Mexican football got a boost in September when former Brazil and Barcelona star Ronaldinho, a two-time FIFA player of the year, joined modest local club Queretaro.
     The upbeat mood didn't last long. Even before he had played his first match, he was the subject of a racist attack, the kind that has become common for black soccer players across Europe.
     Mexico has a history of racism on the pitch. But it was largely overlooked until the arrival of Ronaldinho. Racism in Europe often involves white against black.
     But in Mexico and other parts of Latin America that have mixed-race societies, it can involve dark-skinned people shouting insults at other dark-skinned people.
     Carlos Trevino, a former official of the Queretaro state government, launched an attack on Ronaldinho on his Facebook page before the Brazilian had played a single game. He had only just arrived in town, causing minor pandemonium, when Trevino exploded.
     "Seriously, I try to be tolerant, but I hate ..

Ronaldinho abuse reveals soccer racism in Mexico

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Saudi authorities arrested 15 people on in connection with a shooting in the east of the kingdom the previous night that left five people dead and was apparently aimed at the country's Shiite minority.
	The attack happened late Monday evening in the village of al-Dalwah, which is located in the country's eastern al-Ahsa region, a major oil-producing area that is also one of the main centers of the minority Shiite community in this Sunni-ruled OPEC giant.
	The attackers shot the victims with pistols and machine guns, according to the official Saudi Press Agency. The agency provided no further details on the identities of the attackers or the victims, and said an investigation is underway.
	Saudi Arabia's embassy in Washington said 15 men were arrested in six different cities on terrorism charges in connection with the shootings. The embassy said authorities initially arrested six people and after further investigation, arrested another nine.
	The embassy said two members of the Saudi ..

Gunmen kill 5 in attack in eastern Saudi Arabia

Ukraine's president has said that additional troops are being deployed to the east, where fighting continues to rage between government forces and pro-Russian separatist fighters.
	Petro Poroshenko said yesterday the units would defend cities still under government control against possible incursions.
	His remarks came after Ukrainian security officials claimed over the weekend that Russia has intensified the transfer of troops and military equipment to separatist rebels. Moscow denies it aids the rebels.
	"Several new units have been formed that will enable us to repel possible attacks in the direction of Mariupol and Berdyansk, Kharkiv, and areas north of Luhansk and the Dnipropetrovsk region," Poroshenko said, according to a statement on the presidential website.
	Tensions have spiked since the weekend, when rebels held an election that was condemned by the West and Ukraine as illegal and destabilizing.
	"In recent days, Russia-supported separatists have publicly stated their ...

Ukrainian president sends more troops to the east

A San Francisco woman has been sentenced to more than 16 years in prison for running what prosecutors say was a sham university that served as a front for an immigration scam.
	Susan Xiao-Ping Su, founder and president of the phony Tri-Valley University, was also ordered during a hearing Friday to forfeit USD 5.6 million and pay more than USD 900,000 in restitution.
	Federal prosecutors say Su was selling visa-related documents that allowed foreigners, mostly Indian nationals, to live in the US.
	She was convicted in March of visa fraud and other charges. Multiple Tri-Valley employees testified that the school had no graduation or admission requirements and that Su instructed her staff to fabricate transcripts and other documents.

US woman gets 16 years prison for fake university

Heavy rains caused by a cluster of storms in the northern Caribbean killed at least seven people in Haiti and caused major flooding today in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, authorities said.
	Three children died in the capital of Port-au-Prince after the wall of a home fell on them, said civil protection officer Nadia Lochard. Four other people died in the northern city of Cap-Haitien, including three who drowned while attempting to cross a swollen river and another person who apparently was electrocuted, officials said.
	More than 1,200 homes in Cap-Haitien also were flooded.
	In the nearby Dominican province of Monte Cristi, across the border that Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic, authorities evacuated several families after a river overflowed its banks and cut off access to several communities. School officials canceled classes in some areas.
	Flooding also was reported across Puerto Rico, forcing several roads to close. A flood warning was in effect through early ..

