A powerful earthquake struck the southern Philippines Tuesday, killing six people, cracking buildings and injuring dozens in a region still reeling from a previous deadly tremor.
Terrified locals ran into the streets after the 6.6-magnitude quake, which hit the island of Mindanao as schools and offices opened for the day.
The shaking lasted up to a minute in some areas, damaging homes, multi-storey buildings and classrooms in a region where hundreds are still displaced by a quake that killed at least five earlier this month.
The Philippines suffers regular tremors as part of the Pacific "Ring of Fire", an arc of intense seismic activity that stretches from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.
A teenage boy was crushed by a falling wall as he tried to escape his school in Magsaysay, the town spokesman told AFP. Though other students were injured in a "stampede" to escape the building, they survived.
Rock and landslides unleashed by the violent shaking killed four .

Strong quake kills six in south Philippines

PTI Automatic

North Korea has pulled out of a December international women's football tournament in the South, Seoul's football authorities said Tuesday, weeks after Pyongyang hosted a surreal World Cup qualifier in a near-empty stadium.
Pyongyang's nuclear talks with Washington are at a deadlock and it has been at loggerheads with Seoul since the collapse of the Hanoi summit between leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump in February.
The North has repeatedly excoriated Seoul, saying it has "nothing to talk (about) any more" with Seoul.
Now the South has announced the North's withdrawal from the East Asian Football Federation (EAFF) E-1 Football Championship due to be held in the South's port city of Busan in December.
The North is a power in the women's game, ranked ninth in the world, and has won the tournament -- previously known as the EAFF Women's East Asian Cup -- the last three times it has been held.
"We have been notified by the EAFF that the North will not come to the South to ..

N. Korea pulls out of football tournament in South: Seoul

Ten people, including several teenagers, were killed in Indonesia's post-election riots, the human rights commission said Tuesday, as it accused police of beating up protesters.
In its final report on the May riots, the agency Komnas HAM said four victims were underage and most had been shot in the capital Jakarta and demonstrations in Kalimantan, Indonesia's section of Borneo island.
Indonesia's rights commission called on police to find the perpetrators, who it suspected were "actors trained, organised and professional in using guns". It did not elaborate.
"This is a tragedy," commissioner Beka Ulung Hapsara told AFP.
"These are unlawful killings -- or killings that took place outside legal mechanisms -- and that violates the criminal code," he added.
The commission said it did not suspect authorities were behind the shootings.
But it accused police of using unnecessary force against protesters, including minors.
"The police used violence against children who joined the rally (in ...

Ten 'unlawfully killed' in Indonesia election riots: rights agency

Dozens of protesters were arrested and several people injured Tuesday when police and demonstrators clashed outside an international mining conference in Melbourne.
Some 50 people were detained as mounted police forced back hundreds of protesters from the convention centre hosting the International Mining and Resources Conference.
Footage posted on social media showed police using pepper spray and batons to push back protesters, with one woman sent to hospital after allegedly being trampled or kicked by a horse.
Another protester was treated for head injuries at the scene while two police were also sent to hospital for treatment, police said.
More than 300 police officers have been deployed.
"The actions (of police) have been more than justified," Victoria Police acting commander Tim Tully told reporters after the heated altercation.
"It is in line with the training. It is in line with trying to facilitate a peaceful process," he added.
Most of the arrests relate to obstruction, Tully 

Dozens arrested as Australia mining protest turns violent

Sri Lanka's top court on Tuesday effectively blocked a plan by the president to bring back hangings for the first time since 1976 before he leaves office next month.
Maithripala Sirisena said in June that he had signed death warrants for four drug offenders -- mirroring the Philippines' no-holds-barred anti-narcotics drive -- alarming rights groups and the international community.
A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court extended on Tuesday a stay order until the hearing of 15 petitions filed against Sirisena's bid.
"The bench extended the stay order till December 9," a lawyer representing civil society groups, who call hanging a "cruel and degrading", said after a brief hearing.
Sirisena is not seeking re-election and must leave office as soon as a winner is declared after the November 16 election, more than three weeks before the court resumes hearings.
There has been a moratorium on capital punishment in the Indian Ocean island nation since 1976.
Sirisena told reporters on June 26 .

