A 22-year-old Dutch woman who  traveled to Syria and Iraq to support her family while her  husband fought with the Islamic State extremist group has been  convicted of supporting terrorist acts and sentenced to two  years' imprisonment.
A court in Rotterdam suspended 13 months of Laura  Hansen's sentence, meaning she won't have to go to prison  following today's conviction since she spent a year in  pretrial detention.
Hansen traveled with her husband and two young children  to IS-controlled territory in September 2015.
She made headlines in July 2016 when she surrendered to  Kurdish Peshmerga fighters near the Islamic State-held city of  Mosul in northern Iraq, saying she had been trying to escape  the "hell" she was living in "all the time.

Young Dutch woman convicted of supporting terrorism

PTI Automatic

Spain today warned its European  Union partners about a disinformation campaign aimed at  destabilising its volatile northeast region of Catalonia,  which Madrid claims appears to be coming from Russia.
Spanish Defense Minister Maria Dolores de Cospedal told  reporters that "many of the actions come from Russian  territory," but that it's not yet possible to determine what  their exact source is or if the Russian government is  involved.
She said some of them are "repeated from Venezuelan  territory."
The Spanish government took control of Catalonia's powers  and called a snap regional election for December 21, after the  Catalan government held a banned independence referendum on  October 1.
Several regional government ministers have been jailed,  and the region's ousted leader, Carles Puigdemont, is in  Brussels with four associates fighting extradition to Spain  for trial. They could face up to 30 years in prison on charges  of rebellion, sedition and extortion.
De Cospedal ...

Spain warns EU about cyber-meddling suspicions in Catalonia

Turning to an industry he's  rebuked, President Donald Trump today picked a former top  pharmaceutical and government executive be his health and  human services secretary, overseeing a USD 1 trillion  department responsible for major health insurance programs,  medical research, food and drug safety, and public health.
The nomination of Alex Azar is unusual because HHS  secretaries have tended to come from the ranks of elected  officials such as governors, leaders in academia, or top  executive branch managers, not industries regulated by the  department.
"He will be a star for better healthcare and lower drug  prices!" Trump tweeted in announcing the nomination today  morning.
Azar, 50, a lawyer by training, has spent most of the  last 10 years with pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly, rising to  president of its key US affiliate before leaving in January to  start his own consulting firm. He's seen as an expert on  government health care regulation.
As HHS secretary, Azar would have to .

Trump names former drug exec as new health secretary

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu  says he has made it clear to the US and Russia that Israel  will continue with its operations in Syria.
Netanyahu said he told Washington and Moscow today that  Israel will act according to its "security needs."
Israel has largely stayed out of the war but has struck  suspected weapon convoys to Hezbollah.
His remarks came on the heels of an international  agreement laying out principles for post-war Syria.
A US-Russian statement Saturday affirmed an understanding  calling for "the reduction and ultimate elimination" of  foreign fighters.
Israel has long complained about the involvement of  archenemy Iran, and its proxy Hezbollah, in Syria.
It has expressed concerns of a "Shiite corridor" with  land links from Iran to Lebanon, providing movement of  militants and weapons across the region.

Israel operations will continue in Syria as needed, PM says

Russian President Vladimir Putin is  hosting Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan for talks  focusing on the situation in Syria.
Putin opened today's meeting at Russia's Black Sea resort  of Sochi by saying that relations Moscow and Ankara have been  "restored practically in full."
Ties between the two countries were badly strained by  Turkey's downing of a Russian warplane in 2015, but Putin and  Erdogan have managed to mend the rift.
Russia and Turkey, together with Iran, have agreed on  de-escalation zones in Syria that helped reduce the fighting.
Putin's talks with Erdogan follow a weekend statement on  Syria approved by Putin and President Donald Trump.
The document included an affirmation of de-escalation  zones and a commitment to a peaceful solution governed by a  Geneva peace process.

Putin hosts Turkey's president for talks focusing on Syria

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte  has sanctioned a bloody drug war that features extra-judicial  killing. He called Barack Obama a "son of a whore." This week,  he boasted that he murdered a man with his own hands.
All that went unmentioned in public by President Donald  Trump when the leaders held talks today in the Philippines.
Reporters saw the beginning of the leaders' bilateral  meeting during which Trump praised Duterte's hospitality, the  organisation of the summit he was hosting and even Manila's  weather.
Trump said nothing about human rights and both leaders  ignored shouted questions about the violent drug crackdown.  The two men also shared a laugh in the meeting when Duterte  called reporters "spies."
Later, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders  said that the 40-minute meeting focused on ISIS, illegal  drugs, and trade.
Human rights, she added, briefly came up in the context  of the Philippines' fight against illegal drugs. She did not  say if Trump was .

