrol station in the Saudi capital today, in a rare attack on Westerners in the kingdom, police said.
	Following the attack near King Fahd sports stadium, a shootout ensued between the gunman and the security forces, a police spokesman said in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency.
	The assailant was wounded and subsequently arrested, police said, without identifying him.
	Today's shooting was the first deadly attack on Westerners in Saudi Arabia since several were killed in a wave of Al-Qaeda violence between 2003 and 2006.
	It comes as Saudi Arabia participates in a US-led campaign of air strikes against jihadists of the Islamic State group (IS) in Syria.
	But there was no immediate indication of any links between the attack and the more than three-week campaign.
	In January, a Saudi court sentenced to death an Al-Qaeda militant and jailed 10 others over a May 2004 attack that killed six Westerners and a ...

American shot dead in Saudi capital, another wounded: police

The European Union moved today to ban Sri Lanka from selling its seafood to the massive EU market in a bid to stop illegal fishing by the second biggest exporter to the bloc.
	The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, meanwhile proposed to scrap a ban on fish from Belize and lifted a threat to bar seafood from Panama, Fiji, Togo and Vanuatu.
	"The other side of the coin today is Sri Lanka," Maria Damanaki, commissioner for maritime affairs and fisheries, told reporters.
	"We tried to work with them, but they were not cooperative. I can say the contrary happened," Damanaki said.
	"Sri Lanka is now authorising huge vessels to fish in the Indian Ocean without marine GPS. That means that control is impossible," she said.
	After conducting a four-year investigation and issuing a warning in 2012, the commission said Sri Lanka had failed to make "credible progress" toward fighting illegal fishing, including creating a scheme to punish high-seas violators.
	The ban on Sri Lankan ...

Sri Lanka faces EU fish export ban

Austria's interior ministry is appealing to other ministries to take over Hitler's birthplace in Braunau, amid a years-long debate over what should become of the building.
	The interior ministry has rented the large pale yellow house where the future Nazi leader was born since 1972 and variously sublet it to a technical institute and an aid organisation.
	But it has stood empty since 2011 and the 4,600-euro (USD 5,820) monthly rent has been burning a hole in the ministry's pocket.
	The ministry is now contacting other Austrian ministries to see if they can use the 800-square-metre (8,610-square-foot) space and is hoping for a reply "by the end of the year", an official said today.
	The fate of the house has been a matter of debate for years amid fears that it could be used as a meeting point for Hitler sympathisers or fascist and neo-Nazi groups.
	To prevent this, the rental contract stipulates that it must be used for a social or educational purpose and not as a museum.
	The owner ...

Austrian ministry desperately seeking to sublet Hitler house

A woman stabbed a student to death and wounded two girls and a policeman during a rampage at a secondary school in the Czech Republic today, according to police.
	"A 16-year-old boy died from his injuries despite all efforts by emergency services," police spokeswoman Jana Kroutilova told AFP.
	"The police detained a 26-year-old woman from the (eastern) Ostrava region whose identity is being investigated," she said. Police are also investigating the motive for the attack in the town of Zdar nad Sazavou, about 120 kilometres (75 miles) southeast of Prague.
	Kroutilova said a policeman suffered minor injuries but declined to elaborate on the condition of two girls who "are being treated by doctors".
	One of the girls was seriously injured, according to the Czech CTK news agency.
	Kroutilova also declined to say whether the woman had taken hostages.
	The murder happened at a secondary school focused on teaching economics and business as well as hairdressing and cooking.

Woman stabs teen to death in rampage at Czech school

The lush hills surrounding the southern Mexican town of Iguala have been used by criminals to bury scores of victims beneath the green canopy this year alone.
	At least 80 sets of human remains have been unearthed so far, and authorities are investigating whether recently discovered mass graves contain 43 students who vanished more than two weeks ago.
	Residents of Iguala now call the minibus that travels to the Las Parotas stop the "combi of the cemetery." Nearby, 28 badly burned bodies were found inside five burial pits on October 4.
	On another hill, four more unmarked graves with an undisclosed number of bodies were discovered last week after suspects said some of the missing students were buried there.
	"Most people knew that mass graves existed. I don't know why the government did nothing about those that were found before," said Jorge Popoca, leader of Iguala's shopkeepers association.
	Some 200 kilometres south of Mexico City, Iguala lies in the state of Guerrero, one of ...