Court blocks Sri Lanka leader's bid to resume hangings

Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong was barred Tuesday from standing in upcoming local elections after months of huge and frequently violent protests in the city.
Wong, one of the most prominent figures in the otherwise leaderless movement, accused the government of "political screening" after an election officer ruled invalid his nomination for the November poll.
The 22-year-old was sent to prison earlier this year over the democracy protests he helped lead in 2014. He immediately joined the historic anti-government protests rocking the city upon his release in June.
Wong was the only candidate barred from standing in an election for district councils, which tackle regional issues. The election is the first to be held since the current mass protests started.
He accused the government Tuesday of censorship in disqualifying him.
"The decision to ban me from running for office was clearly politically driven," he told a press conference on Tuesday.
"The true reason is my identity, ..

Hong Kong bars democracy activist Joshua Wong from local election

China on Tuesday blasted as "economic bullying" a US proposal to block telecom carriers buying from Chinese tech companies Huawei and ZTE.
The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said on Monday that the proposed rules -- which also require carriers to remove any existing Huawei and ZTE equipment -- were part of an initiative to "safeguard the nation's communications networks".
The two Chinese firms have been accused of posing a national security threat because of their close ties to the Beijing government, claims both have denied.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang slammed the US proposal as an attempt to "oppress certain Chinese businesses with groundless accusations".
Geng said at a regular news briefing Tuesday that the move would ultimately hurt US businesses.
"The United States' economic bullying goes against the market principles which the US has always trumpeted," he said.
FCC chairman Ajit Pai said the new plan would bar communications companies from using ..

China slams US for 'economic bullying' of Huawei, ZTE

The Taliban should call a one-month ceasefire to prove they still control their forces, Afghanistan's national security advisor said Tuesday, amid signs the US wants to rekindle talks with the insurgents.
Hamdullah Mohib, a strong critic of earlier US-Taliban negotiations that excluded his government, said the Taliban no longer operate as a cohesive body and some commanders may have joined the Islamic State group.
"If the Taliban really want peace, they should prove how much control they have over their commanders and how much they really obey their commands," Mohib said at a press conference.
"Our suggestion is for a one-month ceasefire, followed by negotiations." Observers have sometimes questioned whether there is a disconnect between the Taliban's political wing, based in Doha, and its military commanders in Afghanistan.
The insurgents have repeatedly rebuffed previous calls for a ceasefire, but last year they downed weapons for a historic, three-day truce.
Mohib, Afghanistan's ...

Taliban should call ceasefire to prove control of forces: official

A powerful earthquake struck the southern Philippines Tuesday, crushing two people under debris, cracking buildings and injuring dozens in a region still reeling from a previous deadly tremor.
Terrified locals ran into the streets after the shallow quake, which hit the island of Mindanao as schools and offices opened for the day.
The shaking lasted up to a minute in some areas, damaging homes, multi-storey buildings and classrooms in a region where hundreds are still displaced by a quake that killed at least five earlier this month.
The Philippines suffers regular tremors as part of the Pacific "Ring of Fire", an arc of intense seismic activity that stretches from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.
A teenage boy was crushed by a falling wall as he tried to escape his school in Magsaysay, the town spokesman told AFP. Though other students were injured in "stampede" to escape the building, they survived.
A collapsing wall in another town, Koronadal, killed a ...

Strong quake kills two in south Philippines

Japan's Sadako Ogata, the first woman to head the UN's refugee agency UNHCR, has died at the age of 92, Japan's foreign aid agency said Tuesday.
Ogata was widely respected for her efforts to help refugees and internally displaced people around the world and emphasised making visits to conflict zones during her tenure from 1991-2002.
She worked to help Kurdish refugees from Iraq after the Gulf War, and was also known for tackling crises in Rwanda, Zaire, Sudan and the former Yugoslavia.
She was credited with re-establishing UNHCR's credibility and was even touted as a potential successor to former UN chief Boutrous Boutrous-Ghali.
Petite and with a calm demeanour, she won special praise for her tough action in former Yugoslavia where she managed to draw the world's attention to humanitarian issues despite bitter political disputes among Western countries.
She also served as the head of Japan's International Cooperation Agency (JICA) from 2003 through 2012.
"I have seen with my own eyes 

Sadako Ogata, first female UN refugee chief, dies at 92

US officials have said the body of Islamic State group chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was buried at sea, as fresh details surfaced about the US special forces operation that led to his death over the weekend.
Syrian Kurds claimed to be a key source of the intelligence that led Americans to Baghdadi after years of tracking the man behind a five-year reign of terror across much of Iraq and Syria.
And an unnamed US military dog became an unlikely hero of the raid, incurring injuries as it chased Baghdadi down a dead-end tunnel underneath his northwestern Syria hideout, where the jihadist blew himself and three children up with a suicide vest.
The US military basked in success Monday after eliminating the founder and spiritual guide of the Islamic State (IS) group, capping a years-long campaign to crush the Sunni Muslim extremist organization that had at one point created a "caliphate" the size of England.
"His death marks a devastating blow to the remnants of (IS)," said Defense Secretary ...

