The Chinese company that is the  world's biggest maker of commercial drones is denying claims  in a US government document circulated online that it might be  giving Beijing information about American law enforcement and  utility companies.
DJI Ltd. denied suggestions in the document, posted on  technology news websites, that it shared information about  U.S. utility companies and other "critical infrastructure"  with the Chinese government. A company statement said it  doesn't look at flight logs, photos or video "unless customers  actively upload and share them with us."
The dispute highlights growing concern among governments  about potential risks associated with the flood of data  generated by smartphones, social media and other technology,  including drones.

Chinese drone maker denies giving data to government

PTI Automatic

Protesters and police in Honduras  clashed violently as incumbent President Juan Orlando  Hernandez emerged with a growing lead for re-election  following a reported computer glitch that shut down vote  counting for several hours.
Challenger Salvador Nasralla has alleged fraud and said  he won't respect the official results. He's watched an initial  five-point lead diminish in recent days as official results  have trickled out.
Last night, Hernandez was ahead by more than 45,000 votes  with nearly 93 per cent of Sunday's votes processed. He had  42.9 per cent of the vote to Nasralla's 41.4 per cent.
Opposition supporters protested throughout the day and  into the night outside the electoral court's facilities and on  major boulevards, setting up roadblocks and lighting bonfires  in the streets.
Hooded demonstrators threw rocks and pieces of wood at  riot police carrying batons and shields, who responded  forcefully with tear gas and water cannons as calls to  maintain calm were ...

Protests grow as vote count in Honduras drags on

Myanmar civilian leader Aung San Suu  Kyi was set to meet President Xi Jinping on a visit to  friendly neighbor China starting Friday as international  criticism over her country's persecution of Rohingya Muslims  continues to grow.
China has studiously avoided criticizing the crisis and  Suu Kyi can be expected to receive a warm welcome when she  meets with Xi. China will also likely push for Myanmar to  restart a dam project suspended after overwhelming local  opposition.
Suu Kyi is in Beijing to attend a gathering of delegates  from more than 200 political parties from around the world  hosted by China's ruling Communist Party. It wasn't clear  whether the Nobel Peace Prize laureate would speak at the  gathering or when she would meet with Xi, who was reappointed  last month to a second five-year term as Communist Party  general secretary.
China was a longstanding friend of Myanmar during the  Southeast Asian country's isolation from the West, and has  been helping shield it from ..

Myanmar's Suu Kyi visits China as crackdown criticism grows

South Korea says the most powerful  missile that North Korea tested this week missile is  potentially capable of striking targets as far as 13,000 km,  which would put Washington within reach.
The Defence Ministry says today further reviews are  needed to determine whether the intercontinental ballistic  missile's warhead can survive atmospheric re-entry and  accurately strike the target.
Many questions remain, but there's broad agreement from  government and outside analyses that the huge Hwasong-15 ICBM  represents a significant step forward, putting the North  extremely close to its goal of a viable arsenal of nuclear-  tipped long-range missiles.

Seoul: N Korea's new missile could reach Washington

A police raid on the house of a  suspected drug trafficker in central Mexico resulted in a  two-hour-long shootout that killed six of the suspect's  relatives in what police described as "crossfire."
The security commissioner of the state of Morelos, just  south of Mexico City, said the police officers involved in the  raid are under investigation.
But security commissioner Alberto Capella said police had  been careful in raid conducted today in which a suspected  Jalisco cartel member and four associates were arrested after  they surrendered.
Capella said four women, a young girl and a man were  killed in the house. He said they were presumed relatives of  the trafficker, who had allegedly involved in a previous  shootout with officers.
Two other children were wounded at the scene.

