President Barack Obama said today that West Africa is "nowhere near out of the woods" in its fight against Ebola despite some improvement in the three countries hardest hit by the virus.
	Obama said the disease remains a threat to the world, including the US, and he urged Congress to quickly approve his request for billions of dollars in emergency spending to combat the spread of Ebola at home and abroad.
	Meeting at the White House with his Ebola response team, Obama also offered condolences to the family of Dr Martin Salia.
	The surgeon contracted Ebola in his native Sierra Leone but died yesterday at a hospital in the state of Nebraska after being rushed there over the weekend for specialized treatment.
	Sierra Leone is one of the three affected countries along with Liberia and Guinea.
	Obama said it's important to "continue to push forward until we stamp out this disease entirely in that region. Until we do, there are threats of additional outbreaks and, given the nature of ...

Obama: West Africa not out of the woods on Ebola

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Russian President Vladimir Putin says that the United States wants to make Russia submissive, but won't succeed in doing so.
	Speaking at televised meeting with pro-Kremlin activists today, Putin said that Washington "wants to subdue us, wants to solve its problems at our expense."
	He said the sanctions against Russia imposed by the US and the European Union run contrary to their own interests.
	The sanctions over Moscow's annexation of Crimea and support for a pro-Russian insurgency in eastern Ukraine have exacerbated Russia's economic problems and contributed to a sharp devaluation of the Russian ruble.
	Putin sought to project an optimistic image, downplaying the ruble's nosedive and saying that a ban on Western food introduced in response to Western sanctions would boost local industries.

Putin says US wants to subdue Russia

The Senate is making progress clearing a logjam of nominees for US ambassadorships.
	Lawmakers approved by voice vote new US envoys to East Timor, Rwanda, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam yesterday.
	They were expected to confirm five more ambassadors today, to Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brunei, Paraguay and the joint post of Senegal and Guinea-Bissau.
	Some 150 of President Barack Obama's nominees are still waiting their turn. They include 25 more potential ambassadors and other senior State Department appointments.
	The situation has eased significantly since this summer, when more than 50 diplomatic nominees were still stuck in limbo because of procedural fights between Senate Democrats and Republicans.

Senate easing backlog of US ambassadorial nominees

Eike Batista, the flamboyant Brazilian tycoon once named No 7 on Forbes' list of the world's richest people, went on trial today in an insider trading case that could make him the first person in the country to go to prison on such charges.
	The 58-year-old former billionaire who once reveled in the limelight made a now-rare public appearance with his arrival today at a federal criminal court in Rio de Janeiro.
	It's the latest chapter in a vertiginous fall that saw Batista's estimated $30 billion fortune evaporate over the past two years as his oil, mining, logistics and shipbuilding empire crumbled.
	Batista often used to say he hoped to dethrone Mexico's Carlos Slim to become the world's richest person, but now says he's $1 billion in debt.
	Batista faces market manipulation charges in the sales of shares in two of his companies, including the OGX oil exploration and production unit that filed for bankruptcy protection last year.
	If convicted, Batista faces fines and up to 13 ...

Brazil ex-billionaire on trial for insider trading

Democrats re-elected Rep Nancy Pelosi to another two-year term as House minority leader on today, two weeks after elections in which the party lost at least a dozen seats in the chamber.
	In a closed-door meeting of House Democrats, Pelosi was re-elected by voice vote in a race in which she faced no challenger.
	A Democrat who was in the meeting relayed the outcome to The Associated Press on grounds of anonymity because the party had not yet officially announced it.
	The California Democrat has been party leader in the chamber since 2003, including four years in which she was the first female House speaker.
	Pelosi is deeply popular with liberals. Countless Republican campaign ads have sought to make her their symbol of a profligate government that doesn't know how to say no to spending proposals or interest groups.
	No 2 House Democrat Steny Hoyer of Maryland was re-elected and the party's other leaders were expected to be given new terms. None faced known opponents.
	Pelosi, 74, was 

House Democrats re-elect Pelosi as minority leader

Yemeni security officials say that a senior leader of the Islamist Islah Party in the country's south has been killed by a car bomb.
	The director general of the Taiz police force, Mutaher al-Shaeiby, says in a statement today that local party leader Mansour al-Haidary was killed instantly when an explosive device attached to his car door went off.
	Al-Shaeiby says police are investigating the assassination and have apprehended a number of suspects.
	The Islah party is locked in a bloody confrontation with Shiite Houthi rebels and supporters of ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The Houthis overran the capital Sanaa in September.
	The US Embassy in Sanaa condemned the assassination, saying "senseless violence will not resolve Yemen's challenges, and must stop immediately.

