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 ..

Spain begins exhuming Franco's remains from opulent tomb

PTI Automatic

A Tanzanian court has upheld a ruling banning the marriage of girls under the age of 18 and won praise from rights activists.
The High Court in 2016 ruled that laws allowing girls as young as 15 to be married with the permission of their parents, or even 14 with the permission of a court, were unconstitutional and discriminatory.
However, the state had appealed.
"We reject this appeal as it has no foundation," the appeals court judges wrote in their ruling on Wednesday, giving the government one year to amend the law.
In an initial ruling the court found the current law discriminatory, as the legal age for men to marry is 18, and said it was contradictory that a girl considered too young to vote would be allowed to marry.
"It is a great day for Tanzanian girls," the NGO Wasichana Initiative, which fights for the rights of young girls, wrote on Twitter.
"It is a joyful day for all girls and all those who want what is best for them," said Anna Henga of Tanzania's main rights group, the .

Tanzania court upholds ruling to ban child marriage

Donald Trump has made building a barrier to stop migrants on the US-Mexico border a central plank of his presidency, but on Wednesday, he came up with a puzzling new twist to the initiative: a wall in Colorado.
The problem? Colorado lies well within the United States, though its large southern neighbour New Mexico does border Mexico.
"You know why we are going to win New Mexico? Because they want safety on their border," Trump said during a speech in Pittsburgh.
"And we are building a wall on the border of New Mexico, and we are building a wall in Colorado," he continued. "We are building a beautiful wall, a big one that really works, that you can't get over, you can't get under."
"And we are building a wall in Texas, and we are not building a wall in Kansas, but they get the benefit of the walls that we just mentioned," he added.
Building a wall on the southern border with Mexico was one of the signature promises of Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, but Congress has refused to pay .

Trump says building a wall... in Colorado

Sixteen people were sentenced to death Thursday for burning alive a Bangladeshi teenager  who refused to withdraw sexual assault charges against her head teacher.
The case highlights what activists say is a culture of impunity over sexual violence in the South Asian country of 168 million people, as well as abuse rife in around 20,000 seminaries that educate mostly poor and rural students.
Nusrat Jahan Rafi was doused in kerosene and set on fire on April 6 after she made a sexual harassment complaint against the principal of her rural Islamic seminary.
The head teacher, who a court in the southern coastal town of Feni found had ordered the brutal killing from jail after being arrested over the harassment claim, was among those sentenced to death.
Others included activists from the ruling Awami League party and some students -- including two females -- who either participated in the killing or guarded the gates of the seminary while it took place.
"The verdict proves that nobody will ..

16 sentenced to death for burning alive Bangladesh teen

A cheating Chinese orienteering team was disqualified after losing its moral compass and using secret paths and markings during the Military World Games in China.
The home team bagged some of the top spots in a middle-distance competition, which sees runners navigating their way across unknown countryside using little more than a map.
But organisers later discovered the mixed-gender team -- all of whom were serving soldiers -- had strayed from the straight and narrow.
Spectators had helped them by pointing the way and a number of "markings and small paths (were) prepared for them, which only they were aware of," the International Orienteering Federation (IOF) said.
The Military World Games bring together military athletes from around the world every four years.
China built an athletes' village to host around 10,000 participating soldiers, coaches and officials for the games, which kicked off in Wuhan on October 18 with a ceremony attended by President Xi Jinping.
China's Ministry of ..

Lost their way: Chinese orienteering team caught cheating

Protests in Lebanon entered a second week on Thursday with demonstrators blocking main roads in Beirut and other parts of the country, AFP correspondents and Lebanese media reported.
Sparked on October 17 by a proposed tax on calls made through messaging apps, the protests have morphed into a cross-sectarian street mobilisation against a political system seen as corrupt and broken.
On Thursday morning, demonstrators set up roadblocks around the capital.
One major east-west artery was blocked by a dozen young protesters, who pitched tents in the middle of the road.
Sitting on the pavement with a red and white keffiyeh on his shoulders, a 30-year-old who had trained as a chef, said he had been protesting since the first day.
"We're here closing the main road to stop some movement in this country," he said, asking not to be identified.
"People think we're playing but we're actually asking for our most basic rights: water, food, electricity, healthcare, pensions, medicine, schooling," he .

