A Lithuanian court has  sentenced a 67-year-old man to house arrest for publicly  praising Soviet dictator Josef Stalin and the crimes of the  Soviet Union against the Baltic nation.
The Vilnius District Court today ordered Yuri Subotin to  remain home between 10 pm and 5 am daily for 14 months after  being found guilty of breaking a law that criminalizes public  support for crimes committed by the Soviet regime against  Lithuania.
The court found that Subotin, a Lithuanian citizen of  Russian origin, had posted several offensive online comments  including one praising the deportations of Lithuanians into  Siberia during the Soviet occupation of nearly 50 years.
Subotin pleaded not guilty and plans to appeal the  verdict.
Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940-41 and  from 1944 until independence in 1991.

Lithuania sentences man for praising Stalin, Soviet crimes

PTI Automatic

A Russian journalist who was put into  a temporary coma by a stabbing attack thanked supporters today  in her first statement from the hospital, while Russian  President Vladimir Putin sought to play down the attack.
Tatyana Felgenhauer, a top host and deputy editor-in-  chief at Ekho Moskvy, Russia's only independent news radio  station, was stabbed in the throat last week. She underwent  surgery and is still in the hospital.
Investigators have identified the assailant as 48-year-  old Boris Grits who holds Russian and Israeli citizenship. He  is under arrest. The station says he attacked its security  guard then went up to a higher floor to directly target  Felgenhauer.
In her first statement since the attack, Felgenhauer  thanked colleagues, family and friends today and said "you  have to fight for your life." She recalled how a stranger who  was visiting the station stayed with her while a colleague  went to call for help.
"That woman didn't walk away," Felgenhauer said. "She  ...

Russian journalist thanks supporters after stabbing attack

A deer that got its head trapped  in an orange plastic pumpkin bucket is free after residents in  suburban Cincinnati spent the weekend tracking it.
WCPO-TV reports the Anderson Township Family Pet Center  got calls over four days from residents concerned about the  deer with the bucket stuck over its nose.
Daryl Meyerrenke at the pet center warned that it would  be dangerous for neighbors to try to rescue the deer, but he  says they were determined to help the animal and spent hours  following it through wooded areas. Eventually, the group using  animal catch poles was able to encircle the deer, and  Meyerrenke's son freed it from the bucket.
Meyerrenke says the animal immediately went to graze and  drink water at a creek.

Group rescues deer with head stuck in plastic pumpkin bucket

Montenegro's defence  minister says the Greek and Italian air forces will protect  the airspace over the newest NATO-member state.
Predrag Boskovic told Montenegro's state TV today that a  technical agreement is in the works with the two neighbouring  states on air policing. Greece and Italy are also members of  the Western military alliance.
Boskovic says that "air policing is absolutely the best  option to protect our skies."
After separating from a union with Serbia in 2006, tiny  Montenegro was left without fixed-wing military aircraft. It  has about a dozen operational helicopters.
Montenegro joined NATO in June as the military alliance's  29th member, despite strong opposition from Russia, which  considers the Adriatic country a historic Slavic ally and is  opposed to NATO's enlargement.

Greece and Italy to protect Montenegro's air space

French President Emmanuel Macron has  formally signed a sweeping counterterrorism law that replaces  a two-year-old state of emergency and is meant to give police  more tools to fight violent extremism.
The bill was definitively adopted by parliament earlier  this month.
Macron said today that it will take effect Tuesday, just  in time to replace the state of emergency that is set to  expire on November 1.
It gives law enforcement greater authority to conduct  searches, to close religious facilities and to restrict the  movements of people suspected of extremist ties.
The state of emergency was first imposed in November 2015  after the Paris terror attacks that killed 130 people. It has  been extended six times since then.