6 killed in central Mexico police raid on trafficker's house

Argentina's navy announced today  that the search for a missing submarine that has been lost for  15 days will continue but the rescue part of the mission is  over, reflecting the faded hopes for finding the 44 crew  members alive.
Navy spokesman Enrique Balbi said the rescue mission had  "extended for more than twice what is estimated for a rescue."
Hopes of finding survivors had already dimmed because  experts say the crew only had enough oxygen to last up to 10  days if the sub remained intact under the sea. The navy also  said that an explosion occurred near the time and place where  the ARA San Juan sub went missing on November 15.
More than a dozen countries are still searching for the  submarine which went missing on the South Atlantic on a  patrol.
The navy has said the vessel's captain reported that  water entered the snorkel and caused one of the submarine's  batteries to short circuit. The captain later communicated by  satellite phone that the problem had been contained, ..

Hopes fading, Argentina ends rescue aspect of search for sub

President Donald Trump is  considering recognising Jerusalem as Israel's capital, a  highly charged declaration that risks inflaming tensions  across the Middle East, officials said today.
The announcement would be a way to offset a likely  decision delaying his campaign promise to move the US Embassy  to the holy city from Tel Aviv.
Trump's announcement is expected next week and follows  months of internal deliberations that grew particularly  intense in recent days, according to officials familiar with  the talks.
They described the president as intent on fulfilling his  pledge to move the embassy but also mindful that doing so  could set back his aim of forging a long-elusive peace  agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, who claim part  of Jerusalem as the capital of an eventual state.
The officials, who weren't authorised to publicly discuss  the matter and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the  outlines of Trump's plan emerged from a meeting of his top  national ...

Officials: Trump mulls calling Jerusalem Israel's capital

Zimbabwe's new President Emmerson  Mnangagwa has appointed a new Cabinet that includes ruling  party loyalists as well as figures linked to the military,  whose takeover helped oust former leader Robert Mugabe.
No opposition politicians are included.
The 22-member Cabinet announced late yesterday on state-  run television includes Maj. Gen. Sibusiso Moyo as foreign  minister, Air Marshal Perrance Shiri as agriculture minister  and Chris Mutsvangwa, leader of Zimbabwe's war veterans, as  information minister.
Moyo on November 15 announced the military takeover that  put Mugabe under house arrest and set in motion a national  clamoUr leading to the former president's resignation after 37  years in power.
Mugabe quit on November 21 amid impeachment proceedings.
The ruling ZANU-PF party replaced him with Mnangagwa,  fired by Mugabe weeks ago as vice president.

Zimbabwe's new leader appoints Cabinet; ruling party favoured

President Donald Trump is donating  his third-quarter salary to the Department of Health and Human  Services to help fight the opioid epidemic.
The White House did not immediately announce the amount  of the check that acting Health Secretary Eric Hargan accepted  on Thursday. Trump previously donated salary in the amounts of  USD 78,333 and USD 100,000 to the National Park Service and  the Education Department, respectively.
Hargan says the donation will be put toward the planning  and design of a large-scale public awareness campaign about  the dangers of opioid addiction.
Trump announced the ad campaign in October, the same time  he declared opioid misuse a national public health emergency.  The declaration included no new federal funding to combat the  epidemic.
Hargan says 175 people die every day from drug overdose.

Trump donates third-quarter salary to health department

The top Democrat in the House  today called on Michigan Representative John Conyers to resign  in the face of multiple accusations of sexual misconduct.
Conyers' lawyer swiftly rejected the request, saying  Nancy Pelosi "sure as hell won't be the one to tell the  congressman to leave."
House Minority Leader Pelosi called the accusations  against Conyers, the longest serving member of the House,  "very credible" and "serious," and said he should step down  after decades on Capitol Hill. Conyers was first elected in  1964.
Pelosi said she prayed for the 88-year-old Democratic  congressman, who was hospitalised in Detroit, and his family.
"However," she said, "Congressman Conyers should resign."  Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan minute later told reporters  that Conyers "should resign immediately."
In Michigan, Conyers' attorney, Arnold Reed, strongly  dismissed the growing clamour for Conyers to step aside,  coming not only from Pelosi but other Democrats. Conyers, who  has insisted ..