Rains kill 7 in Haiti, cause flooding elsewhere

Air France says that a flight bound for New York's JFK airport was forced to turn around shortly after leaving Paris after severe turbulence injured four cabin crew members.
	According to a statement, the incident took place this afternoon when flight AF006 encountered bad weather "at the beginning of the cruise phase."
	The plane turned back and landed at Charles de Gaulle airport, where medical assistance was provided to the crew members. It wasn't immediately clear how serious their injuries were.
	No passengers were injured.

Plane turbulence injures 4 Air France cabin crew

Russia has informed the US that it will boycott the 2016 Nuclear Security Summit, potentially stripping the meeting of one of its key participants and hurting efforts initiated by President Barack Obama to reduce the threat of nuclear terrorism.
	Officials already had told the AP yesterday that Moscow was absent from last week's initial summit planning session in Washington but had left unclear whether Russia planned to attend the summit itself.
	Today, two diplomats said the boycott applied to the 2016 meeting as well. They cited as their source a diplomatic note from Moscow to the US and other nations planning to participate. The diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not allowed to discuss confidential information.
	One of the diplomats said the note expressed opposition to the summit because of its alleged political nature. He cited the note as saying that any meeting on nuclear security should be on a technical level and convened not by a nation but by the ...

Russia plans nuclear summit boycott

The Los Angeles Zoo is celebrating the birth of its first hippopotamus in 26 years.
	The zoo says the baby was born Friday. It was somewhat of a surprise, but staffers had noticed the mother hippo gained weight, which made them suspect she was pregnant.
	Vets haven't determined the sex of the new hippo. But they say the baby appears to be doing well and is bonding with mom.
	The mother, 10-year-old Mara, came to the zoo in December from Topeka, Kansas. The father is a 3-year-old named Adhama, who arrived from the San Diego Zoo last year.

Los Angeles Zoo sees first hippo birth in 26 years

Burger King, which plans to open its first restaurant in India, today said bringing back its "Chicken Fries" helped sales jump in the US and Canada by the biggest amount in two years.
	The Miami-based chain said that global sales rose 2.4 per cent at established locations during the third quarter, including a 3.6 per cent increase in the US and Canada.
	McDonald's previously reported a 3.3 per cent decline in the US for the same time, citing heightened competition as a factor.
	Alex Macedo, Burger King's president of North American operation, said improving the speed of service at restaurants and focusing on fewer, "more impactful" new menu items is paying off.
	Burger King had announced in August it would bring back Chicken Fries for a limited time after "ongoing guest outcries reached a point where they could no longer be ignored."
	The dish -- which consists of deep-fried pieces of chicken in the shape of french fries -- had been introduced in 2005 and taken off the menu in ...

Burger King: Chicken Fries helped lift US sales

A group of aid agencies says that thousands of people in Sierra Leone are being forced to violate Ebola quarantines to find food because deliveries are not reaching them.
	In order to prevent the spread of Ebola, large swaths of the West African country have been sealed off and within those areas many people have been ordered to stay in their homes.
	The government, with help from the UN's World Food Programme, is tasked with delivering food and other services to those people.
	But Jeanne Kamara of Christian Aid in Sierra Leone said today that there are many "nooks and crannies" in the country that are being missed.
	Her agency and others that belong to the Disasters Emergency Committee umbrella organization are trying to fill the gaps.

Thousands break Ebola quarantine to find food

Thailand's military-installed government appointed a committee today to draft the country's new constitution amid speculation that it will seek to bar former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his allies from politics.
	The 36-member panel consists of law experts, academics, former senators and others with close ties to the military and traditional conservative establishment. The appointment came more than five months after the military, led by Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha, toppled an elected government headed by Thaksin's allies.
	Prayuth, now Thailand's interim prime minister, said today the charter drafting will focus on people's participation, but his government has not given any indication that there will be a public referendum once the constitution is written.
	Thailand has suffered from political instability since 2006, when an earlier military coup ousted then-Prime Minister Thaksin for alleged corruption, abuse of power and disrespect for the king. Supporters and opponents of ...