Yemeni Islamist party figure assassinated

The US government has the power to hold drone operators accountable when they operate the remote-control aircraft recklessly, a federal safety board ruled today in a setback to small drone operators chafing under Federal Aviation Administration restrictions.
	The FAA had fined Raphael Pirker, an aerial photographer, USD 10,000 for operating his Ritewing Zephyr in a reckless manner on the University of Virginia campus in 2011.
	An administrative law judge with the National Transportation Safety Board, which hears appeals of Federal Aviation Administration enforcement actions, sided with Pirker earlier this year, saying the FAA hasn't issued any regulations specifically for drones and therefore can't determine their use.
	But the FAA appealed the decision to the four-member safety board, which said today that the small drone is a type of aircraft that falls under existing rules and sent the case back to the judge to decide if it was operated recklessly.
	"It's a huge win for the FAA, ...

US: Gov't aircraft regulations apply to drones

A Roman Catholic priest who is accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old US girl has been returned to the US from his native India to face charges, authorities said.
	The Rev Joseph Jeyapaul arrived in Minneapolis yesterday, just days after a high court in New Delhi, India, found no fault in a lower court's decision to recommend his extradition, said Roseau County Attorney Karen Foss.
	Foss said Jeyapaul is expected to be transported today to Roseau County in northern Minnesota, where he will appear before a judge. A court hearing has not yet been scheduled.
	Jeyapaul, 59, is charged with two counts of first-degree criminal sexual misconduct. Prosecutors say he raped a girl multiple times in 2004 and 2005, starting when she was 14. Jeyapaul has denied the allegations.
	Jeyapaul came to Minnesota in 2004, after an international background check, and served at the Blessed Sacrament Church in Greenbush, near the Canadian border, at the time of the alleged abuse.
	He left Minnesota in .

Accused priest extradited from India to US

Police in Congo's capital conducted dozens of extrajudicial killings in a crackdown against organized crime gangs, alleged Human Rights Watch.
	The government called the claims exaggerated and pointed to convictions of police involved in the sweep.
	In a report released today, the rights group said the police committed abuses in "Operation Likofi," a three-month drive launched last November to quash an upsurge in armed robbery and other crimes by small gangs, known as kuluna. The report expands on similar allegations last month from a UN human rights office.
	Police killed at least 51 young men and teenage boys when they were unarmed, outside their homes, or in open markets, for maximum intimidation effect, said the report. Five were aged from 14 to 17, and nearly three dozen more people disappeared, it said.
	Human Rights Watch urged international donors and the United Nations to press Congo to arrest and prosecute those responsible. It said Gen Celestin Kanyama, said to be the ...

51 killed in Congo police sweep on gangs

The influential speaker of Myanmar's parliament said today the military-drafted constitution that bars opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from becoming president will not be changed before next year's general election.
	Shwe Mann told reporters in the capital, Naypyitaw, that the current parliament will review constitution amendment suggestions and hold a referendum in May to change some clauses, but it is the responsibility of the parliament that emerges after the 2015 polls to amend the charter.
	He did not clarify why he believed there could be no pre-election change, and whether he was just expressing his personal opinion. Initial efforts to amend the constitution have fallen short, however.
	The charter is widely viewed as undemocratic for allotting the military 25 per cent of parliament's seats along with other special political powers.
	Shwe Mann and Suu Kyi have both declared their interest in becoming president. Shwe Mann, like current President Thein Sein, is a member of the 

Myanmar parliament head rules out charter change

He faced execution for failure to perform. But Benjy, the gay bull of Ireland, has been saved following a worldwide appeal backed by "The Simpsons" co-creator Sam Simon.
	Ireland's Animal Rights Action Network said today that Simon is paying for Benjy's transportation to an animal sanctuary in England. Simon, who is battling colon cancer, has been giving away much of the fortune from his television career and is a leading donor to animal welfare causes.
	Benjy, a Charlerois bull, failed this year to impregnate any heifers at a County Mayo farm in western Ireland.
	Veterinarians determined he was fertile, but was more attracted to the bull that replaced him.
	After the farmer announced he planned to send Benjy to an abattoir, activists last week launched a social media campaign seeking USD 7,825 to send the bull to the Hillside Animal Sanctuary in Norfolk, England, which is home for about 2,000 unwanted farm animals and horses. About 300 donors contributed USD 6,200 to an ongoing ...

