A gang of cattle thieves killed 14 people overnight Sunday in a remote village in northwest Nigeria, police said, the latest assault in a long-running series of tit-for-tat attacks.
Police said the bandits were taking revenge for an earlier killing of nine suspected gang members by local vigilantes in a nearby village in Zamfara state on November 3.
In the absence of a robust police force and effective judicial system in Nigeria, villagers created vigilante groups to fight off the gangs, but the villagers have since been accused of extra-judicial killings.
Zamfara officials struck a deal in July with the bandits to end their attacks and vigilantes to stop extra-judicial killings, but sporadic outbreaks of violence have continued.
Zamfara police spokesman Mohammed Shehu said assailants riding motorcycles stormed into a remote village overnight Sunday to Monday, shooting residents and burning homes.
As well as the 14 people who were killed, 10 others were injured, Shehu said.
For ...

Nigeria cattle gang launches deadly attack: police

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One cold night in October, Gerel Ganbaatar decided to stay with her parents in one of Mongolia's traditional ger communities on the outskirts of the capital -- a decision which would prove fatal.
Within hours of arriving, she and her parents both became breathless and nauseous.
They desperately called for help -- but by the time medics arrived Gerel, who was four months pregnant, was already dead.
The 29-year-old's parents were using smokeless briquettes to warm their home for the first time that night: A government-issued fuel -- made of coking coal from the southern Gobi region and washed coal powder -- it has been linked to deaths and ill-health.
Since residents started using the briquettes in October, there have been seven other deaths -- mainly children, pregnant women, and the elderly.
Nearly one thousand have been hospitalised in Ulaanbaatar's outer slum districts, prompting fears the fuel can cause carbon monoxide poisoning.
Gerel's grieving mother, Jargalsaikhan Mishigdorj, ..

Mongolia's new 'cleaner' fuel linked to deaths, illness

New Zealand and England will take their cricketing rivalry into the Test arena Thursday after finding themselves evenly matched in recent limited-overs thrillers.
England have bragging rights after winning a rollercoaster World Cup final in July, then edging the Black Caps 3-2 in a desperately close Twenty20 series completed earlier this month.
Both the one-day decider and T20 series needed tie-breakers to find a winner and there will be no shortage of mutual respect when the rivals face off again Thursday in the First Test at Mount Maunganui.
On paper, there again appears to be little to separate the teams, with New Zealand second in the Test rankings and England third.
But England skipper Joe Root is painfully aware that his team underperformed when it lost a two-Test series in New Zealand last year after underestimating the Black Caps' bowlers on their home turf.
Pacemen Trent Boult and Tim Southee bundled the tourists out for 58 in the first innings of the opening Test as England .

New Zealand and England put cricket rivalry to the Test

Asian markets mostly rose Tuesday following another record close on Wall Street as investors bet on China and the US reaching a mini trade deal despite a report saying Beijing was concerned about the chances of an agreement.
Hong Kong extended Monday's rally with another surge but continuing protests in parts of the city -- particularly a violent standoff at a university -- remained a source of worry.
Regional traders were given another strong lead from Wall Street, where all three main indexes ended at new records on hopes for a good holiday shopping season with the key Black Friday sales day coming next week.
World equities have broadly been on the rise in recent weeks on optimism that the world's top two economies will eventually hammer out a mini trade deal as part of a wider agreement.
However, there have been bumps in the road and the latest came Monday when CNBC reported that China was pessimistic about the chances of a pact because Donald Trump is not in favour of rolling back 

Asian markets as investors remain buoyed by trade hopes

Three Australian under-23 footballers were Tuesday banned until August next year, ruling them out of the Tokyo Olympics, following a complaint by a woman about their behaviour in Cambodia.
Nathaniel Atkinson, Lachlan Wales and Brandon Wilson were all found guilty of code of conduct breaches during the AFC U-23 Championship qualifying tournament in Cambodia in March.
They were suspended from national team duties for unprofessional conduct until August 10 -- the day after the Tokyo Olympics closing ceremony -- and ordered to take part in counselling.
A fourth player, Riley McGree, was banned until April 1.  Football Federation Australia said the matter came to their attention in April "following a complaint by a woman". No further details were given.
"Upholding our commitment to respect and responsibility cannot be compromised," said FFA chairman Chris Nikou.
"The players have understood the gravity of their actions and have positively commenced respectful relationship programs that ...