Nancy Pelosi calls on Conyers to resign amid sex allegations

Israel's intelligence minister says  he plans to succeed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who is  embroiled in corruption scandals and a police investigation.
But Israel Katz said today in an interview with The  Associated Press he hopes Netanyahu will be able to continue  as prime minister, and "the clouds that are hanging over his  head now will pass."
Israeli police have questioned Netanyahu six times over a  pair of corruption scandals and a former aide is now a witness  against him. Netanyahu has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing  and called the accusations a witch hunt orchestrated by a  hostile media.
On another issue, Katz said it's up to President Donald  Trump whether to move the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv  to Jerusalem. But he said: "I'm optimistic this will happen.

Israel intelligence chief says he plans to succeed Netanyahu

The new head of the UN  cultural agency warned today that 17 of the 82 World Heritage  sites in the Arab region are on its "danger" list because of  conflicts.
Audrey Azoulay, who took the helm of the educational,  scientific and cultural agency known as UNESCO earlier this  month, said over 100 sites across Iraq have been damaged.
She told a UN Security Council meeting today on the  destruction and trafficking of cultural heritage by terrorists  and during conflicts that all six World Heritage sites in  Syria have been "severely affected" including Palmyra and  Aleppo, one of the world's oldest cities.
Azoulay praised the council's adoption in March of a  resolution condemning the unlawful destruction of cultural  heritage and warning the Islamic State extremist group, al-  Qaida and other combatants that such attacks may constitute  war crimes.
The resolution expands previous measures which were  limited to the illicit trafficking in looted cultural items to  fund terrorism and ...

UN says 17 World Heritage sites in Arab region are in danger

Amnesty International today said the  Syrian government has used internationally banned cluster  munitions in attacks on a besieged rebel-held suburb of  Damascus, accusing it of committing war crimes on "an epic  scale."
The report came on the second day of UN-sponsored talks  in Geneva in the latest push to find a political settlement to  the nearly seven-year civil war in Syria.
The Amnesty International report called attention to the  calamitous humanitarian situation at the doors of the Syrian  capital, where the government and its backers have kept a  suburban enclave of 400,000 people under siege since 2013.
The Eastern Ghouta region, one of hubs of the uprising  against President Bashar Assad in 2011, is now facing the  highest recorded malnutrition rate in the country since the  outbreak of war, the UN reported on Wednesday.
Based on interviews with activists in eastern Ghouta and  verification of open source videos and photographs, Amnesty  said at least 10 civilians were ...

Amnesty: Syrian military used cluster bombs in besieged area

President Donald Trump is meeting  at the White House with the crown prince of Bahrain.
Trump says Bahrain and the US have had a "long  relationship and a great relationship" that will only get  better.
He says Bahrain is "doing a lot of business" with the US  and "buying a lot of things."
Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa says today's  visit is very important to the kingdom and is about building  on 100 years of relations between the two countries.
The crown prince says the people of both countries have  benefited and will continue to benefit from the relationship.

Trump, Bahrain crown prince meet at White House

The White House is discussing a  plan to replace Secretary of State Rex Tillerson with CIA  director Mike Pompeo.
That's according to two administration officials. They  were not authorized to publicly discuss internal thinking and  spoke on condition of anonymity.
US officials and individuals familiar with White House  plans have spoken about the possibility of a broad shakeup in  President Donald Trump's national security team. But the  timing of such a change is unclear.
Also unclear is whether Pompeo has been approached about  the Cabinet reshuffle, but another administration official  said he is open to taking the job.
A senior administration official who spoke recently with  Tillerson says the former Exxon Mobil CEO felt secure in his  position and was focused on his State Department  reorganisation and other diplomacy matters.

White House considers replacing Secretary of State Tillerson

Prince Harry's bride-to-be, Meghan  Markle, may have some royal blood after all.
A US researcher who specialises in finding the American  descendants of British monarchs said today that Markle is a  direct descendant of England's King Edward III, who ruled from  1327 until 1377. The genealogist, Gary Boyd Roberts, says she  and Harry are 17th cousins.
The 36-year-old Markle will not formally be known as  Princess Meghan when she marries because she is not of royal  birth, though she will become Her Royal Highness Princess  Henry of Wales.
Roberts is affiliated with the Boston-based New England  Historic Genealogical Society, one of the world's premier  genealogical organisations.
He says Markle's royal lineage comes through the Rev  William Skipper, who arrived in New England in 1639. He's an  ancestor of Markle's father.