Lebanon protests enter second week

The most experienced motorcycle rider in history marks another milestone in Australia this weekend, with veteran Valentino Rossi gearing up for his 400th Grand Prix.
The Italian, still arguably the sport's biggest draw despite winning the last of his seven premier class world titles in 2009, conceded it was a "great achievement".
"It's been a long, long time," admitted the 40-year-old, who made his debut in 1996 in the 125cc class.
"It's good to make 400 here in Phillip Island because it is an iconic place for motorsport," he added of a circuit where he has won eight times -- six in the premier class to go with two from his 250cc days.
"It's something that you don't expect. Especially when I was younger, and through my career, I never ever had a clear idea how long I want to race.
"Now I'm 40! Imagine. But yes, it's a good achievement." Rossi has long been the most experienced rider on the grid and his career statistics are stunning -- he's won 115 races across all classes and scored .

Italian legend Rossi hits 400th Grand Prix

China will host the inaugural edition of the expanded 24-team Club World Cup, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said on Thursday, hailing it as a "historic decision".
FIFA's choice underlines China's growing clout in football and could be a precursor to the country eventually hosting the World Cup proper.
Infantino made the announcement after a meeting in Shanghai of the FIFA Council, the decision-making unit of football's world governing body.
It will mean many of the biggest club teams -- including eight from Europe -- descending on China in June-July 2021.
Infantino confirmed that China, which has made football a national priority under President Xi Jinping, had been the only candidate.
"It is a historic decision for football," he said.
"It will be a competition which every person, every child and everyone who loves football is looking forward to." The FIFA chief said in June that his new Club World Cup could generate as much as $50 billion in commercial income, although he did not ..

China to host expanded Club World Cup in 2021

A court in Bangladesh sentenced 16 people to death on Thursday over the murder of a 19-year-old female student burnt alive in April that provoked outrage across the country.
Nusrat Jahan Rafi was doused in kerosene and set on fire after refusing to withdraw a sexual harassment complaint against the head teacher of the seminary she attended.
"The verdict proves that nobody will get away with murder in Bangladesh. We have the rule of law," prosecutor Hafez Ahmed told reporters after the verdict in a crowded courtroom.
Rafi was lured to the rooftop of the seminary where her attackers pressed her to withdraw the complaint she had filed with police.  When she refused, she was tied up, doused in kerosene and set on fire.
She suffered burns to 80 percent of her body and died in hospital five days later on April 10.
Her death triggered outrage and also highlighted an alarming rise in sexual harassment cases in the South Asian country of 165 million people.
Protesters in the capital Dhaka ...

16 sentenced to death after Bangladesh teen burnt alive

Tiger Woods got off to a horrific start before roaring back with nine birdies in 15 holes to share the inaugural Zozo Championship lead in Japan Thursday as Rory McIlroy struggled.
After slumping to three-over par after three holes, Woods recovered in stunning fashion to finish with a back-nine of 29 and a six-under round of 64 alongside US Open champion Gary Woodland.
"I certainly was not expecting to shoot six-under par after that start," admitted Woods.
"It was ugly early and it was nice to be able to flip it and really get it going.
"Now I'm in a position where we're going to have a long, long weekend of a lot of golf that hopefully I can keep it going."
The American pair head into Friday with a one-shot lead over home hero Hideki Matsuyama, after Woods endured a roller coaster round at Accordia Golf Narashino Country Club in Inzai City.
McIlroy had a day where he couldn't find his usual range with his irons and his putter was cold in a two-over 72 featuring a double bogey six at .

Tiger roars back after horror start to share Japan lead

China's ruling Communist Party leaders will meet next week to discuss "modernizing the country's governance system", state media said Thursday, as Beijing battles unrest in Hong Kong, a lingering trade war, and a slowing economy.
The much-delayed Fourth Plenum of the party's Central Committee is a closed-door meeting of high-ranking officials where the country's roadmap and future direction is discussed.
Next week's meet will run from October 28 to 31 in Beijing, and will be the first since February 2018.
State news agency Xinhua said the dates were confirmed at a meeting Thursday of the Central Committee presided over by President Xi Jinping.
State-run Global Times said on Twitter that the Central Committee Political Bureau will consider issues including "upholding and improvement of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics, including modernizing the country's governance system and capacity."
The last plenum focused on a reform plan for state institutions, giving even more ..