French President signs law that replaces state of emergency

The Taliban have killed 15 police in  two separate attacks on checkpoints in the east and south of  the country, officials said today.
Arif Noori, spokesman for the governor of the eastern  Ghazni province, said an attack on a checkpoint there killed  nine police and wounded four others. He said seven insurgents  were killed and five others were wounded in the battle, which  lasted more than an hour.
Late yesterday, the Taliban attacked another checkpoint  in the southern Zabul province, igniting clashes in which six  police and eight insurgents were killed. Amir Jan Alokozai, a  district administrative chief, said another eight police and  12 insurgents were wounded.
The Taliban claimed both attacks. The insurgents have  launched a wave of attacks across the country against security  forces this month that has killed more than 200 people.
In a third attack, in the northern Baghlan province, a  sticky bomb attached to a military vehicle went off in a  market, wounding 13 civilians, ...

Afghan official: Taliban kill 15 police in separate attacks

Egyptian religious officials say  authorities have shuttered three Coptic Christian churches  over fears of attacks by Islamic militants.
The Minya Coptic Orthodox Diocese said authorities sealed  off two churches in the southern province, citing harassment  and attacks by fundamentalists.
A third was closed due to fears of attacks. The statement  was issued late Saturday.
Minya Governor Essam Badawi on Monday denied the churches  were closed for security reasons, saying they were "unlicensed  houses" that lacked the documentation needed to "perform  religious rites."
He confirmed, however, that 15 suspects were arrested  over an attempted attack on one of the locations on Friday.
Coptic Christians make up about 10 per cent of Egypt's  population. Islamic extremists have targeted them on a number  of occasions in recent years.

Egypt diocese says 3 churches closed over attack fears

Iran says talks with the United  States are unlikely without a "fundamental change" in American  behavior.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi told reporters  today that any future negotiations were unlikely "considering  the policies taken by (President Donald) Trump."
Then-president Barack Obama held a phone call with his  Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, in 2013, the highest  level contact since 1979.
US and Iranian diplomats met frequently in the lead-up to  the 2015 nuclear accord.
Trump has taken a harder line toward Iran, portraying it  as a regional menace.
Ghasemi said that at the UN General Assembly last month,  "some people close to Mr Trump requested and expressed his  willingness for a meeting with Rouhani." He said Rouhani  declined.
The White House said reports that Trump requested a  meeting were false.

Iran says talks unlikely without change in US behavior

President Donald Trump's former  campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, and a former business  associate, Rick Gates, were today indicted on charges of  conspiracy against the United States, money laundering and  several other financial charges.
The charges were the first stemming from special counsel  Robert Mueller's probe into possible ties between Trump's  presidential campaign and Russia.
The indictment filed in federal court in Washington  accused both men of funneling tens of millions of dollars in  payments through foreign companies and bank accounts.
Manafort and Gates surrendered to federal authorities,  and were expected in court later today to face charges brought  by Mueller's team.
The indictment lays out 12 counts including conspiracy  against the United States, conspiracy to launder money, acting  as an unregistered foreign agent and several charges related  to failing to report foreign bank and financial accounts.
The indictment alleges that they moved money through  ...

Manafort, Gates indicted in first charges from Russia probe

Catalonia's civil servants  returned to work today for the first time since Spain's  central government rejected an independence declaration by  imposing direct control, as Madrid warned that sacked regional  leaders face criminal charges if they attempt to perform any  official duties.
Catalans watched and wondered whether the ousted leaders  would defy their firing and face arrest, escalating a  political crisis that already appears to have no easy way out.
Speculation raged about the whereabouts of the dismissed  Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and his deposed Cabinet,  whose reaction will be key to whether Madrid's takeover will  be smooth or face opposition.
As staff arrived at the headquarters of the Catalan  government in Barcelona, Puigdemont posted a photo on  Instagram of a courtyard at the building. Both the Catalan and  Spanish national flags waved from the top of the building.
The ambiguous Instagram post, accompanied by the words  "Good morning" in Catalan and a ...

Who's in charge? Catalans wonder after Spain takes control

South Korea says any future nuclear  test by North Korea risks collapsing its mountain test site  and triggering a radiation leak.
South Korea's weather agency chief Nam Jae-Cheol made the  comments today during a parliament committee meeting.
He was responding to a lawmaker's question about whether  another North Korean test could lead to such an accident.
South Korea detected several earthquakes near the North's  nuclear test site in the country's northeast after its sixth  and most powerful bomb explosion in September.
Experts say the quakes suggest the area is now too  unstable to conduct more tests there.