Three Australia footballers out of 2020 Olympics after Cambodia incident

Three members of the Iranian security forces have been stabbed to death by "rioters" near Tehran, the ISNA and Fars news agencies reported late Monday.
The assailants wielding knives and machetes ambushed the three -- a Revolutionary Guard and two members of the Basij militia -- west of the capital, the news agencies reported.

Three Iran security personnel killed by 'rioters': reports

Some families of the 39 Vietnamese people found dead in a truck in Britain last month will borrow money from the government to repatriate their relatives' remains, they told AFP Tuesday.
Vietnam's foreign ministry said they would help to bring either the ashes or the bodies of the victims back -- but that families would have to cover the cost of repatriation.
The price to bring ashes back in a jar was USD 1,774, while the fee to repatriate a body was USD 2,858, according to an official document shared with the families and seen by AFP.
Families in central Vietnam, where many of the 39 victims come from, said they were desperate to bring their loved ones back nearly four weeks after the tragedy, despite the steep loans they will have to take on.
"We're in deep pain, we just want him back soonest," said Le Minh Tuan, whose 30-year-old son was among the victims found on October 23 in a refrigerated container in Essex.
"We'll pay any price, whether I have to sell my house or my land, I am 

UK truck victim families take on loans to repatriate remains to Vietnam

Former secretary of state Rex Tillerson has criticized alleged actions that have triggered an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, saying using US influence for personal gain is "wrong."
Tillerson, a former oil executive who was unceremoniously fired by Trump in March last year, was asked about the scandal in an interview with the PBS Newshour broadcast Monday.
Without using Trump's name or going into details of the incident, Tillerson said: "Clearly, asking for personal favors and using United States assets as collateral is wrong." "So if you're seeking some personal gain and you're using, whether it's American foreign aid, American weapons or American influence, that's wrong, and I think everyone understands that," he said.
House Democrats have launched an impeachment inquiry into Trump over allegations that he held up military aid to press Ukraine to dig up dirt on political rival Joe Biden.  Trump has denied any wrongdoing and accused the Democrats of waging a ...

Tillerson says Trump actions 'wrong' if proven

He is only 16 and reeling from his mother's death last week, but Pakistan believe express bowling sensation Naseem Shah can be a match-winner in the opening Test against Australia.
The exciting teenager is on the cusp of selection for the game at the Gabba in Brisbane starting Thursday after impressing with a fiery eight-over spell against Australia A in Perth.
If he makes the grade, Naseem will join a handful of others to debut at 16, including Indian legend Sachin Tendulkar.
The youngest-ever Test player listed by Cricinfo was Pakistan's Hasan Raza in 1996, aged just 14, although his date of birth was later disputed.
"The best thing about Naseem Shah is the control he has on his bowling," head coach Misbah-ul-Haq told cricket.com.au.
"He has a very good bowling action and knows which deliveries to bowl. He can bowl with a very good control. He knows his stuff and bowled really well in the first-class matches he played this season.
"He's bowled well here too and is the standout ...

Pakistan consider debut for 16-year-old whose mother just died

Pakistan head into the opening Test in Brisbane on Thursday seeking a rare win on Australian soil, and could unleash a 16-year-old debutant in a teenage pace attack against seasoned stars Steve Smith and David Warner.
Pakistan have drawn a series in Australia, but have never won one, and last tasted a Test victory at Sydney in 1995.
A handful of players, including new skipper Azhar Ali, Babar Azam and the in-form Asad Shafiq, were part of their last tour in 2016/17 when they crashed 3-0, but are better for it, said then-captain and now head coach Misbah-ul-Haq.
"Our previous record in Australia won't put us under pressure," he said.
"If anything, it'll be an opportunity and motivation to win because whatever we couldn't achieve in the past, we can do now.
"It's a young and hungry team and it means business," he added.
"This team wants to take the challenge. We want to give our best, play good cricket and think about winning."
They will be relying heavily on Azam and Shafiq, who scored 

Teenage quicks: Young Pakistan square up to Smith and Warner

They were handed the two most high-profile jobs in Chinese football but Marcello Lippi last week angrily quit as national coach and protege Fabio Cannavaro is hanging on by his fingertips at Guangzhou Evergrande.
The downfall of the Italians, coach and captain respectively when Italy won the 2006 World Cup, has been swift and comes with a whiff of humiliation.
The 71-year-old Lippi's final act was to bang his fists on a table and storm out of a press conference in Dubai after a damaging 2-1 defeat in 2022 World Cup qualifying to Syria last Thursday.
He earned more than 400 million yuan ($57 million) over two spells in charge, Economic Weekly said, publishing a file photo of him bare-chested and smoking a cigar in a kayak.
Cannavaro just about remains in charge of Chinese Super League (CSL) leaders Evergrande, despite being temporarily ordered aside last month and publicly rebuked.
Evergrande host Shanghai SIPG on Saturday in a top-of-the-table clash which will go a significant way ...

