Former Madagascar president Marc Ravalomanana, who has been living in exile in South Africa since his ouster in 2009, returned home today.
	"I am here to support peace and democracy, but more urgent is the fight against poverty," he told supporters at his home in the capital Antananarivo.
	Madagascar has on several occasions blocked Ravalomanana's return to the Indian Ocean island since his rival Andry Rajoelina seized power.
	In 2012, a plane carrying him was turned back in mid-flight when he tried to return home after nearly three years in exile.
	Ravalomanana first fled to Swaziland after the coup and later moved to South Africa.
	The former leader was in 2010 sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment with hard labour for the death of 30 opposition protesters killed by his presidential guard in February 2009.
	A spokesman for the South African department of international relations, Clayson Monyela said he had no details of Ravalomanana's return.
	Political stability is slowly ...

Madagascar's ex-president returns from exile

PTI Automatic

US Secretary of State John Kerry was meeting Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi today to press the former military leader to adopt greater democratic reforms.
	Fresh from a day-long donors conference in Cairo which raised some USD 5.4 billion in pledges to help the Palestinians and the Gaza Strip, Kerry was to fly later to Paris for further talks on the battle against Islamic militants and on Ukraine.
	Washington has suspended part of its USD 1.3 billion in annual aid to Cairo since late last year, until the Egyptian leadership allays fears that it is veering off the path to democracy.
	Kerry said in past visits to Cairo that he had had "candid conversations with President Sisi about the challenges that both of our countries face".
	Egypt still had to "prove to the world that the country is stable and open to business" as it seeks to restore its economy after years of political upheaval since the ousting of former strong arm leader Hosni Mubarak in early 2011.
	Kerry told ...

Kerry meets Egypt's Sisi to press for democracy

Israeli police clashed with young Palestinian protesters today demonstrating against Jews visiting the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, Islam's third holiest site, a spokeswoman said.
	The clash came after morning prayers as demonstrators protested against Orthodox Jews going to the esplanade, which is holy to both Islam and Judaism.
	There were similar clashes last week, as youths threw stones and fired flares at police after Jewish visitors ascended to the compound on the eve of the week-long holiday of Sukkot, or the Feast of Tabernacles.
	Police spokeswoman Luba Samri said that today, youths again threw stones and incendiary objects at security forces and set up makeshift barricades.
	When police began to disperse them, the protesters took refuge inside Al-Aqsa mosque, which the Israeli police are not authorised to enter, she said.
	The site is the scene of frequent clashes between police and Palestinian youths, who object to what they see as an attempted Jewish and Israeli ...

Palestinians, police clash at Jerusalem flashpoint

Dozens of masked men rushed barricades at Hong Kong's main pro-democracy site today, triggering clashes as demonstrators tried to push them back and police struggled to contain the chaos.
	Groups of men, many wearing surgical masks, descended on the front lines of the rally at Admiralty near Hong Kong's central business district, hours after police had moved in to remove some barricades and shrink the site.
	Two of the men were tackled to the ground by police, who also formed a cordon around the masked group.
	Protesters, who have come under attack from organised crime gangs known as triads at another flashpoint rally site in Mongkok, shouted: "Weapons! Weapons!" and "Arrest the triads".
	Television footage showed one masked man being forced to drop a small flick-knife.
	Taxi drivers, many of whom have voiced frustration with more than two weeks of protests which have blocked roads and caused traffic gridlock, added to the fray by converging on the site in their cars, beeping horns ...

Clashes as masked men rush Hong Kong protest barricades

New Zealand will tighten laws to address the potential threat posed by "foreign terrorist fighters" returning to the country from conflict hotspots such as Iraq and Syria, Prime Minister John Key said today.
	Key said current laws did not address the risk posed by radicalised fighters returning to New Zealand after exposure to the Islamic State (IS) organisation, also known as ISIS or ISIL.
	"We know that a small number of New Zealanders have travelled overseas to engage in the fighting. We're also aware of people within New Zealand who have a desire to travel and fight for ISIL," he said.
	"Although the number of New Zealanders in these situations is modest compared with the actual numbers of our partners, they are significant relative to New Zealand's size."
	Key said that, as a result, authorities had lifted the terrorist threat level in New Zealand from "very low" to "low", the third level on a six-rung scale, meaning an attack was considered "possible, but not expected".
	The ...

