South African Airways workers on Friday embarked on an indefinite strike for higher wages and against the national carrier's retrenchment plan, forcing the cash-trapped airline to ground hundreds of flights.
The strike has forced South Africa's largest carrier to cancel more than 200 domestic, regional and international flights between Friday and Saturday.
The company has asked travellers who had flights booked between Friday and Saturday not to turn up at airports and offered them a chance to rebook for free or to fly on other flights operated by partner airlines.
More than 3,000 workers, including cabin crew, check-in, ticket sales, technical and ground staff, are taking part in the open-ended, according to unions.
Hundreds of placard-waving workers picketed near O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg - one of the continent's busiest airport - singing and dancing.
"We will continue with the strike (until demands are met)," Sifiso Mabena, an aircraft mechanic at the airport 

South African Airways hit by crippling strike

PTI Automatic

A floating dead pig infected with African swine fever washed up in Taiwan last week, according to a UN report, which also recorded a fresh mainland China outbreak and an attempt to illegally transport infected pigs.
China's swine herd has been devastated by the outbreak of the disease, first reported by the government in August last year.
An update on the crisis from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations dated Thursday said the dead pig was found floating on November 6 near Taiwan's Xiaojinmen Island -- also known as Lieyu -- close to the mainland province of Fujian.
It said the pig tested positive for the same strain of swine fever that has unleashed havoc in mainland China.
The FAO said this is the first floating dead pig reported since June, and pointed out that the last reported outbreak in Fujian was last December.
The report also documented that a vehicle illegally transporting infected piglets across provinces was intercepted earlier in November on ..

Pig infected with African swine fever washes up in Taiwan

Mental wellbeing as much as physical health is emerging as a key challenge for modern-day cricketers -- with relentless schedules, intense public scrutiny and the fear of failure weighing heavily.
The issue has been thrust into the spotlight in Australia, where three top players recently stepped aside for mental health reasons, with administrators scrambling to get on top of the problem.
Glenn Maxwell, one of the world's best short-format players, set the tone late last month by taking time away after "experiencing some difficulties with regards to his mental health".
Will Pucovski -- who had already taken two breaks to deal with similar issues -- and Nic Maddinson followed suit, just a week ahead of the first Test of the Australian summer against Pakistan.
The specifics of their cases are not known publicly, but Ben Oliver, Cricket Australia's head of national teams, said there were a number of factors he had noted, generally, since beginning his job this year.
"One of the early ...

Cricketers' mental health thrown into the spotlight

China are searching for a third coach this year after the country's football association accepted Marcello Lippi's resignation following the damaging loss to Syria in World Cup qualifying.
A clearly infuriated Lippi, the 71-year-old Italian World Cup winner, made a brief but angry appearance in front of the media after the 2-1 defeat on Thursday in Dubai.
"My pay is very high and I take all the blame. I am quitting as China coach," the Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying.
"We could beat weaker opponents like Maldives and Guam, but when we encountered stronger teams like the Philippines and Syria, we could not play our own football."
Lippi then abruptly left the press conference.
Hours later, the Chinese Football Association (CFA) said in a statement that it had accepted Lippi's decision.
"We are really sorry that the unsatisfactory results disappoint all Chinese fans," the CFA said.
"The CFA will seriously reflect, rebuild the team, and try our best in the following World Cup ...

China at crossroads again as Lippi quits

A MotoGP season dominated once again by Marc Marquez rolls to a close in Valencia this weekend with a fond farewell for another Spaniard, former champion Jorge Lorenzo who announced his retirement on Thursday.
Marquez has undoubtedly been the star of the season, winning 11 races so far and wrapping up his sixth world title with four races to spare.
No one has come close to his speed and consistency.
Since the Spanish GP in Jerez at the start of May, Marquez has finished either first or second in every race, an achievement that fast-tracked Honda to its eighth constructors' championship, its fourth in a row.
The 26-year-old has done it on the much-maligned RC213V which has been criticised for its handling.
No surprise then to see Marquez planning to use Valencia as something of a test drive for next season.
"We are looking to 2020 already and continuing to try some options while we have this time before we go into test mode after the race," he said.
Surprisingly, given that he has won .

Marquez and Lorenzo top the bill in Valencia By Jean-Louis Doublet

Spain captain Sergio Ramos said on Thursday he thinks the national side could play in Barcelona for the first time since 2004 once current political tensions have eased, but admitted that now is not the "ideal" time.
The first El Clasico of the season between Barcelona and Real Madrid, originally scheduled for October 26 at the Camp Nou, was postponed until December 18 due to violent pro-independence protests in Catalonia.
The Spanish national team, the 2010 World Cup winners, have not played in Barcelona since a friendly against Peru at the Olympic Stadium 15 years ago, and have not graced the Camp Nou since a game against the Netherlands in 1987.
"This may not be the ideal moment, since we have even suspended a Clasico for obvious reasons beyond our control and our opinions," said Ramos, Spain's all-time record appearance maker with 168 international caps.
"We hope that it will be settled as quickly as possible, that our country finds a balance in every sense of the word, in all ...