Ireland's gay bull Benjy saved from slaughterhouse

A Syrian military airstrike killed at least 13 people, including children, and wounded another 20 in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo today after striking a neighborhood with crude bombs, said activists.
	The military aircraft dropped at least one "barrel bomb" crude weapons made from canisters laden with explosives and hurled from helicopters to strike the Qabr al-Inglizi area in the northern Syrian province of Aleppo today, reported the activist collective, the Aleppo Media Center, and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
	The Observatory said at least 13 were killed, including two children and a woman, and that the death toll was likely to rise because more people were buried under the rubble.
	At least two slain children were piled into the back of a flat-bed truck; at least one was covered under a bright red blanket; a man referred to the children as being torn apart as he partially lifted the blanket, according to a video of the incident uploaded to ...

Syria government bombing kills at least 13

Pakistan stuttered to 34-2 on a turning pitch after New Zealand's tailenders batted spiritedly and posted 403 on the second day of the second Test here today.
     Legspinner Ish Sodhi clean bowled Shan Masood for 13 and offspinner Mark Craig cut short Taufeeq Umar's comeback to Test matches after two years when he had him stumped on 16 just before the end of the day's play.
     Pakistan were forced to draft in new opening batsmen as the in-form Ahmed Shehzad and Mohammad Hafeez were injured during the 248-run victory in the first Test last week.
     But with the track showing ominous signs of turn, Masood and Umar struggled to cope against spinners before perishing late on the second day.
     Azhar Ali was unbeaten on 4 while Younis Khan, who has four centuries in his previous six Test innings, will resume on 1.
     New Zealand were in danger of losing the initiative when it lost century-maker Tom Latham (137) and Corey Anderson (9) inside the first three overs in the morning ...

Pakistan stutter at 34-2, trail NZ by 369

Iran's parliament today rejected President Hassan Rouhani's nominee for the post of science minister over his pro-reform tendencies.
	The conservative-dominated 290-seat chamber voted 171-70 against the candidacy of Fakhroddin Ahamadi Danesh Ashtiani. There were 257 lawmakers in attendance and 16 abstained from voting.
	Before the vote Ashtiani called himself an "independent" figure and promised to appoint new faces as his deputies in the ministry , opposing lawmakers accused Ashtiani of having close relations with reformists and said they will no longer tolerate such tendencies in such a crucial position.
	In October the parliament rejected Mahmoud Nili Ahmadabadi, another nominee for the same post; the same body dismissed former-Science Minister Reza Faraji Dana in August over similar allegations.
	"The parliament will reject 20 more nominees with this sort of thought," hard-line lawmaker Hossein Naghavi Hosseini said.
	The vote is an indication of the increasing rift between the ...

Iran parliament rejects Rouhani's minister nominee

A court in Saudi Arabia has found eight men guilty of involvement in a series of deadly attacks against foreigners in the kingdom 10 years ago, among them an assault that killed a BBC cameraman and paralysed the news organisation's correspondent.
	The official Saudi Press Agency reported today that three of the men were given death sentences and five were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 25 to 30 years. All have the right to appeal. They are part of an alleged 86-member terrorist cell. No further details were provided by SPA.
	The Saudi Arab News website says the group carried out attacks on foreigners in the Eastern Province and the capital Riyadh.
	The gunmen had killed Saudi civilians, policemen and 36 year-old BBC photographer Simon Cumbers. BBC correspondent Frank Gardner was left paralysed.

Saudi convicts 8 in attacks that killed foreigners

Two Palestinians stormed a Jerusalem synagogue today, attacking worshippers praying inside with knives, axes and guns, and killing four people before they were killed in a shootout with police, officials said.
	The attack was the deadliest in Jerusalem in years and is bound to ratchet up fears of sustained violence in the city, already on edge amid soaring tensions over a contested holy site.
	Israeli police described the assault as a terrorist attack and said the two assailants were apparently Palestinians from east Jerusalem. Hamas, the militant Palestinian group that runs the Gaza Strip, praised the Jerusalem attack but stopped short of claiming responsibility.
	Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said six people were also wounded in the attack, including two police officers. He said police were searching the area for other suspects.
	Associated Press footage from the scene showed the synagogue, in Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox Har Nof neighborhood, surrounded by police and rescue ...