New Zealand to tighten laws on foreign fighters

North Korea warned today that the untended remains of US servicemen killed in the Korean War were being "carried away" by giant infrastructure projects and blamed Washington for suspending efforts for their recovery.
	Close to 8,000 Americans remain unaccounted for from the 1950-53 Korean conflict, according to the US Defence Department.
	"Many remains have been left uncared for and have been carried away en masse," said a spokesman for the North's military delegation in the border truce village of Panmunjom.
	In a written statement, the spokesman said the displacement of the remains was largely due to construction work surrounding major development projects, including hydro-electric power stations.
	From 1996 North Korean and US military teams conducted 33 joint recovery missions and recovered 225 sets of remains, but the process was halted in 2005 by then-defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld who felt the safety of US teams could not be guaranteed amid rising nuclear tensions.
	The two .

N Korea says remains of US troops being washed away

Fallen paralympic hero Oscar Pistorius returns to court today at the start of his sentencing hearing after he was convicted of culpable homicide in the killing of his girlfriend, with his lawyers set to argue for leniency.
	The double-amputee track star last month escaped a murder conviction in a verdict that shocked the country and fuelled criticism of South Africa's legal system.
	Kicking off what is expected to be a lengthy sentencing process, the defence team will bring mitigation arguments before Judge Thokozile Masipa in the High Court in Pretoria.
	Prosecutors will follow by arguing for aggravating circumstances.
	The process is expected to last up to four days, with Masipa then likely adjourning court and announcing her sentencing decision at a later date.
	The "Blade Runner" could face as much as 15 years in one of South Africa's notoriously brutal prisons or could dodge a jail term altogether with a non-custodial sentence after being foundd guilty on the equivalent of a ...

Pistorius back in court for pre-sentencing arguments

Attacking Islamic State jihadists met firm Kurdish resistance in the Syrian battleground town of Kobane, as neighbouring Turkey has heeded pressure to intervene and handed the US access to its air bases.
	In Iraq however, Islamic State (IS) fighters have government forces under strong pressure, and a roadside bomb killed the police chief in Anbar province between Baghdad and the Syrian border.
	Farther north, around Iraq's key oil refinery town of Baiji, the army and Sunni Arab tribal allies came under fresh IS attack, prompting a first resupply operation by coalition aircraft.
	In Kobane, on Syria's border with Turkey, a pall of black smoke hung over the strategic town as the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported heavy jihadist losses.
	IS poured in reinforcements and fired at least 11 rocket-propelled grenades into the town centre, said the Britain-based monitoring group.
	The Kurds managed to advance 50 metres towards their headquarters, two days after the jihadists captured 

Kurds thwart IS in Kobane, Turkey boosts involvement

A suicide bomber targeted an NATO convoy in Afghanistan's capital Kabul today, killing an Afghan civilian but causing no casualties among foreign troops, officials said.
	The explosion struck around dawn in Kabul's east, on the road to the city of Jalalabad, Afghan authorities said.
	"A suicide bomber blew up his vehicle loaded with explosives in Qabil Bai," deputy interior minister General Mohammad Ayub Salangi said in a tweet, adding that "one person was killed and three injured in this attack".
	A spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force said there were "no ISAF casualties" in the attack.
	No group has yet claimed responsibility for the bombing, but it had all the hallmarks of those carried out by the Taliban.
	The group's last attack on NATO forces in Kabul was on September 16, also when a bomber rammed an explosives-laden car into a NATO convoy, triggering a massive blast that killed two Americans and one Polish soldier, and wounded a dozen civilians.
	Kabul ..

One dead as suicide blast targets NATO convoy in Kabul

Australia's stand-in captain George Bailey admits that regaining the number one ranking will count for nothing once they launch their assault on the World Cup on home soil in February.
     Australia claimed a nail-biting one-run victory in the 50th and final over on Sunday to take the third one-dayer against Pakistan and complete a 3-0 cleansweep.
     They won the first match in Sharjah by 93 runs and the second by five wickets in Dubai and are now back in the world number one spot having dislodged India.
     "You're trying to win every game you play. As a team, a whitewash is what you want," said Bailey, who has been standing in for injured skipper Michael Clarke.
     "It's lovely to be ranked number one in the world but come the World Cup, I think, it will have zero bearing. It means nothing."
     Pakistan, chasing a modest 232-run target, were well on course with Asad Shafiq (50) and Sohaib Maqsood (34) joining in a 74-run fourth wicket stand.
     But they then lost five ...