Trump does not publicly rebuke Duterte for drug war killings

Business leaders from both sides of  the English Channel are meeting with Prime Minister Theresa  May to urge her to accelerate talks on Britain's exit from the  European Union as uncertainty about future trading  relationships threatens jobs and investment.
European business leaders are urging Britain to make  concrete proposals on the so-called divorce issues so the  negotiations can move forward. The EU has refused to discuss  trade until there is agreement on Britain's financial  obligations, citizens' rights and the Irish border.
Industry groups from Germany, France, Britain and other  EU countries have sent representatives to London amid concern  that time is running out to ensure more than 550 billion  pounds (USD 719 billion) of trade keeps flowing smoothly after  the UK leaves the bloc in March 2019.
They want a transitional period during which Britain  would remain in the European single market and customs union  so companies could adjust to the new relationship after  ...

Theresa May talks Brexit with business leaders from EU, UK

A powerful 7.3 magnitude earthquake  near the Iraq-Iran border killed over 350 people across both  countries, sent residents fleeing their homes into the night  and was felt as far away as the Mediterranean coast,  authorities said today.
Iran's western Kermanshah province bore the brunt of the  temblor Sunday night, with authorities saying the quake killed  348 people in the country and injured 6,603. Kermanshah is a  rural, mountainous region where residents rely mainly on  farming.
In Iraq, the earthquake killed at least seven people and  injured 535, all in the country's northern Kurdish region,  according to Iraq's Interior Ministry.
The quake was centered 31 kilometers outside the eastern  Iraqi city of Halabja, according to the most recent  measurements from the U.S. Geological Survey. It struck at  9:48 p.m. Iran time, just as people began retiring for the  night.
The earthquake struck 23.2 kilometers below the surface,  a shallow depth that can amplify damage. Magnitude 7  ...

Powerful earthquake on Iran-Iraq border kills over 350

It was all about who got the best  start at Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix.
Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel had it, starting from the  second spot on the grid. Pole sitter Valtteri Bottas didn't,  and it probably cost the Mercedes driver the race.
Vettel overtook Bottas on the first turn and essentially  held the lead the entire way for his 47th career victory, his  fifth this season, and his third in Brazil.
The victory solidified Vettel's hold on second place in  the season standings after Lewis Hamilton clinched the title  two weeks ago in Mexico City.
"I thought I had a pretty good launch," said Vettel, who  slipped by Bottas on the first turn, a left-hander heading  down a slight grade at the rolling Interelagos circuit.
"I knew I had to go for it. There was a little bit of a  gap and it turned out to be very important."
Hamilton started last after crashing in qualifying on the  first lap, but managed to push his way into contention,  staying out longer before pitting while the other ..

Vettel wins Brazilian GP; Hamilton 4th after starting last

Russian weightlifter and  Olympic medallist Ruslan Albegov has been suspended on  suspicion of doping.
The International Weightlifting Federation says Albegov  has been charged with violating a rule banning the "use or  attempted use by an athlete of a prohibited substance or a  prohibited method."
Albegov remains suspended ahead of a final ruling on his  case.
Albegov is Russia's only remaining men's weightlifting  medallist from the 2012 Olympics, where he took bronze in the  over 105-kilogram category.
Five of the six other Russian lifters who competed at the  2012 Olympics have since been disqualified.
Russia's entire weightlifting team was banned from last  year's Olympics for repeated doping cases.
Russia is one of nine countries serving a separate one-  year ban from all international competitions for violating  doping rules at previous Olympics.

Russian weightlifter Albegov suspended in doping case

When Aung San Suu Kyi led the fight  for democracy against Myanmar's despotic military rulers two  decades ago, she bristled at the collective reluctance of  Southeast Asian governments to intervene in her nation's  plight.
In a newspaper editorial published in 1999, the former  opposition leader slammed the 10-member Association of  Southeast Asian Nations, saying its "policy of non-  interference is just an excuse for not helping."
"In this day and age," she wrote in an editorial in  Thailand's The Nation newspaper on July 13 of that year, "you  cannot avoid interference in the matters of other countries."
Today, Suu Kyi leads Myanmar. And when she attends the  ASEAN summit in Manila on Monday, she's likely to be counting  on the bloc to keep silent while her government engages in a  crackdown on Rohingya Muslims using tactics the UN has  described as ethnic cleansing to force them to leave the  Buddhist-majority country.
It's unclear whether the crisis will be on ASEAN's  official .