Thai junta appoints charter drafting committee

Islamic State militants tortured and abused Kurdish children captured earlier this year near the northern Syrian town of Kobani, beating them with hoses and electric cables, an international rights group said today.
	Human Rights Watch based its conclusions on interviews with several children who were among more than 150 Kurdish boys from Kobani abducted in late May as they were returning home after taking school exams in the city of Aleppo. It said around 50 of the Kurds escaped early in their captivity, while the rest were released in batches the last coming on Oct 29.
	"Since the beginning of the Syrian uprising, children have suffered the horrors of detention and torture, first by the Assad government and now by ISIS," said Human Rights Watch's Fred Abrahams. "This evidence of torture and abuse of children by ISIS underlines why no one should support their criminal enterprise."
	Four of the children who were released told the New York-based rights group that they were held by the .

Report: IS group abused captive Kurdish children

A Thai court sentenced a university student to two-and-a-half years in prison today for posting a message on Facebook that the court said insulted the country's king.
	A Criminal Court judge found 24-year-old Akkaradet Eiamsuwan guilty of violating Thailand's lese majeste law, which punishes people who defame, insult or threaten the monarchy.
	The ruling said Akkaradet used an alias to post the message on Facebook in March. He was arrested in Bangkok in June and has been in jail since then.
	The court said it reduced an original sentence of five years' imprisonment to two-and-a-half years because the defendant had confessed to the offense.
	Thailand's lese majeste law is the world's harshest, providing for jail terms of three to 15 years.
	The role of the monarchy has come under closer scrutiny in recent years due to concerns about succession when 86-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej reaches the end of his reign.
	The political turmoil Thailand has suffered over the past eight years, ..

Thai man convicted of defaming king on Facebook

German Chancellor Angela Merkel underlined her displeasure over Russia's role in eastern Ukraine today and said there is no reason yet to lift European Union sanctions.
	Russia supported rebel-organized elections in eastern Ukraine that the West says undermine a much-violated cease-fire deal signed in Minsk in September.
	Merkel said her aim remains a diplomatic solution, but the weekend's events show "how difficult it is even to maintain agreements that have been made, if we look at the illegal elections."
	"Russia isn't yet contributing in the way we would like, particularly regarding Luhansk and Donetsk" in eastern Ukraine, Merkel told a conference held by the German employers' organization in Berlin.
	"The Minsk agreement should be the basis. So the economic sanctions were inevitable and there is no reason at the moment to lift them."
	New EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini was quoted in an interview with several European newspapers published today as standing by the ...

Merkel underlines displeasure over Russian role

The leader of separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine has been officially sworn in after an election that has been roundly condemned by the West as destabilizing.
	Alexander Zakharchenko was inaugurated today in a heavily guarded theater in the main rebel stronghold of Donetsk.
	Zakharchenko's election was largely a formality as no strong viable candidates opposed him, but separatist authorities have held up the vote as a mandate to pursue their secessionist goals.
	Ukraine and Western government say the polls gravely endangered a cease-fire deal agreed early September. In fact, although fighting attenuated after the truce, hostilities have continued almost daily.
	That cease-fire agreement signed by rebel leaders, and Ukrainian and Russian officials envisioned local elections being held across the whole of the east, but under Ukrainian law.

Ukraine rebel leader sworn in after vote

Thousands of Iranians are chanting "Down with America" at a major anti-US rally to mark the anniversary of the 1979 takeover of the US Embassy in Tehran.
	Today's rally in the Iranian capital puts more pressure on moderate President Hassan Rouhani, just a week ahead of a meeting between American and Iranian officials over Tehran's controversial nuclear program.
	The rally was organised by hard-liners and the demonstrators also chanted "Death to Israel" and "Death to Britain."
	In 1979, militant Iranian students who claimed the US Embassy was a centre of plots against the Persian nation held 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. Ties between the two countries were severed after the siege and formal relations have not been restored since.