Top ranking means nothing for World Cup, say Aussies

Powerful typhoon Vongfong slammed into Japan today morning, with at least one person missing and dozens injured while more than 300 flights were grounded, officials and local media said.
	Winds of up to 180 kilometres (112 miles) per hour whipped ashore as the typhoon made landfall in Makurazaki on Kyushu island at around 8:30 am (2330 GMT), the meteorological agency said.
	Three Chinese people were engulfed by high waves triggered by the typhoon in Shizuoka, central Japan, yesterday afternoon, Japan's public broadcaster NHK and the Mainichi Shimbun said, adding that two of them were rescued but one was still missing.
	NHK also said at least 44 people were injured in typhoon-related accidents, while Japanese airlines cancelled at least 329 flights.
	The typhoon came just a week after another strong tropical storm whipped through the country, leaving 11 people dead or missing.

Typhoon Vongfong slams into Japan

The death toll from an overcrowded wooden boat that sunk off the south coast of Guinea has risen to 18, with 20 others missing presumed dead, reports say.
	The boat went down on Friday with 61 people aboard off the port of Benty, in the south of the country, after colliding in high seas with a mining ship.
	"Eighteen people were killed when a boat capsized near the Konta landing point straddling the small ports of Farmoriah and Benty," maritime prefect Lansana Toure said in a statement read out on television yesterday.
	A search is under way for other victims as "after three days and two nights there remains no hope of finding survivors," said local fisheries chief Ali Damba.
	The accident happened off Forecariah province, already badly hit by the deadly Ebola virus which has spread in Guinea and neighbouring Liberia and Sierra Leone.
	Prime Minister Mohamed Said Fofana visited the area on Saturday.
	Maritime accidents occur frequently off the 300-kilometre (190-mile) Guinean ...

18 dead, 20 missing after boat sinks off Guinea

US Secretary of State John Kerry has said it was ultimately up to Iraqis to fight back against the Islamic State group advancing in Iraq despite US-led airstrikes.
	"Over time we believe that the strategy will build, the capacity will build, Daesh will become more isolated," he said, referring to the jihadist IS by its acronym in Arabic.
	"But ultimately it is Iraqis who will have to take back Iraq. It is Iraqis in Anbar who will have to fight for Anbar."
	Kerry also called the IS offensive on the Syrian border town of Kobane a "tragedy", despite weeks of US-led air strikes.
	But he stressed that the Syrian-Kurdish city, under siege from Islamic militants, was "just one community" and it "does not define the strategy of the coalition with respect to Daesh".
	UN officials have warned of a possible massacre in Kobane, if the militants capture the city which they have been attacking for the past three weeks.
	The US has repeatedly highlighted its concerns for Kobane, but stressed that ...

Iraqis will have to fight IS to win back country: Kerry

The International Monetary Fund was launched in 1944 with the world's new superpower, the United States, in position as the key force and shareholder in the global crisis bank.
	   Today, China is on the verge of becoming the world's largest economy.
	   But its voice at the IMF -- wrapping up its annual meeting this weekend in Washington -- remains that of a minor country, and some worry this could undermine the crucial, 70-year-old institution.
	   The IMF estimates that by the end of this year, China's economy will surpass the US in size: USD 17.63 trillion versus USD 17.42 trillion, based on the purchasing power parity standard.
	   On a more traditional basis, linked to current prices, the clearly much more affluent United States still leads by a wide margin.
	   But there is no debate about China's rise to power in the industrial world. And its growth rate, at 7.4 per cent this year, still far outpaces that of the rest of the advanced economies.
	   The IMF has had difficulty ...

China's economic rise challenges IMF

A railway in Sri Lanka that runs through mine-fields and snake-infested jungle is to reopen on Monday, nearly a quarter of a century after a bloody ethnic conflict shut it down.
	   Trains to the northern peninsula of Jaffna ground to a halt 24 years ago after dozens of passengers were killed in attacks by guerrillas seeking an independent homeland for Sri Lanka's minority Tamils.
	   The railway was ripped up to make bunkers after a truce between the Tamil Tiger rebels and government forces collapsed and fighting erupted in June 1990.
	   Five years after the government declared victory in May 2009, the scars of the conflict remain, with bombed-out homes and buildings still visible.
	   Reopening the railway was a priority to allow reconstruction materials to be brought into the area devastated by years of war and restore a key lifeline to Jaffna which is also the political capital of the northern province.
	   But it has not been easy.
	   The work took a full three years, with ...