IS chief Baghdadi buried at sea by US military

Real Madrid's Sergio Ramos has confirmed he has been fined by Spanish tax authorities for irregularities relating to his image rights between 2012 and 2014.
According to the newspaper El Mundo, Ramos was fined one million euros for transferring revenue to his own company Sermos 32 SL, which is based in Spain, in order to pay less tax.
The Spain and Real Madrid captain has paid the fine but said in a statement late Tuesday he plans to appeal as he claims he was unfairly penalised by a change in the law.
Ramos joins a growing list of high-profile footballers targetted in recent years by the Spanish tax agency, who have cracked down on loopholes in regulations on image rights.
But while the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Neymar have faced criminal proceedings, Ramos has emphasised his case is administrative.
"It is an administrative fine, not a criminal offence," Ramos said in the statement.
"Given the information published recently, I would like to emphasise that I declare 

Ramos confirms fine from Spanish tax authority

Inter Milan are interested in signing former Germany star Thomas Muller, who has lost his starting place at Bayern Munich, magazine Kicker reported on Thursday.
The 30-year-old has often found himself on the bench this season behind Philippe Coutinho, who Bayern coach Niko Kovac prefers in the attacking midfield role.
According to Kicker, Inter's "interest is intensifying" and the Italian giants could bring Muller to Milan in the January transfer window.
Mueller made a rare start, only his fifth of the season, in Tuesday's 3-2 win at Olympiakos in the Champions League on the right wing, helping set up two goals for Robert Lewandowski.
"I'm trying to concentrate on playing football. Slowly all the discussions will come to an end," Mueller told reporters in Athens when asked about his future at Bayern.
He has spent his entire career at Bayern, who he joined as a schoolboy in 2000, and club president Uli Hoeness has made  it clear that no one at the club wants to see Mueller leave.
It ...

Inter Milan interested in Bayern star Muller - report

Moscow has sent a S-400 missile system battalion and a Pantsir anti-aircraft gun and missile system to Belgrade for their first joint drills in Serbia, the defence ministry said.
The systems will be deployed at Batajnica base, outside the capital, as part of the exercises that will take place on October 23-29, a statement said.
It is the first time that the S-400 and Pantsir systems will appear in military drills outside Russia, it  said.
Russian and Serbian air defence units will jointly perform various tasks including detecting and destroying "the entire spectrum of air targets of the enemy force".
The drills come after the first phase of the first joint Russian-Serbian air defense exercises, Slavic Shield-2019, took place in the southern Russian region of Astrakhan in September.
Serbia is Moscow's key ally on the edge of Europe and Russian President Vladimir Putin received a rock star welcome when he travelled to the country in January.
Although Serbia aspires to join the European .

Russia sends S-400 system to Serbia for drills

Shares in Nokia tumbled 20 per cent on Thursday after the Finnish telecommunications equipment maker cut its earnings forecast in the face of intense competition to build the latest 5G mobile networks.
While returning to profit in the third quarter, the company said it was downgrading its expectations for earnings and margins for this year and 2020 "due to margin pressure, additional 5G investments and additional digitalisation investments."
Nokia and its rivals Ericsson of Sweden and China's Huawei are engaged in a fierce battle to roll out 5G, with both Ericsson and Huawei upgrading their outlooks as the market appears to be taking off.
Nokia, in contrast, "is still struggling to get itself into a competitive position in the market. I would say overall the report and the outlook is a huge disappointment," Inderes analyst Mikael Rautanenhe told AFP.
The company posted net profit of 82 million euros (USD 91.2 million) in the three months to September, compared to a loss of 79 million .

Nokia shares plunge on lower earnings forecast

A Singapore restaurant Thursday suspended a bizarre promotional stunt where customers use an arcade-style machine with a mechanical claw to catch live crabs after it sparked uproar online.
A video of the pink machine, containing the creatures and emblazoned with a picture of a smiling red crab under the phrase "Come and catch me", went viral after being posted this week.
Similar to machines where people pick up soft toys, the game sees customers pay 5 Singaporean dollars (USD 3.7) to use a joystick to move the claw over the creatures before lowering it to try to grab one.
If successful, the customer can have the Sri Lankan crab cooked on the spot free of charge, choose to take it home, or leave it at the House of Seafood restaurant to eat another time.
But internet users condemned the game as cruel after the specially produced video promoting it went online.
"This is too much," Joseph Soh wrote on Facebook. "Why are you making their remaining life even more difficult... Absolutely ...