Mass graves dot Mexican city of missing students

United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon made a brief visit today to war-ravaged Gaza, two days after donor states pledged USD 5.4 billion in aid to rebuild after a devastating Israeli offensive.
	He was driven through the ruins of Gaza City's Shejaiya neighbourhood and the nearby Jabaliya refugee camp, the scenes of some of the heaviest Israeli shelling in summer's conflict.
	Tens of thousands of Palestinians were displaced by the destruction, and today people camping outside their ravaged homes were seen waving at the convoy of white UN vehicles as it passed.
	After meeting members of the newly convened Palestinian consensus government, Ban told reporters that the devastation he had seen was far worse than that caused in the previous Israel-Gaza conflict of winter 2008-2009.
	"The destruction which I have seen while coming to here is beyond description. This is a much more serious destruction than what I saw in 2009.
	"I'd like to take this opportunity to express my deepest condolences to ..

UN chief Ban visits war-scarred Gaza Strip

The son of China's former premier Zhu Rongji has resigned as head of the country's top investment bank China International Capital Corp (CICC), the company said today, but gave no reason for his departure.
	Levin Zhu, or Zhu Yunlai, stepped down as CICC's chief executive officer and chairman of the management committee, according to a statement.
	It did not elaborate on why he had done so, but said the board approved his resignation after more than 16 years with the firm.
	His father Zhu Rongji was China's Premier from 1998 to 2003, known for his tough style with other officials but credited with pushing deep economic reforms.
	The elder Zhu helped orchestrate China's entry into the World Trade Organisation and hastened the shift away from state economic planning.
	CICC was China's first Sino-foreign joint venture investment bank, set up in 1995 by China Construction Bank, US financial firm Morgan Stanley and other investors.
	Morgan Stanley pulled out in 2010, selling its 34.3 ...

Son of China's former premier quits investment bank

Falling oil prices could soon be matched by a slowing of supplies, the IEA warned today, lowering again its demand outlook because of weak growth of the global economy.
	Although the speed of slowing oil demand was a "surprise", a "staggering" increase in supplies was a bigger factor behind the fall of prices and rise of stockbuilding, the International Energy Agency said in its October report.
	The IEA again cut its forecasts for growth of global oil demand for the third month in a row.
	For this year, it expects demand to rise by 700,000 barrels per day to 92.4 million barrels per day which is 200,000 bd less than the previous forecast.
	This shrinking demand outlook in European and Asian members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development matched average growth of 1.0 mbd in countries outside the OECD areas, the IEA said.
	The IEA is the oil-policy arm of the OECD which groups 34 advanced economies.
	For next year, the agency cut its estimate of global demand from .

IEA cuts oil demand outlook on weak global growth

An Indonesian suicide bomber has died fighting with the Islamic State organisation in Iraq, a monitoring group said today, sparking fresh concern from Jakarta authorities who fear the group is spawning a new generation of radicals.
	The bomber is believed to have died in a weekend attack in Iraq, and police suspect a total of five Indonesians have now been killed while fighting with jihadist groups this year in the Middle East.
	Reports of foreigners from various countries heading to fight with IS, which controls vast swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria, have raised fears they could return home and launch attacks.
	Authorities in Indonesia, which has the world's biggest Muslim population, estimate that around 60 Indonesians have headed to the Middle East to fight with IS but analysts think the real figure may be as high as 200.
	Indonesia launched a successful crackdown on militants more than a decade ago after a series of deadly attacks, but fears are growing that militants ...