Myanmar's Suu Kyi now benefits from Southeast Asia's silence

North Korean soldiers shot at and  wounded a fellow soldier who was crossing a border village in  an attempt to defect to South Korea today, the South's  military said.
North Korean soldiers have occasionally managed to defect  to South Korea across the heavily guarded border. But it's  rare for a North Korean soldier to defect via the border  village of Panmunjom and be shot by fellow North Korean  soldiers.
The North Korean soldier bolted from a guard post at the  northern side of Panmunjom to the southern side of the  village, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a  statement.
He was wounded from North Korean firing and was being  taken to a hospital, it said.
It wasn't immediately known how serious the soldier's  injury was, what his rank was and why he decided to defect.
About 30,000 North Koreans have defected to South Korea  since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, but most of them  travel through China.
Panmunjom, located inside the four-kilometre-wide  Demilitarised ...

Seoul: N Koreans fire at soldier trying to defect to South

A powerful 7.3 magnitude earthquake  that struck the Iraq-Iran border region killed over 330 people  in both countries, sent people fleeing their homes into the  night and was felt as far west as the Mediterranean coast,  authorities reported today.
Iran's western Kermanshah province bore the brunt of the  temblor, with Iran's state-run news agency reported the quake  killed 328 people in the country. State television said some  3,950 were injured. The area is a rural, mountainous region  where residents rely mainly on farming to make a living.
The earthquake killed at least seven people in Iraq and  injured 535 there, all in the country's northern,  semiautonomous Kurdish region, according to Iraq's Interior  Ministry.
The magnitude 7.3 quake was centered 31 kilometers  outside the eastern Iraqi city of Halabja, according to the  most recent measurements from the US Geological Survey. It  struck at a depth of 23.2 kilometers, a shallow depth that can  have broader damage. Magnitude 7 

Powerful earthquake on Iran-Iraq border kills over 330

The European Parliament's president  says he believes Britain should pay at least 60 billion euros  (USD 70 billion) as it leaves the European Union, to meet its  financial commitments.
The divorce bill is the biggest stumbling block in  negotiations on the UK's withdrawal from the bloc, due in  March 2019. The EU is demanding that Britain turn promises to  pay its financial dues into concrete commitments.
Asked in an interview with Germany's Funke newspaper  group published Monday how much Britain should pay, European  Parliament President Antonio Tajani was quoted as saying: "In  my opinion, it should be at least 60 billion euros."
He added: "If the EU accepted less, European citizens  would have to make up the difference.

EU parliament chief: Britain should pay at least $70 billion

French President Emmanuel Macron,  Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and victims' families are paying  homage to 130 people killed two years ago when Islamic State  extremists attacked the City of Light.
Ceremonies are being held at the Stade de France national  stadium, cafes in eastern Paris and the Bataclan concert hall  to commemorate France's worst-ever terror attacks.
Security is tight for the memorial events part of the new  normal in France since November 13, 2015. The attacks that  night ushered in nearly two years of state of emergency,  replaced just two weeks ago with a tough counterterrorism law  allowing police wider latitude against anyone suspected of  links to radicalism.
All but one of the attackers were killed. France's  counterterrorism prosecutor says authorities are still looking  for suspects involved in the attacks.

Jittery French honor 130 killed in Paris attacks, 2 years on

A top Lebanese Christian religious  figure is to head to Saudi Arabia where he is expected to meet  with Lebanon's prime minister who resigned earlier this month  in a surprise televised address from the kingdom.
Cardinal Bechara el-Rai had planned his visit before Saad  Hariri announced his resignation in Riyadh on November 4,  throwing Lebanon into crisis.
El-Ra heads the Maronite sect, Lebanon's largest  Christian community and the Middle East's largest Catholic  church.
He is to depart from Beirut today.
Hariri said yesterday he will return to Lebanon "within  days" to resolve issues with the militant group Hezbollah, his  rivals in the coalition government.
The comments came in Hariri's first TV interview since  announcing his resignation. He denied he was being held  against his will in the kingdom.