'Not ideal moment' for Spanish national side return to Barcelona, admits Ramos

Owusu Kwabena came off the bench to score twice in a 2-0 win over Mali on Thursday that took Ghana closer to a first appearance at the Olympic Games football tournament since 2004.
The victory, coupled with Cameroon losing 2-1 to hosts Egypt at another Cairo stadium, gave Ghana second place in Group A by the slenderest of margins.
Ghana and Cameroon finished level on four points -- five behind Egypt -- but the Black Meteors (plus one) edged the Indomitable Cubs (level) on goal difference.
The Ghanaians were indebted to Spain-based Kwabena, and Egypt wonder boy Aftmost Mohamed, who scored both goals for his team, with Eric Auk levelling for Cameroon in between.
It was a thrilling finish to the mini-league in an eight-nation tournament, which will decide which three countries represent Africa at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
Group B is also going down to the wire with South Africa (four points), Ivory Coast, Nigeria (three each) and Zambia (one) all in contention for top-two finishes ...

Supersub Kwabena stars as Ghana stay in Olympics race

Joshua Kimmich says Germany hope to seduce home fans with "sexy football" to brush Belarus aside on Saturday, in an attempt to boost both flagging attendance figures and their bid to qualify for the Euro 2020 finals.
Fan interest has never been so low since Joachim Loew took charge of Germany in 2006, with average attendances for home internationals dropping to a paltry 37,162 and only two thirds of the tickets for both remaining home qualifiers sold so far.
An emphatic win over Belarus in Moenchengladbach could help win back any fans still disgruntled by their woeful 2018 World Cup campaign when Germany came last in their group.
"First and foremost, we are responsible for getting people into the stadium whether we play sexy football or not," said midfielder Kimmich in Duesseldorf.
"We have to make sure that everyone who stays at home regrets it a bit." With two qualifiers left, European powerhouses the Netherlands, who face Northern Ireland in Belfast on Saturday, and Germany are ...

Germany flirt with 'sexy football' to secure Euro 2020 berth

Singapore has fined Swiss banking giant UBS Sg$11.2 million ($8 million) after investigations showed its advisors deceived clients about prices for bonds and other financial products.
The city-state's central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), said UBS had admitted liability for its advisors' actions and paid a civil penalty.
"The conduct of UBS through its representatives is unacceptable and has no place in the financial services industry where trust and integrity are paramount," said Ong Chong Tee, deputy managing director, financial supervision, at MAS.
Authorities took into account that UBS had agreed to compensate affected clients and cooperated fully during the investigation when they decided on the penalty, Ong said in a statement Thursday.
UBS had raised concerns about malpractice by client advisors in Hong Kong and Singapore in 2016, prompting the central bank to launch a probe.
Among problems discovered were that advisors failed to disclose -- or made only ...

Singapore fines UBS $8 mn for deceptive trades

Turkey booked their place at Euro 2020 on Thursday after a goalless qualifying draw with Iceland which also sent world champions France to next year's finals.
With two teams qualifying from Group H, leaders Turkey are four points ahead of third-placed Iceland with one match remaining after the stalemate in Istanbul, with France a point behind Turkey in second.
"We are so happy that we have qualified for the Euro. Now we have one more game to play, and then we'll focus our clubs until March," said Turkey's Leicester defender Caglar Soyuncu.
Iceland needed to win to have any chance of qualifying thanks to their inferior head-to-head record with the French but will now have to hope they make the playoffs at the end of the qualifying phase.
"We came here four points adrift and Turkey are such a strong team. We did everything we could," said Iceland forward Mikael Anderson.
"We came close to getting the result we wanted, but it wasn't enough."
Didier Deschamps' France would have qualified .

Turkey hold Iceland to reach Euro 2020 alongside France

Hong Kong's leader Carrie Lam on Thursday condemned a "barbaric attack" on her justice minister, who fell while being surrounded by a crowd of jeering pro-democracy protesters in London.
It was the most physical confrontation involving a member of Lam's cabinet since the protests, now in their sixth month, erupted in the international finance hub.
Teresa Cheng, Hong Kong's deeply unpopular Secretary for Justice, was ambushed by around a dozen masked demonstrators as she prepared to attend a speaking event on Thursday night in London.
They shone torch lights on her while calling her a "murderer" and shouting slogans of the Hong Kong pro-democracy protest movement.
Video of the incident showed Cheng falling to the floor during the melee -- although it was not immediately clear if she was pushed by protesters.
She regained her feet moments later and was escorted away with no visible signs of injury.
Cheng suffered "serious bodily harm" during the altercation, Chief Executive Lam said in .