Sri Lanka restores blood-soaked railway to Tamil heartland

Eleven Wiwa Indians killed by lightning during a tribal ceremony in Colombia's Sierra Nevada mountains will be left unburied where they died according to their traditions, an official said today.
	The community of about 60 families will abandon their remote village in the wake of Monday's tragedy, but it was not yet clear where they would go, said Jose Gregorio Rodriguez, an advisor on the Wiwas at the National Indigenous Organization of Colombia, which represents the country's 800,000 indigenous people.
	"The bodies will stay in the 'uguma' (ceremonial hut) where they died and the community will leave the site, as their customs and traditions dictate," Rodriguez told AFP.
	The 11 men were killed on Monday when lightning struck the hut during a ceremony, also injuring another 20 participants who suffered second and third degree burns.
	The Wiwas, a tribe that retreated into the Sierra Nevada of northern Colombia after the Spanish conquest, revere all aspects of nature and believe they 

Indians killed by lightning in Colombia to be left unburied

By 2024, more than half of summers in eastern China will be as hot as in 2013, when the region was hit by a record-busting heatwave and devastating drought, a study said today.
	Based on current global warming trends, the big heat will happen even if rising greenhouse gas emissions are braked over the next decade, it said.
	The summer of 2013 was the hottest on record in eastern China -- a massive 1.1 degrees Celsius (two degrees Fahrenheit) above the long-term average.
	On 31 days, the temperature reached or exceeded the heatwave benchmark of 35 degrees Celsius -- more than double the usual June-August tally.
	Nine provinces, with half a billion inhabitants, were affected. Direct economic losses, in China's most populated and economically developed region, have been put at 59 billion renminbi (USD 9.6 billion).
	Reporting in the journal Nature Climate Change, scientists in Beijing, Canada and the United States said the probability of a 2013-like summer in eastern China had increased .

Eastern China set for record-hot summers: study

Steven Smith and David Warner hit contrasting half-centuries to take Australia to 231-9 in the third and final day-night international against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi today.
     Smith notched a sedate 105-ball 77 with only three boundaries while Warner hit a quick 63-ball 56 with six boundaries and a six after Australia won the toss and opted to bat on a flat Sheikh Zayed Stadium pitch.
     Pakistan were without their captain Misbah-ul Haq who surprisingly withdrew himself for rest after a poor run of scores and handed the captaincy to Shahid Afridi.
     Misbah was out for a first-ball duck in Pakistan's 93-run defeat in the first one-day in Sharjah and scored 15 in the second in Dubai which Pakistan lost by five wickets.
     Pakistan also dropped Umar Akmal, injured Wahab Riaz and Raza Hasan to bring in Umar Amin, Sohaib Maqsood, Anwar Ali and Sohail Tanvir.
     With the series already in the bag having won the first two matches, Australia rested paceman Mitchell Johnson and ...

Smith, Warner guide Australia to 231-9

Roger Federer edged a resilient Gilles Simon of France 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/2) to win the Shanghai Masters and claim the 81st title of his career today.
     The 17-time Grand Slam winner had blown away world number one Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals but he found a stubborn opponent in Simon at Shanghai's Qizhong Tennis Centre.
     And the 33-year-old needed two tie-breaks and saved set points in each set before making it back-to-back Masters victories following his win in Cincinnati in August.
     "I feel unbelievable prestige to win this event," Federer said.
     "Especially putting my hands on the trophy for the first time is a good feeling, I must say. I'm very happy with the way I'm playing. Overall I'm just extremely happy right now."
     The Swiss veteran started poorly against 29th-ranked Simon's confrontational baseline play and he lost his serve in the very first game.
     Federer changed tactics midway through the first set, tentatively approaching the net in a bid to .

Federer edges Simon to win Shanghai Masters

UN chief Ban Ki-moon told a donor conference in Egypt today that he will visit the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip on Tuesday.
	"I will visit Gaza on Tuesday to listen directly to the people of Gaza," Moon told reporters in Cairo, adding that he would also travel to Israel.
	The Palestinian presidency, meanwhile, said prime minister Rami Hamdallah would meet Ban tomorrow morning in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
	And Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin are to hold separate talks with Ban in Jerusalem tomorrow afternoon, their offices said.
	Tuesday's visit to Gaza will be Ban's first to the Palestinian territory since February 2012.

UN chief Ban to visit Gaza on Tuesday

Israeli and Palestinian officials met at the weekend to draw up an action plan to prevent the Ebola epidemic from spreading to the territories they control, the Israeli military said today.
	"During the meeting (yesterday evening), updates were exchanged between the parties, and transfer of information was agreed upon by way of additional meetings to take place in order to further track the issue," said COGAT, the defence ministry unit responsible for Palestinian civilian coordination.
	One proposal to combat the disease was for Israel to provide courses in advanced epidemiology for Palestinian and Jordanian medical staff, a health ministry official said on condition of anonymity.
	Ebola has killed more than 4,000 people this year, nearly all of them in the West African countries of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
	"There are contacts with the Israeli side regarding this within the context of WHO's instructions on fighting this ...

AFP

AFP

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