Seoul: A NKorea nuke test risks radiation leak at test site

Iran's nuclear deal with world  powers may hang in the balance, but you wouldn't know it at  the United Nations conference on atomic energy held today in  the United Arab Emirates.
Iran decided to skip the Abu Dhabi conference, leaving  its seats empty as Yukiya Amano, the head of the International  Atomic Energy Agency, avoided speaking about the nuclear deal  at all in his address at the venue.
Iranian officials did not respond to a request for  comment to discuss their decision to avoid the conference.
At a later news conference, Amano himself declined to  discuss it.
"This conference is open to all the countries and we  welcome the participation of all the countries," Amano said.
"But of course it depends on each country whether to  attend or not. I do not comment on Iran's participation. It is  (up to) Iran to decide."
Amano's decision to avoid mentioning Iran earlier may  have been tactical. He visited Tehran just the day before and  told journalists that Iran still honoured the 

Iran skips UN conference on nuclear energy in Abu Dhabi

Four members of Spain's shooting team  have been detained at an airport in the United Arab Emirates  because of problems with their weapons' documentation.
The Spanish shooting federation says four athletes have  been held at the airport in Abu Dhabi since Sunday, when they  arrived for a connecting flight after competing in India.
The federation says the Spanish embassy in the UAE, as  well as government officials in Spain, have been working to  solve the problem.
Olympic athlete Alberto Fernandez, who won the trap gold  medal in New Delhi, tweeted early Monday that the athletes  remained detained despite the attempts by the Spanish  officials and the shooting federation.
Spain also won the mixed team trap gold, while Fatima  Galvez took silver in the women's trap.

Spanish shooting athletes detained at Abu Dhabi airport

Saudi Arabia will allow women into  sports stadiums as of next year, the kingdom's latest step  toward easing rules on gender segregation but they will be  seated in the so-called family section, an area separate from  the male-only crowd.
The General Sports Authority described Sunday's decision  as one that will allow "families" into the stadiums, a term  authorities use to refer to public spaces that accommodate  women.
The authority said the three major sports stadiums in the  cities of Riyadh, Jiddah and Dammam will undergo renovations  to accommodate families, reversing years of long-standing  practice to allow only men into the stadiums.
The decision comes after the public appeared to welcome  last month's move that allowed women for the first time into  the Riyadh stadium for national day celebrations.

Saudi women to be allowed into sports stadiums next year

Israeli Finance Minister Moshe  Kahlon met with Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah to  discuss strengthening economic ties between the two sides.
President Donald Trump's special Mideast envoy Jason  Greenblatt tweeted today that the meeting in Ramallah yielded  "meaningful steps forward on key economic issues 'revenues,  customs and investment' that help support the search for  peace."
The meeting, held yesterday also attended by Israeli and  Palestinian security officials, was the second by Kahlon and  Hamdallah in recent months.
It came just days after Israel approved construction of  almost 200 new Jewish homes in an east Jerusalem  neighbourhood, part of a major settlement boom.
The Palestinian state news agency Wafa said the  Palestinians protested Israel's settlement expansion and  demanded Israel stop "incursions by Jewish extremists" into  Jerusalem's contested Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

Israeli minister, Palestinian PM discuss economic ties

The Taliban say the condition of one  of their captives in Afghanistan has deteriorated and that the  American is in poor health.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid released a statement  today saying that Kevin King is suffering from heart and  kidney problems, and often loses consciousness.
Mujahid also says the Taliban will hold the US government  responsible if anything happens to King.
In August 2016, King and an Australian identified as  Timothy Weekes were abducted outside the American University  of Afghanistan in Kabul, where they worked as teachers.
Since then, the Taliban have released two videos of the  captives. In the first video, in January, they are seen  apparently delivering a message on behalf of their abductors,  asking President Donald Trump to offer a prisoner exchange to  secure their freedom.