Hong Kong leader condemns London protester 'attack' on minister

A French tourist has died after falling from a waterfall while trying to take a selfie in Thailand, police said Friday.
The accident happened Thursday afternoon on the tropical island of Koh Samui, whose palm-fringed, white-sand beaches are a magnet for both backpackers and high-end tourists.
The 33-year-old man fell from Na Mueang 2 waterfall, the same spot where a Spanish tourist died in a fall in July, Lieutenant Phuvadol Viriyavarangkul of the island's tourist police told AFP.
"It took several hours to retrieve his body because the waterfall is slippery and steep," he said by phone, adding that the spot is roped off and there is a sign warning tourists of the danger.
"His friend said he was trying to take a selfie and then he slipped and fell." Thailand is largely considered a safe destination for tourists and typically draws more than 35 million visitors each year.
But the industry took a hit in 2018 after a ferry carrying Chinese visitors in the country's south sank last year, ..

French tourist killed taking selfie at Thai waterfall

Roger Federer produced a near-flawless performance as he avenged his Wimbledon defeat by Novak Djokovic and qualified for the last four of the ATP Finals with a 6-4, 6-3 victory on Thursday.
The Swiss started the tournament with a chastening straight-sets defeat to Dominic Thiem but found his best form when it mattered.
Defeat for the second seed spells the end of his bid to overtake Rafael Nadal and finish as year-end number one.
Roared on by a raucous packed house at London's O2 Arena, six-time champion Federer looked in the groove from the start, cranking up the pressure on Djokovic's serve and dropping just three points on his own serve in the whole set.
The Serbian upped his game at the start of the second set but Federer saved the one break point he faced and broke twice to canter to victory.
The third seed, making his 17th appearance at the ATP Finals, is into his 16th semi-final at the year-end event.
Djokovic needed to win the title to have a chance at knocking Nadal off the .

Federer outclasses Djokovic to reach ATP Finals semis

England manager Gareth Southgate revelled in his side's ruthlessness as a 7-0 thrashing of Montenegro sealed qualification for Euro 2020 in style in the Three Lions' 1,000th match.
Even without Raheem Sterling, who was dropped by Southgate earlier in the week after a physical altercation with teammate Joe Gomez, England displayed the firepower that will make them one of the favourites for next year's European Championship.
Harry Kane moved into sixth in the all-time list of England goalscorers with a first half hat-trick to take his tally for the qualifying campaign to 11 in seven games.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Marcus Rashford, Aleksandar Sofranac's own goal and Tammy Abraham's first at international level rounded off the scoring as Southgate's men sealed top spot in Group A with a stunning record of 33 goals in seven games.
"In the past we have maybe struggled against lower ranked teams who defend in numbers, but we have players who can open those teams up and a style of play that ..

'Clinical' England smash seven past Montenegro to reach Euro 2020 in style

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his ninth international hat-trick as Portugal moved to the brink of qualifying for Euro 2020 with a 6-0 thrashing of Lithuania in Faro on Thursday.
The reigning European champions were made to wait for qualification however as Serbia battled to a 3-2 win over Luxembourg in the other game in Group B.
Ronaldo had been substituted in his last two club games by Juventus coach Maurizio Sarri, with the Italian claiming the striker had been struggling with a knee injury.
He reportedly left the stadium before the final whistle after being taken off by Sarri during Juve's 1-0 Serie A win over AC Milan at the weekend.
"I knew he (Ronaldo) was able to play," Portugal coach Fernando Santos told Portuguese TV channel RTP.
"His match put an end to the doubts about his physical condition, for those who had doubts. I personally had none, and I said that."
Portugal sit second in the standings behind Ukraine, who have already qualified, and one point clear of Serbia, but can ...

Ronaldo hat-trick fires Portugal to brink of Euro 2020 qualification

US President Donald Trump campaigned on Thursday for the Republican challenger in the Louisiana governor's race, in what is seen as a test of his own political vitality as he battles an impeachment inquiry.
Addressing a rally in Bossier City, Trump urged a crowd of thousands whose votes he will depend on for his own re-election bid next year to "send a message" by electing Republican Eddie Rispone on Saturday.
Worried Republicans have reportedly poured money into the state in the final days of the gubernatorial campaign as polls show Democratic incumbent John Bel Edwards poised for a narrow win, despite Louisiana being a solidly conservative state.  Trump won Louisiana by 20 percentage points in 2016.
For Trump, a defeat of Rispone would be a humiliation, given the president's frequent boasting that his star power is enough to propel Republicans to victory around the country.
A similar campaign on behalf of the Republican governor in Kentucky last week, Matt Bevin, flopped, with ...