The Italian jobless: Lippi gone, Cannavaro on brink in China

Israel's anti-missile defence system intercepted four rockets fired from neighbouring Syria on Tuesday, the army said.
"No hits on Israeli communities were identified," the army added in a WhatsApp message.
Meanwhile, blasts were heard close to Damascus airport in the Syrian capital, the official SANA news agency reported on Tuesday morning.
Around 450 rockets were fired into Israel last week from the Gaza Strip in the aftermath of a military operation against an Islamic Jihad commander, according to the Israeli army, but no rockets were reported to have been fired from Syria.
Baha Abu Al-Ata, who Israel blamed for recent rocket fire into its territory, was killed in a strike on his home in Gaza City.
A ceasefire between Israel and the Islamic Jihad was agreed after 50 hours of clashes, but the deal remains precarious.
On the same day as strikes killed Ata, Syrian state media reported that an Israeli strike hit the home of another Islamic Jihad militant, killing his son and another ...

Israel intercepts four rockets launched from Syria: army

Relatives of some of the young pro-democracy protesters holed up inside a Hong Kong university held anxious vigil Tuesday as police vowed to arrest everyone on the campus.
Around 100 protesters remain barricaded inside Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) surrounded by riot squads who have been besieging them for three days.
One woman, who gave her surname as Cheung, said she had spent last night in a park near a police cordon as she waited for news of her adult son, who she said came to the campus as a first aider.
"I was very, very worried, worried his life could be in danger. He's scared. He's scared about being arrested by the cops," she said.
Demonstrators, who took to the streets in their hundreds of thousands in June over a now-shelved bill that would have allowed extradition to China, are demanding the right to elect their own leaders, as well as an inquiry into alleged police brutality.
Protest tactics morphed in the last 10 days into a "Blossom Everywhere" strategy of ...

Anxious families wait outside besieged hong Kong campus

Foreign investors hoping to buy New Zealand's strategic assets will now have to convince the government it is in the national interest, officials said Tuesday, while denying the rules targeted China.
New rules will for the first time give the government power to reject overseas investments in sensitive areas if it decides they could be detrimental to the country, Associate Finance Minister David Parker said.
He said the test would apply to crucial infrastructure including ports and airports, telecommunications and electricity networks, as well as firms developing military technology or supplying intelligence agencies.
"These powers will be used rarely and only where necessary for protecting New Zealand," Parker said in a statement, citing investments that could "pose a significant risk to our national security or public order".
He said the new government power could also be used to veto foreign investments in media firms if they were a threat to democracy.
Previously, foreign ...

New Zealand tightens foreign investment rules

One fisherman was killed and 11 others reported missing after their boat caught fire off South Korea's southern coast, authorities said Tuesday.
The coast guard said the accident happened west of Jeju island.
Local authorities said 12 crew members had been on board -- six South Koreans and six Vietnamese nationals.
Only one body -- the badly burned corpse of a South Korean -- had so far been recovered, a coast guard official told AFP.
Helicopters, a patrol plane, coast guard vessels and civilian fishing boats were involved in the search for the missing, the coast guard said, adding that the cause of the fire was under investigation.

One dead, 11 missing in S Korean fishing boat blaze

Newly-appointed Montreal Impact boss Thierry Henry vowed to learn from the mistakes of his disastrous reign at Monaco on Monday but called for patience as he attempts to revive the fortunes of the struggling Major League Soccer outfit.
Speaking at his first press conference since his appointment by Montreal last week, the 42-year-old former France and Arsenal superstar insisted he was ready for the challenge despite his troubled tenure with Ligue 1 side Monaco.
Henry was sacked by Monaco in January after only 100 days in charge as the team nosedived into the relegation zone following his appointment, with just five wins in 20 matches.
"For me, the way I put it is always [either] you win or you learn, and I learned a lot there," Henry said of his spell at Monaco.
"It's about coming back, always. You have to get up and be in front of what happens. The only mistake that you can make is not learning from what happened."
Henry, who was also an assistant coach to Belgium during the ...