Anger at Singapore restaurant 'grab-a-crab' machine

Wild poliovirus type 3 has been eradicated, the World Health Organisation said Thursday, hailing the development as an "historic achievement for humanity" that leaves only one strain of the virus in transmission.
All three types of wildpolio can cause paralysis and death, but WHO categorises them separately in terms of eradication because of certain virological differences.
The last confirmed case of WPV3 was recorded in northern Nigeria in 2012.
An independent panel, chaired by WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, concluded that the required criteria have been met to "verify that this strain is truly gone", the United Nations health agency said in a statement.
WPV2 was declared eradicated in 2015, but WPV1 continues to circulate in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Non-wild forms of polio -- known as vaccine-derived polio -- remain in transmission in parts of Africa and Asia, including the Philippines where a re-emergence last month nearly two decades after the last case has triggered a ...

Strain of wild poliovirus eradicated: WHO

The five biggest publicly listed oil and gas companies and trade groups representing them spent more than 250 million euros lobbying the European Union to influence climate action since 2010, environmental groups said Thursday.
Research showed that BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell and Total, as well as trade groups acting on their behalf, have held at least 327 high level meetings with European Commission officials since Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker took office in 2014 -- an average of more than one a week.
The findings came from publicly listed documents, and companies who responded to requests for comments said there was no conflict of interest in their executives meeting high-level EU policymakers.
But green groups said the money spent on access to officials showed to what extent oil and gas firms were seeking to influence decisions in Brussels.
"This is part of a long trail of the fossil fuel industry delaying, weakening and torpedoing much-needed climate action," Pascoe 

Oil, gas giants spend 250 mn on EU lobbying: green groups

The European Parliament awarded the Sakharov Prize for human rights on Thursday to Uighur intellectual Ilham Tohti, sentenced to life imprisonment in China for "separatism", parliamentary sources said.
The outspoken former professor of economics at a Beijing university was sentenced in 2014 by Chinese courts to life imprisonment for "separatism" in a trial that provoked an outcry from foreign governments and human rights organisations.
Tohti, who turns 50 on Friday, in September won another of Europe's top human rights awards, the Vaclav Havel prize, for "giving the entire Uighur people a voice".
He "has worked for over 20 years on the situation of the Uighur minority and on fostering inter-ethnic dialogue and understanding in China," the Council of Europe, Europe's top rights body, said after nominating Tohti for the Vaclav Havel prize.
Before his arrest in January 2014, Tohti founded and ran the UighurOnline website, which wrote in Uighur and Chinese about social issues.
He gained ..

Jailed Uighur Ilham Tohti wins European Parliament Sakharov rights award

Saudi Arabia has appointed a new foreign minister with experience in Western capitals and loyalty to the powerful crown prince, in what observers say is a generational shift being driven by the young ruler.
Prince Faisal bin Farhan -- a one-time adviser to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and currently ambassador to Germany -- will replace Ibrahim al-Assaf who was in the role for less than a year.
Assaf, who was appointed in the aftermath of the murder of dissident Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi inside the kingdom's Istanbul consulate, was demoted to minister of state.
While Assaf was charged with mending the kingdom's reputation in the immediate aftermath of the scandal, Prince Faisal has more repair work to do and must also contend with the kingdom's dangerously tense relations with Iran.
The new minister has "really strong ties with traditional Saudi allies", said Cinzia Bianco, a Middle East analyst at the European Council on Foreign Relations. "He is dynamic and proactive." But 

Saudi Arabia names new foreign minister in generational shift

Spain on Thursday began exhuming the embalmed body of Francisco Franco from a grandiose state mausoleum in order to relocate it to a more discreet grave in a country still conflicted over the dictator's decades-long regime.
"The exhumation process at the tomb of Francisco Franco has begun," a government spokesman said, indicating that members of Franco's family were on hand to witness the opening of the grave at the Valley of the Fallen site near Madrid.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has made moving the remains of "El Caudillo" (The Leader) a priority since coming to power in June 2018, saying Spain should not "continue to glorify" a man who ruled with an iron fist after the bloody 1936-39 civil war that his Nationalist forces won.
"It is a great victory for dignity, memory, justice and reparation -- and thus for Spanish democracy," Sanchez said of the historic moment, which comes just over a fortnight before a general election.
Since his death 44 years ago, Franco's body has reposed ..

AFP

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