Trump tests his electoral power in Louisiana governor's fight

The State Department's watchdog on Thursday faulted the US pointman on Iran over the removal of an employee of Iranian origin, voicing alarm that Trump administration officials discussed her ancestry.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo agreed to consider disciplinary action against the envoy, Brian Hook, although strong measures appeared unlikely as management also disputed the report's conclusions.
Under pressure from lawmakers, the State Department's inspector general probed the early removal of Sahar Nowrouzzadeh, a career employee and US citizen, from the Office of Policy Planning, the internal think tank that sets priorities for US diplomacy.
A long-awaited report by the internal watchdog said that the White House, two months after President Donald Trump took office in 2017, forwarded an article in conservative US media that was critical of Nowrouzzadeh's continued position and highlighted her ancestry.
Julia Haller, a short-term liaison from the White House in charge of political ...

State Department probe faults Iran envoy on employee removal

Olivier Giroud converted a late penalty as France staggered to a 2-1 win against a Moldova side ranked 175th in the world on Thursday hours after securing a place at Euro 2020.
World champions France, who lost the Euro 2016 final as hosts to Portugal, were guaranteed a ticket to next year's tournament before kick-off in Paris following a 0-0 draw between Turkey and Iceland.
However their hopes of turning the final home qualifier into an evening of celebration at a chilly Stade de France were compromised when Vadim Rata punished abject defending to give Moldova a shock ninth-minute lead.
Raphael Varane levelled for France 10 minutes before half-time, triggering furious protests from Moldovan players and their coach who argued goalkeeper Alexei Koselev was fouled by Giroud.
The Chelsea forward grabbed the winner from the spot 11 minutes from time after Lucas Digne was cut down in the box to leave France two points clear of Turkey at the top of Group H.
"I could and should have scored ...

Giroud penalty lifts France past brave Moldova

A Kurdish-Iranian refugee who penned a book on a mobile phone while held in an Australian detention camp said Friday he was celebrating life "as a free man" in New Zealand.
Award-winning author Behrouz Boochani is in Christchurch to attend a literary festival and discuss his work "No Friend but the Mountains" which was painstakingly tapped out on WhatsApp and sent to publishers.
Boochani, 35, spent more than six years in the notorious Australian detention centre on Papua New Guinea's Manus island after being caught in 2013 in Australian waters on a boat packed with asylum seekers.
The book, which has won numerous awards including the Victorian Prize for Literature -- Australia's richest literary honour -- chronicles his perilous voyage from Indonesia towards Australia and his subsequent incarceration, describing in detail the lives, deaths and hardships endured by the refugees.
"It is the first time that I feel that I am happy because I survived," he told the Guardian newspaper after .

Author asylum-seeker celebrates freedom in New Zealand

Chinese technology giant Alibaba on Friday confirmed plans to list in Hong Kong in what it called a $13 billion vote of confidence in the turbulent city's markets and a step forward in its plans to go global.
The enormous IPO, which Hong Kong had lobbied for, will come as a boost for authorities wrestling with pro-democracy protests that have tarnished the financial hub's image for order and security and hammered its stock market.
Alibaba will offer 500 million shares at a maximum of HK$188 apiece, the company said. The number eight is considered auspicious in China.
Over-allocation options could take the total value to more than $13 billion, making it one of the biggest IPOs in Hong Kong for a decade after insurance giant AIA raised $20.5 billion in 2010.
Alibaba had planned to list in the summer but called it off owing to the city's long-running pro-democracy protests and the China-US trade war. The US and China are now working on sealing a partial trade deal.
Daniel Zhang, Alibaba .

Alibaba confirms huge Hong Kong public listing worth at least $13bn

North Korea has launched a visceral diatribe against US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, calling the former vice-president a "rabid dog" -- while also borrowing the terminology of Donald Trump.
Pyongyang is renowned for its vitriol, but the verbal deluge was unusually ferocious even by its own standards.
Biden "had the temerity to dare slander the dignity of the supreme leadership of the DPRK", the North's official KCNA news agency said late Thursday, referring to the country by its official name.
"Rabid dogs like Biden can hurt lots of people if they are allowed to run about," it went on. "They must be beaten to death with a stick.
"Doing so will be beneficial for the US also," it added.
It was not immediately clear what had provoked Pyongyang's ire, but Biden's campaign released an ad this week condemning Trump's foreign policy, saying that "dictators and tyrants are praised, our allies pushed aside".
The voiceover says the word "tyrants" at the exact moment a picture ...

AFP

AFP

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