Indonesian suicide bomber dies fighting with IS: SITE

Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank allegedly carried out an arson attack on a mosque near the city of Nablus early today, Palestinian security sources said.
	They said worshippers in the northern West Bank village of Aqraba arriving for morning prayers found broken windows and extensive fire damage to the ground floor women's prayer section.
	An AFP photographer said the words "price tag" were painted nearby in Hebrew, along with references to the late Meir Kahane, founder of the virulently anti-Arab Kach movement, and to the nearby settlement of Bracha.
	Israeli police said they had been notified of the attack.
	The term "price tag" is a euphemism for nationalist- motivated hate crimes by Jewish extremists aimed at Palestinian and Arab property, but which have also targeted non-Jews and occasionally leftwing Israelis and the security forces.

W Bank mosque torched in suspected settler hate crime

Yemeni rebels have captured the Red Sea city of Hudeida, home to the country's second most important port, just weeks after seizing the capital, a security official said today.
	The Huthi Shiite rebels met little resistance as they swept into Hudeida, located 226 kilometres (140 miles) west of Sanaa, taking over its air and sea ports, the official said.
	It came hours after President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi named a new prime minister yesterday in a fresh bid to end the impoverished country's crippling political crisis.
	"Huthi militants are deployed across vital installations, including the airport and the port," said the security official.
	He said a security guard was killed when the rebels seized a court in the city, which is home to more than two million people.
	Military and rebel sources confirmed that Huthi militants were seen deployed across main roads in Hudeida.
	Huthi militiamen stormed into Sanaa on September 21, easily seizing key government installations, and they now man ..

Rebels seize major Yemen port city: security source

Turkish jets bombed targets in the southeast where members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) are based, the first strikes on the outlawed group since a 2013 ceasefire, a security source said today.
	Turkish F-16 jets dropped bombs late yesterday on PKK targets in the village of Daglica in the Kurdish-majority Hakkari province near the border with Iraq, the source told AFP on condition of anonymity.
	The fierce clashes between Islamic State (IS) insurgents and Kurdish forces in the key Syrian town of Kobane have shaken Turkey's fragile peace process with the PKK, blacklisted as a terrorist organisation by Ankara and much of the international community.
	Frustrated with Turkey's lack of action to stop the IS advance in northern Syria, Turkey's Kurdish community has taken to the streets in several cities in the southeast over the past week, with scores killed in deadly clashes.
	President Recep Tayyip Erdogan blamed the unrest on the "dark forces" seeking to sabotage the delicate ...

Turkey bombs Kurdish rebel targets in southeast

Oscar Pistorius tried to show he is the ideal candidate for house arrest today, as the judge heard the final defence witnesses in the Paralympic gold medallist's sentencing hearing.
	The star sprinter's longtime manager Peet van Zyl took the witness stand for the second day to outline Pistorius's charity work, an important component of the athlete's strategy to avoid serving time behind bars.
	Yesterday, prison official Joel Maringa recommended that 27-year-old Pistorius should receive three years "correctional supervision" through house arrest for fatally shooting his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
	He should also clean a Pretoria museum for 16 hours a month, Maringa said.
	Pistorius was found guilty last month of negligently killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in the early hours of Valentine's Day 2013.
	The double amputee athlete was cleared of the more serious charge of murder.
	His sentencing hearing, which began on Monday, is expected to run for most of the week.
	The so-called .

Pistorius presses bid to avoid jail at sentencing hearing

Iran hit back today at demands from Saudi Arabia that Tehran withdraw its "occupying" forces from Syria and insisted no country was more committed to confronting jihadists in the region.
	The two regional powers have been at odds over Syria since unrest broke out in 2011, but the unusually high-profile exchange threatens to undermine a recent diplomatic push to patch up their differences.
	Responding to Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal's comments that Iran was "part of the problem, not the solution" in Syria, Tehran rejected the claim.
	"The Islamic Republic of Iran is the most important country in the region committed to the fight against terrorism," Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was quoted as saying on the website of state television.
	"Iran has helped the governments of Iraq and Syria fight against terrorism within the framework of international law."
	Iran supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with financial and military aid, while Saudi Arabia ..