Genealogist: Meghan Markle descended from English king

Three nuclear powers will send  deputy chief of missions, not ambassadors, to the December 10  ceremony for the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the  International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, in what the  recipient is calling a "snub."
ICAN, which was cited for its work that led to an  international nuclear weapons ban treaty, said it considered  the "ambassador boycott" an attempt to withhold "credibility"  from an international nuclear weapons ban treaty that is has  worked for.
The US Embassy in Oslo said today that the United States,  Britain and France agreed not to send their top diplomats.
The mission said Washington will not sign a treaty  advocating the abolishment of nuclear weapons, saying that  would not make the world more peaceful" and "ignores the  current security challenges.

US, UK, France won't send ambassadors to Nobel ceremony

A Jewish West Bank settler fatally  shot a 47-year-old Palestinian villager today in a clash that  occurred under disputed circumstances.
Later in the day, the Israeli military said it attacked  four Hamas military posts in the northern Gaza Strip in  response to mortar fire from the area.
In the West Bank incident, the military said a group of  some 20 settlers were hiking through the Palestinian village  of Qusra, southeast of the city of Nablus, when they were  attacked by stone throwers and two were lightly wounded.
One of the settlers then opened fire, striking a stone  thrower. The settlers then entrenched themselves in a cave  near the village until Israeli forces evacuated them, it said.
The military said medical teams rushed to the scene to  try to save the Palestinian.
The Palestinians, however, said that 47-year-old Mahmoud  Odeh was shot while working on his land in the northern West  Bank village.
Palestinian Authority official Ghassan Daghlas said  settlers confronted ...

Israeli army: Settlers attacked; Palestinian shot dead

Drugmaker Sanofi says that its dengue  vaccine, the world's first, could put people at risk of severe  disease if they haven't previously been infected, according to  new long-term data.
In a statement, Sanofi said it had recently examined six  years of patient data. Scientists concluded that while the  vaccine protects people against further infection if they've  already been exposed to dengue, that's not the case for people  who haven't previously been sickened by the disease.
"For those not previously infected by dengue virus...the  analysis found that in the longer term, more cases of severe  disease could occur following vaccination," Sanofi said.  "These findings highlight the complex nature of dengue  infection."
People who catch dengue more than once can be at risk of  a hemorrhagic version of the disease. The mosquito-spread  disease is found in tropical and sub-tropical climates  worldwide.
It causes a flu-like disease that can cause joint pain,  nausea, vomiting and a rash. 

New dengue vaccine could worsen disease in some people

An Afghan official says a Taliban  attack has killed four policemen in western Farah province.
Mohammad Naser Mehri, spokesman for the provincial  governor, said the Taliban attack early in the morning today  targeted a police vehicle in the district of Pushti Road.
There was no immediate comment or claim of responsibility  from the insurgent group.
Mehri says the police were patrolling the district when  Taliban fighters ambushed and opened fire on the police  vehicle.
The Taliban have stepped up attacks on Afghan soldiers  and security forces but scores of civilians also die in the  assaults by the insurgents.

Afghan official: Taliban kill 4 policemen in country's west

A senior Russian lawmaker says that  US media could lose access to government agencies in  retaliation for the withdrawal of a Kremlin-funded television  station's credentials in the United States.
A committee that governs Capitol Hill access for  broadcast journalists yesterday withdrew credentials for  Kremlin-funded RT after the company complied earlier this  month with a US demand that it register under the Foreign  Agents Registration Act.
Alexei Pushkov, chairman of the committee on information  policy at the upper chamber of the Russian parliament, told  the RIA Novosti news agency today that "a mirror response  should follow."
Foreign correspondents in Russia can access govern  agencies with their press credentials issued by the Russian  Foreign Ministry. Pushkov said the lawmakers would work on the  new restrictions together with the foreign ministry.

AP

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