Iranians mark anniversary of US Embassy takeover

Japan's foreign minister today urged China to take measures to stop Chinese fishermen from poaching red coral in Japanese waters.
	Fumio Kishida said that as many as 200 Chinese fishing boats were seen last Thursday near populated Japanese islands, 440 kilometers south of Tokyo Bay, and Japan had complained to China about it.
	The boats have been sailing north from near the Ogasawara islets, 1,800 kilometers south of Japan's mainland, since mid-September. Their movement toward the more populated Izu islets and the mainland has raised concerns of Japanese residents.
	Kishida said five poaching-related arrests have been made since September. The illegally gathered red coral can fetch high prices on the black market in China.
	Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said yesterday that the illegal harvesting of red coral was prohibited and that Chinese authorities would keep enhancing supervision and law enforcement.
	Japanese Defence Minister Akinori Eto said the coast guard ..

Japan tells China to stop alleged coral poaching

Softbank's quarterly profit nearly tripled as gains from the IPO of Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba offset losses at US mobile carrier Sprint.
	The Japanese telecommunications and Internet-services company, which recently invested in two Indian technology companies, reported today a fiscal second quarter profit of 483.1 billion yen (USD 4.3 billion), up from 165.8 billion yen a year earlier.
	Quarterly sales surged 23 per cent to 2.11 trillion yen (USD 18.7 billion).
	Softbank, the first to sell the iPhone in Japan, has widespread global investments including Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba, which listed in New York earlier this year after a record-busting stock sale.
	Softbank said it gained 599 billion yen (USD 5 billion) from the listing.
	One sore spot is Sprint, which Softbank bought a majority stake in earlier this year. It said costs from layoffs at Sprint will total 17 billion yen (USD 150 million).
	Sprint is eliminating 2,000 jobs, or about 5 per cent of its staff, to .

Softbank quarterly profit up despite Sprint woes

Federal accident investigators say that tiny pieces of an experimental spaceship that broke up in flight have been found 35 miles (56 kilometers) from the main wreckage area.
	Acting National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Christopher Hart said yesterday the parts recovered were small enough to have been blown that far by the wind.
	The NTSB is moving parts from the Mojave Desert into hangars as it continues its investigation into Friday's demise of Virgin Galactic's space tourism craft.
	The agency has not concluded what shattered the aircraft, killing one pilot and injuring the other.
	Initial results show that a system to slow the space plane's descent deployed too soon.
	Hart clarified that he did not know which of the pilots unlocked the craft's feathering system, which rotates the twin tail sections upright to create drag during re-entry.

Debris from downed spaceship found 35 miles away

Russia has failed to show up at a meeting planning the 2016 Nuclear Security Summit, US and European officials have said, in a potentially serious blow to efforts by President Barack Obama to cement his legacy as leaving the world safer from nuclear terrorism than when he took office.
	The officials said yesterday it was not immediately clear whether Moscow intended to boycott the summit itself or was just temporarily showing displeasure over Washington's harsh condemnation of Moscow's role in Ukraine unrest and the US lead in orchestrating Western sanctions and other punitive measures in response.
	But even if short-term, Russia's no-show is significant.
	Only three or four planning meetings are scheduled before spring 2016, when the summit is tentatively set to open. With Russia a key global player, and one of the world's five formally recognised nuclear powers, its input is crucial to setting an agenda.
	The US president initiated a string of summits in 2010 aimed at preventing ...

Russia boycotts nuclear summit planning meeting

Prosecutors have filed charges against 15 people in the armed takeover of a California casino at the center of a power struggle between factions of a Native American tribe.
	The group's leader, Tex McDonald, 64, surrendered Monday to the Madera County Sheriff's Office along with three other suspects, Sheriff John Anderson said in a news release. Another man was arrested Sunday.
	Erica Stuart, a spokeswoman for the Sheriff's Office, said deputies remain on the lookout for 12 others wanted on charges that include kidnapping, false imprisonment and assault with a firearm. Bail for McDonald was set at $1 million.
	The charges relate to a dispute between rival factions of the Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians vying for control of the Chukchansi Gold Resort & Casino northeast of Fresno.
	Authorities closed the casino's doors last month after one group attempted a takeover. More than a dozen people stormed the casino with weapons, sending hundreds of gamblers running with ...

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