Top Lebanese priest to head to Saudi Arabia amid crisis

Southeast Asian leaders were to  announce today the start of negotiations with China on a so-  called "Code of Conduct" in the disputed South China Sea in  what they regard as a milestone but some experts dismiss as a  non-starter.
Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations  also will sign an accord aiming to protect migrant workers  from the poverty-wracked region during a two-day summit that  opened today in Manila, according to a draft of a post-summit  communique seen by The Associated Press.
The ASEAN leaders also will reiterate their "grave  concern" over North Korea's development of "weapons of mass  destruction, including nuclear and chemical weapons, and  ballistic missile technologies," and press their strong  condemnation of terrorism in the communique.
A draft a joint statement to be issued later in the day  after ASEAN's summit with China and seen by the AP welcomes  the adoption by their foreign ministers in August of the  framework of the Code of Conduct in ..

Southeast Asia nations to start talks with China on sea code

Nabi Hussain  owes his life to a yellow plastic oil drum.
The 13-year-old Rohingya boy could not swim, and had  never even seen the sea before fleeing his village in Myanmar.  But he clung to the empty drum and struggled across the water  with it for about 2.5 miles, all the way to Bangladesh.
Rohingya Muslims escaping the violence in their homeland  of Myanmar are now so desperate that some are trying to swim  to safety in neighbouring Bangladesh. In just a week, more  than three dozen boys and young men used cooking oil drums  like life rafts to swim across the mouth of the Naf River and  wash up ashore in Shah Porir Dwip, a fishing town and cattle  trade spot.
"I was so scared of dying," said Nabi, a lanky boy in a  striped polo shirt and checkered dhoti. "I thought it was  going to be my last day."
Although Rohingya Muslims have lived in Myanmar for  decades, the country's Buddhist majority still sees them as  invaders from Bangladesh. The government denies them basic  rights, and 

Myanmar boy can't swim but floats on oil drum to Bangladesh

A powerful earthquake shook the Iran-  Iraq border, killing 207 people and injuring 1,686 in the  mountainous region of Iran alone, Iranian state media said.
The Baghdad government did not immediately give word on  casualties in that country, though Prime Minister Haider al-  Abadi yesterday issued a directive for the country's civil  defense teams and "related institutions" to respond to the  natural disaster.
The magnitude 7.3 quake was centered 31 kilometers  outside the eastern Iraqi city of Halabja, according to the  most recent measurements from the US Geological Survey.
It struck at a depth of 23.2 kilometers, a shallow depth  that can have broader damage. Magnitude 7 earthquakes on their  own are capable of widespread, heavy damage.
The quake was felt as far west as the Mediterranean  coast. Its worst damage appeared to be in Iran's western  Kermanshah province, which sits in the Zagros Mountains that  divide Iran and Iraq. Residents in the rural area rely mainly  on farming ..

Powerful earthquake on Iran-Iraq border kills 207 people

All Australian senators have three  weeks to prove they were not foreign nationals when elected  under an agreement the major political parties reached today  to resolve a deepening citizenship crisis that could upend the  government.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's conservative coalition  could lose two seats at by-elections next month after  government lawmaker John Alexander on Saturday resigned from  Parliament because he had likely inherited British citizenship  from his English-born father.
Australia is rare if not unique in the world in banning  dual nationals from sitting in Parliament. Pressure is growing  to reform the 116-year-old constitution amid the growing  uncertainty over how many by-elections might result from the  current crisis and which party might end up forming  government.
Turnbull's conservative Liberal Party and the centre-left  opposition Labour Party agreed to set a December 1 deadline  for senators to provide documented evidence that they are  solely ...

Australian senators must prove they are not dual nationals

A powerful earthquake shook the  Iran-Iraq border, killing more than 140 people and injuring  860 in the mountainous region of Iran alone, state media there  said.
The Baghdad government did not immediately give word on  damage or casualties in that country.
The 7.3-magnitude quake was centered 31 kilometres  outside the eastern Iraqi city of Halabja yesterday, according  to the most recent measurements from the US Geological Survey.
It struck at a depth of 23.2 kilometers, a shallow depth  that can have broader damage. Magnitude 7 earthquakes on their  own are capable of widespread, heavy damage.
The quake was felt as far west as the Mediterranean  coast. Its worst damage appeared to be in Iran's western  Kermanshah province, which sits in the Zagros Mountains that  divide Iran and Iraq. Residents in the rural area rely mainly  on farming to make a living.
Iranian social media and news agencies showed images and  videos of people fleeing their homes into the night. Some 50  ...

AP

AP

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