Taliban say their US hostage in Afghanistan in poor health

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte  said someone should talk to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un  and reassure him that nobody is out to remove him or destroy  his country.
Duterte made the comments yesterday, a day ahead of a  visit to Japan, where he hopes to get help with rebuilding the  strife-torn southern Philippine city of Marawi. A military  campaign recently ended a five-month siege of the city by  Islamic State group-aligned militants that left more than  1,100 combatants and civilians dead.
Apart from signing an agreement today on details for 1  trillion yen ($8.8 billion) in aid over five years that was  agreed to earlier, Duterte said he also expects to discuss the  North Korean nuclear threat with Japanese Prime Minister  Shinzo Abe as well as with President Donald Trump when he  meets him in Manila next month.
The US, Japan, South Korea and others need to reassure  Kim that nobody is threatening him and to ask him to stop  threatening a nuclear attack, Duterte ...

Duterte visits Japan, says talks needed with Kim Jong Un

President Donald Trump expressed  renewed frustration over the investigations into alleged ties  between his campaign associates and Russian government  officials, saying on Twitter that the "facts are pouring out"  about links to Russia by his former presidential opponent,  Hillary Clinton.
"DO SOMETHING!" Trump urged in one of five morning  tweets.
Trump's tweets followed a CNN report late Friday that a  federal grand jury in Washington has approved the first  charges in a criminal investigation into Russia ties led by  special counsel Robert Mueller.
The Associated Press has not confirmed the CNN report.  Ty Cobb, a member of Trump's legal team, said the president  was not referring to CNN's reporting.
"Contrary to what many have suggested, the president's  comments are unrelated to the activities of the special  counsel, with whom he continues to cooperate," Cobb said in a  statement.
Trump and the White House insist there was no collusion  between his presidential campaign and ...

Trump comes ahead with fresh criticism of Russia inquiry

A US Navy  ship carrying two sailors from Hawaii after it rescued them in  the Pacific has docked at an American Navy base in Okinawa,  Japan.
The USS Ashland arrived today at White Beach Naval  Facility, five days after it picked up the women and their two  dogs from their storm-damaged sailboat, 900 miles southeast of  Japan.
Jennifer Appel and Tasha Fuiava had left Honolulu on May  3 for what was supposed to be an 18-day trip to Tahiti.
Upon the ship's arrival, the women could be seen standing  on the bridgeway with the commanding officer and others about  six stories high at the top of the ship.

Ship with sailors rescued at sea reaches US base in Okinawa

It will take at least months  and likely years to fully recover from devastating wildfires  that ripped through Northern California earlier this month,  destroying at least 8,900 structures and killing 42 people,  Sonoma County officials said.
"We don't control these things, and it makes you realise  how small you are in the world when something like this  happens," Sheriff Rob Giordano said. "I don't think we  understand the level at which it is going to impact lives, and  the community will be different."
Giordano spoke before hundreds of people gathered at a  college in Santa Rosa, one of the hardest-hit cities, for a  memorial service to honour the lives lost in the deadliest  series of wildfires in California history. The fires sparked  October 8, eventually forcing 100,000 people to evacuate.
Before a bell rung 42 times to commemorate the dead,  Giordano and other officials praised the ordinary and  extraordinary acts of heroism by first responders and  community members as the .

Full recovery from California wildfires may take years

Iran's foreign ministry says that  Iranian President Hassan Rouhani turned down a meeting with  President Donald Trump during his visit to New York to attend  the United Nations General Assembly in September.
The Sunday report by the semi-official ILNA news agency  quotes ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi as saying "an  intention was expressed by the American side that was not  approved by President Rouhani," in reference to the alleged  meeting request.
In 2013, then US President Barack Obama and Rouhani spoke  by telephone, the highest-level contact between the two  countries in decades, prompting an outcry from Iranian  hardliners.
Since then there has been no such communication between  Tehran and Washington, which officially severed diplomatic  ties in 1979.

AP

AP

Page 1661 - Ap/pti Reuters