Iran hits back at Saudi claims of 'occupying' Syria

A UN employee infected with the Ebola virus in west Africa has died after arriving in Germany last week for treatment, the hospital said today.
	"The Ebola patient died during the night in the St Georg Clinic in Leipzig," it said in a brief statement.
	"Despite intensive medical care and the best efforts by medical staff, the 56-year-old UN employee succumbed to the serious infection," it added.
	Local health officials said last week that the patient was a Sudanese doctor who had arrived in Germany from Liberia on Thursday.
	Germany has previously treated two other Ebola patients infected in Sierra Leone -- a Senegalese expert who was treated in Hamburg and released on October 4, and a Ugandan doctor now being treated in Frankfurt.
	The Ebola epidemic has killed more than 4,000 people this year, mostly in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia, and is spread through close contact with bodily fluids.
	The US and UN leaders yesterday called for "more robust" international efforts to tackle ...

Ebola-infected UN employee dies in Germany: hospital

Israel today warned that a vote by British parliament in favour of recognising a Palestinian state risked undermining the prospects for peace.
	"Premature international recognition sends a troubling message to the Palestinian leadership that they can evade the tough choices that both sides have to make, and actually undermines the chances to reach a real peace," said a statement from the Israeli foreign ministry.
	Late yesterday, British MPs voted 274 to 12 for a non-binding motion to "recognise the state of Palestine alongside the state of Israel as a contribution to securing a negotiated two-state solution".
	The resolution was welcomed by the Palestinians.
	"It will enhance the European voices calling for the recognition of the State of Palestine and will create the right environment for the international community to grant the Palestinian people legal parity and rights," senior Palestine Liberation Official Hanan Ashrawi said in a statement.
	Britain's ambassador to Israel, ...

Israel says UK Palestine vote undermines peace prospects

Hundreds of police armed with chainsaws and boltcutters made a fresh assault on protest barricades in Hong Kong today, a day after a similar attempt backfired as demonstrators reinforced their defences.
	Officers made a dawn raid at one rally site in the financial hub's bustling shopping district and hours later cleared away a second set of barricades at the edge of the main protest encampment near the city's government headquarters.
	Vast crowds have rallied against China's insistence that it will vet candidates standing for election as the city's next leader in 2017 -- a move protesters have labelled a "fake democracy".
	While the activists have been praised for their civility and organisational skills they have also brought widespread disruption to an already densely populated and congested city usually renowned for its stability.
	Angry and sometimes violent scuffles have broken out between demonstrators and government loyalists, sparking accusations the authorities are using ...

Hong Kong police in fresh assault on protest barricades

A Chinese painter's son who sued his 95-year-old mother over the estimated USD 300 million artistic treasure trove left by his father has lost the case, state-run media reported today.
	The legal action brought by Xu Huayi is reminiscent of high-profile trust fund disputes in the West, and the family feud is a far cry from long-held Chinese ideals of filial piety.
	His father Xu Linlu, a prominent painter of flowers, birds and fish, died in 2011.
	He left a collection of 72 paintings by some of China's most renowned artists, including Qi Baishi and Xu Beihong, and three antique teapots.
	The works are worth at least USD326 million, according to lawyers' estimates, Chinese media have reported.
	His widow Wang Lingwen filed a will with a Beijing court in which he left her everything but Xu Huayi sued, claiming it was a forgery and demanding the estate be split up between the relatives.
	The couple's five other living children, and the daughters of two who had died, divided on either ...

Painter's son loses USD 300 m inheritance case against mother

Taliban militants killed six Afghan police officers today, officials said, the latest in a series of attacks on local security forces highlighting the challenges they face as NATO combat troops depart.
	The attack on a police post in Logar province south of Kabul came a day after militants ambushed a convoy in the north and killed 22 policemen.
	Foreign combat troops are pulling out of Afghanistan by the end of the year, leaving local soldiers and police to battle the persistent Taliban insurgency on their own.
	"A group of Taliban attacked a local police post in Baraki Barak district early in the morning and killed six police," district chief Mohammad Rahim Amin told AFP.
	"They fought till the last bullet, but they were finally overpowered by Taliban."
	Din Mohammad Darwish, the provincial governor's spokesman, confirmed the attack and said the incident was under investigation.
	The Taliban, who have waged a bloody fight against NATO and Afghan government forces over the past 13 ...

AFP

AFP

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