Henry ready for Montreal challenge after Monaco nightmare

Alex Marquez will ride alongside his older brother and six-time MotoGP world champion Marc at Honda next season, the team announced on Monday.
The 23-year-old Alex Marquez, who added the Moto2 world title this year to the Moto3 crown he won in 2014, has signed a one-year deal with the constructors' champions.
"He will move from the intermediate class to partner eight-time world champion Marc Marquez in 2020 for his debut season in the premier class," Honda said in a statement.
The younger Marquez replaces three-time world champion Jorge Lorenzo, who retired after the weekend's season-ending Valencia Grand Prix.
Alex has been riding for Kalex in Moto2. He won five races in the 2019 campaign, taking the title by three points from South African Brad Binder.
The announcement means that Briton Cal Crutchlow and Frenchman Johann Zarco miss out on joining Honda's top outfit.
The 34-year-old Crutchlow, who races for Honda-LCR, finished ninth in the 2019 standings. He has won three races and ..

Alex Marquez to join brother Marc at Honda MotoGP team

Lionel Messi scored a late penalty as Argentina drew 2-2 with Uruguay in a friendly held in Israel Monday, with the Jewish state considering the match a victory.
The game pitted Messi against his Barcelona teammate Luis Suarez, and it looked as though the Uruguayan had gotten the better of him as he scored one goal and set up another to give his team a 2-1 lead going into injury time.
But a ball into the box was handled by a Uruguayan defender, and Messi calmly slotted the resulting penalty home to ensure an engaging friendly ended all square.
The 32-year-old had earlier teed up Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero to make it 1-1, after Edinson Cavani had opened the scoring.
Suarez scored a free-kick from outside the box to give his side the lead before Messi's late intervention.
The game had been dubbed by organisers as an important moment for Israel, following the cancellation of another Argentina match a year earlier after pressure from pro-Palestinian campaigners.
Organisers ...

Israel sees Messi visit as victory, even as Argentina and Uruguay draw

Denmark and Switzerland secured spots at Euro 2020 at the expense of the Republic of Ireland on Monday as Roberto Mancini's Italy completed a perfect qualifying campaign by scoring nine.
Ireland needed to beat Denmark in Dublin to clinch qualification for next year's 24-team European Championship finals, but Matt Doherty's late header was only enough to earn Mick McCarthy's men a 1-1 draw at the Aviva Stadium.
A closely-fought contest, low on technical quality, swung the visitors' way when the unmarked Martin Braithwaite stuck out a boot to divert a Henrik Dalsgaard cross into the net on 73 minutes.
However, Ireland scored a late equaliser to draw 1-1 in Copenhagen in June and they repeated the feat here as Wolverhampton Wanderers right-back Doherty headed in an Enda Stevens cross with five minutes left.
Needing to win, the home side then threw everything at their opponents in the dying moments, but Denmark held on to clinch second place in Group D behind Switzerland.
"We had ...

Danes, Swiss through to Euro 2020 as rampant Italy hit nine

Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev helped Russia open the inaugural Davis Cup Finals with a 3-0 victory over defending champions Croatia in Madrid on Monday.
World number 17 Khachanov clinched the point for Russia by fighting back to beat Croatian number one Borna Coric 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 6-4, after Rublev had earlier seen off Borna Gojo 6-3, 6-3.
"When you're playing not only for yourself, but for your country, you have to fight harder," said Khachanov.
Russia, who are without US Open runner-up Daniil Medvedev due to exhaustion, can wrap up a place in the quarter-finals with victory over Rafael Nadal's Spain in their second Group B tie on Tuesday.
The 18 nations have been split into six groups of three at the Caja Magica, with the pool winners and two best runners-up to play in the last eight of the first edition of the revamped tournament.
The teams face off in two best-of-three-set singles matches and one doubles rubber in each tie.
Khachanov and Rublev completed the clean sweep later .

Russia beat reigning champions Croatia in Davis Cup opener

Steve Smith insists he does not feel "hard done by" after the West Indies' Nicholas Pooran received a four-match ban for ball-tampering compared to the master Australian batsman's year-long suspension.
The talented Pooran was last week suspended by the International Cricket Council for four Twenty20 internationals for "changing the condition of the ball" in a one-day match against Afghanistan in India.
Smith and David Warner were exiled by Cricket Australia for a year, while Cameron Bancroft was suspended for nine months, for their part in a plot to use sandpaper to alter the ball during a Test against South Africa last year.
Smith said he had no issues with the wide disparity in the punishments.
"Everyone is different, every board is different, and the way they deal with certain issues," he told reporters ahead of the opening Test against Pakistan in Brisbane this week -- his first Test at home since the tampering scandal.
"For me, I copped it on the chin... it is what it is.
"I ...

AFP

AFP

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