China's leaders to hold key conclave next week

Nine people have been killed in southern Mexico in a shootout between two groups using high-powered weapons, authorities said Thursday.
Several organized crime groups dedicated to trafficking drugs operate in the area and often clash over control of supply routes.  The confrontation occurred Wednesday on a highway in a rural area in the state of Guerrero, the local attorney's office said in a statement.
"The deceased are close to Zenen Nava Sanchez, leader of the criminal group Los Rojos," it said, adding an investigation had been launched into the incident.
A long-running dispute for territory between Los Rojos and a rival gang has left more than a thousand people dead and centered on a town some ten kilometers from where the firefight took place, according to local media.
Experts at the site retrieved 50 bullets used in high-caliber weapons like the AK-47 assault rifle.
Last month, 15 people including a soldier were killed in the same state after gunmen attacked security forces.
The 

Shootout leaves nine dead in Mexico

The men jumped Stanley Ho without warning, smashing both his hands with metal rods -- one of multiple recent attacks against prominent Hong Kong pro-democracy figures that activists have dubbed a "white terror".
Since late August, eight well-known dissidents have been beaten by unknown assailants as fear swirls that some "triad" crime networks have flocked to Beijing's cause after five months of pro-democracy protests.
The victims include rally organisers, opposition lawmakers, student leaders and people standing for upcoming polls.
Ho, a 35-year-old labour unionist, was set upon in late September by at least three people in Sai Kung, a rural district where he is competing in local elections against a pro-Beijing camp that has dominated the area for decades.
"The cause of the attack may be related to two things -- the upcoming district council election and the ongoing movement," Ho told AFP, referring to the protests.
"Some powerful people are creating 'white terror' in collaboration .

'White terror': Hong Kong's China critics beaten in targeted attacks

Hong Kong might be heading for recession after months of violent protests but that hasn't stopped one businessman from forking out almost USD 1 million for a parking spot.
The mind-boggling sum paid by Johnny Cheung Shun-yee highlights the gaping inequality that has helped fuel nearly five months of demonstrations in the financial hub, where one in five people live below the poverty line.
The HK$7.6 million (USD 970,000) price tag is more than 30 times the average annual wage in Hong Kong and about the same as a one-bed apartment in London's plush Chelsea area.
It is situated in The Centre, the city's fifth-highest skyscraper, which hit the headlines in October 2017 when it became the world's most expensive office building after Hong Kong's richest man sold it for more than USD 5 billion.
The purchase comes even though there are growing concerns about the impact of the pro-democracy demonstrations on the city's real estate market with property firms' share prices plunging in recent ...

Hong Kong businessman pays almost USD 1m for parking space

Like the princess who hops over goblins and throws daggers at evil wizards in the video game they built, a team of women coders in patriarchal Afghanistan wants to inspire a generation of girls to smash obstacles.
The young women are part of an after-school training programme called Code to Inspire in the western city of Herat, where they learn tech skills and create games and apps to educate girls across Afghanistan and beyond.
Their highest-profile success has been this year's release of "Afghan Hero Girl", built over six months by 12 young women, a phone app in which a princess wearing a green veil leaps around a crumbling castle in a quest to defeat a wizard and rescue her family.
Fereshteh Forough, a computer science teacher and a former refugee who founded Code to Inspire in 2015, said students were sick of the lack of female representation in the gaming industry and told her they were bored of "playing games where men are superheroes".
The game represents "the challenges and ...

Bored of male heroes, Afghan girl coders build their own champions

FIFA has awarded the inaugural edition of its expanded 24-team Club World Cup to China, the association's president Gianni Infantino announced in Shanghai on Thursday, calling it a "historic decision".
"The FIFA Council decided today, unanimously, to appoint China... as the host of the new FIFA World Cup for Clubs," he told reporters.