4 Israelis killed in Jerusalem synagogue attack

Acclaimed Japanese film star Ken Takakura, known for many stoic heroes he played on silver screen, has died of lymphoma. He was 83.
	Takakura died November 10 at a Tokyo hospital where he had been treated for the illness, according to his office and media reports today.
	Takakura, perhaps best known abroad for his police inspector role in Ridley Scott's "Black Rain" in 1989, debuted in Japan in 1956 and surged to stardom starring in yakuza films such as "Abashiri Prison" in the 1960s.
	He also starred detective stories and dramas including the 1977 "The Yellow Handkerchief" and the 1999 "Railroad Man," in which he was awarded best actor in the Montreal World Film Festival.
	The news of his death topped Japanese news programs almost non-stop, and major newspapers distributed extras in downtown Tokyo.
	Born as Goichi Oda in Fukuoka, southern Japan in 1931, he was recruited by a major film production when he was applying for a managerial position when he was having trouble finding a job .

Japan veteran actor Ken Takakura dies at 83

Thai police issued arrest warrants today for two Americans who attempted to mail a preserved baby's head, foot and other human body parts to the United States, saying the objects were stolen from a Thai medical museum.
	The bizarre case has quickly gained international attention, with Thai police asking Cambodian authorities to help locate the men, who traveled to the neighboring country Sunday, and the FBI helping with the investigation in the United States.
	Police questioned Ryan McPherson, 31, and his friend, Daniel Tanner, 33, over the weekend in Bangkok, but released them and allowed them to travel to Cambodia. But new elements emerged after their departure, prompting the arrest warrants to be issued on charges of theft, possessing stolen items and falsely declaring the items on shipping documents, said police Maj. Gen. Sombat Milintachinda, the head of Bangkok's police investigation bureau.
	"Our evidence indicates that they either stole the body parts, or they bought them from 

Stolen body parts: Warrants issued for 2 Americans

A least four people were killed in a suicide attack in Kabul early today, the latest in a series of fatal blasts to hit the Afghan capital.
	In what appears to have been a complex attack, a small truck packed with explosives rammed the gate of a compound housing foreigners on the city's eastern outskirts soon after sunrise, said Interior Ministry spokesman Seqid Sediqqi.
	It was followed by gunmen, who attempted to breach the compound once the gate had been destroyed, said Sediqqi's deputy, Najib Danesh.
	They said that two security guards were killed, but could not confirm their nationality.
	"Two other bodies were found by police, and are mostly probably the attackers who were shot dead by security guards," Danesh said.
	The area where the blast took place has a number of compounds housing foreign contracting and service companies, as well as international military bases but it was not clear which was targeted. The Afghan government's intelligence agency also has a branch ...

At least 4 dead in attack in Kabul: official

The 94-year-old step-grandmother of Barack Obama is in the United States this week to promote her dream of a USD 12 million modern education and health complex in the western Kenyan village where the president's father was raised and is buried and hopefully to see the president again.
	Sarah Obama, who was married to the president's late grandfather, said in an interview through an interpreter yesterday that she had "a vision" sitting under her favorite mango tree in the tiny village of Kogelo of a legacy that would help children and live on long after she is gone.
	Debra Akello, executive director of the new Mama Sarah Obama Foundation, said the family matriarch will outline her "legacy plan" at the United Nations tomorrow and head to Washington Thursday.

Obama's Step-Grandmother in US to promote schools

A massive search operation was under way today for a Colombian army general whose surprise capture by leftist rebels prompted President Juan Manuel Santos to suspend two-year-old peace talks.
	Gen Ruben Dario Alzate, dressed in civilian clothes and without the heavy security befitting his high rank, was snatched yesterday by gunmen along with two others while visiting a hamlet along a remote river in western Colombia.
	A soldier who managed to flee in the group's boat, and reportedly had advised the general against traveling deep into the jungle, said the rebels belonged to the recalcitrant 34th Front of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
	It's the first time in a half-century of fighting that the guerrillas have taken an army general captive. It couldn't have come at a worse moment for Santos.
	Even before the general's capture, frustration with the slow progress of peace talks in Cuba and the guerrillas' refusal to wind down attacks had been building.
	Earlier this 

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