China to host expanded Club World Cup in 2021: FIFA

A court in Bangladesh sentenced 16 people to death on Thursday over the murder of a 19-year-old female student burnt alive in April that provoked outrage across the country.
Nusrat Jahan Rafi was doused in kerosene and set on fire after refusing to withdraw a sexual harassment complaint against the head teacher of the seminary she attended.
"The verdict proves that nobody will get away with murder in Bangladesh. We have the rule of law," prosecutor Hafez Ahmed told reporters after the verdict in a crowded courtroom.

Sixteen sentenced to death after Bangladesh teen burnt alive

Ex-Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn on Thursday urged a Tokyo court to dismiss the case against him, accusing Japanese prosecutors of a "pervasive pattern of illegal misconduct".
The claims, made in two filings to the Tokyo District Court, allege prosecutors colluded with Nissan and effectively subcontracted out their investigation to employees of the automaker who were trying to oust Ghosn.
"The court filings demonstrate that the prosecutors' case, which was politically motivated and poisoned from the start, is fundamentally flawed and contradicted by the evidentiary record," Ghosn's lawyers said in a statement.
Ghosn is out on bail in Tokyo, awaiting trial on four charges of financial misconduct. He denies any wrongdoing and laid out his defence again Thursday.
But he and his lawyers argue the entire case against him is "fundamentally flawed".
The filings allege the creation of a "secret task force" at Nissan created to "drum up allegations of wrongdoing by Mr. Ghosn as a pretext to remove 

Ghosn wants case dismissed over 'prosecutor misconduct'

Hotshot Gabriel Barbosa scored a brace as Flamengo hammered fellow Brazilians Gremio 5-0 on Wednesday to secure a place in the Copa Libertadores final against Argentine holders River Plate.
Bruno Henrique, Pablo Mari and Rodrigo Caio also got their names on the scoresheet as the Rio de Janeiro giants completed a 6-1 aggregate victory over the 2017 champions at the Maracana stadium.
River Plate made a 2-1 aggregate victory over their bitter Buenos Aires rivals Boca Juniors on Tuesday despite losing the second leg 1-0.
That was a repeat of last year's final, the second leg of which was controversially played in Madrid after the original fixture was twice postponed due to Boca players suffering cuts and smoke inhalation when their team bus came under attack from River fans.
This year's final will be played over a single match for the first time, on November 23 in Santiago.
Despite being Brazil's most popular team, Flamengo have only once before won the Copa Libertadores, back in 1981. ...

Flamengo thrash Gremio to set up River Plate Libertadores final

Roger Federer crushed Radu Albot 6-0, 6-3 on Wednesday to win his 22nd match in a row at the Swiss Indoors and earn a quarter-final place at his home event for the 17th time.
The nine-time champion was ruthless in a 22-minute opening set, finishing the entire job in 63 minutes in front of 9,000 fans.
He will on Friday face the winner from Stan Wawrinka and Frances Tiafoe, who both earned straight-set wins earlier in the day.
"It's a super feeling to know exactly where the ball is going, what the other guy is doing," said top seed Federer.
"I was hitting a lot of winners, those kind of moments are really rare." Federer's Swiss compatriot Wawrinka fired 10 aces and 30 winners to overwhelm fellow veteran Pablo Cuevas 6-3, 6-4 to make it into the second round, keeping alive his outside chances of making the ATP Finals.
Federer, who is playing in Basel for the 19th time, won his first set to love at the tournament since 2006.
His loss of just three games on Wednesday was his most powerful .

'I know what the other guy is doing': Federer into 17th Basel quarter-final

Renault drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Hulkenberg were disqualified from the Japanese Grand Prix on Wednesday after their team was punished for breaching regulations over brakes, the governing body FIA announced.
Ricciardo was sixth and Hulkenberg 10th in the race at Suzuka on October 13 but the French team will now lose the nine points accrued by the Australian driver.
"Renault have been disqualified from the results of the Japanese Grand Prix after a protest brought by rivals Racing Point was upheld," said an FIA statement.
"Racing Point's protest regarded an alleged breach of the Sporting and Technical Regulations and the FIA International Sporting Code, relating to a 'pre-set lap distance-dependent brake bias adjustment system'."
Racing Point's Lance Stroll and Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat will now be classified ninth and tenth respectively at the Japanese Grand Prix, with Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, Toro Rosso's Pierre Gasly, and Racing Point's Sergio Perez moving up to sixth, ...

AFP

AFP

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