China said today it was against referring North Korea to the International Criminal Court, dimming chances that its longtime ally will face additional scrutiny over its dismal and well-documented system of sprawling political prison camps, starvation and mass executions.
	The UN General Assembly's human rights committee is considering a resolution calling on the Security Council to refer Pyongyang to the court, a step that would mark the global community's strongest effort so far against the North's human rights record.
	However, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that China believes disputes over human rights issues should be handled through "dialogue and cooperation on the basis of equality and mutual respect.
	"We think bringing human rights issues to the International Criminal Court won't help improve the human rights condition in a country," Hua told reporters at a regularly scheduled news conference.
	It isn't clear whether the resolution will be approved, ...

China opposes sending North Korea to int'l court

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China's defense minister met today with Iran's navy commander in the latest sign of warming ties between their two militaries following their first joint naval drills in the Persian Gulf last month.
	Chang Wanquan told visiting Iranian Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari that China hopes for "further pragmatic cooperation and the uninterrupted development of ties between the two militaries," China's Defense Ministry said.
	It quoted Sayyari as saying that Iran attached great importance to its relations with China and also hoped for stronger military-to-military ties.
	China has been building closer ties with the militaries of US rivals such as Russia to help counter American naval dominance in the Asia-Pacific region.
	China and Iran also maintain close economic links, although Beijing has joined international efforts to prod Iran into cooperating with the global community over its nuclear programs.
	Although China eschews the notion of setting up permanent overseas bases, even an ...

China, Iran defense officials pledge closer ties

Tunisia's Interior Ministry spokesman says police have carried out a pair of counter-terror operations, capturing two suspected militants in the deep south and surrounding a home near the capital.
	Mohammed Ali Aroui said today that the men were planning attacks and one bystander was killed in the southern town of Kebili during the exchange of fire.
	Police are currently surrounding a house in the Oued Ellil suburb of Tunis and have exchanged fire with those inside. Aroui said there were several injured but gave no further details.
	Tunisia is set to hold parliamentary elections on Sunday to complete its democratic transition.
	Authorities had warned that Islamist radicals seeking to overthrow the state would attempt to disrupt the elections.

Tunisia forces clash with militants, local killed

Many Asian and African women working as domestic workers in the United Arab Emirates say their employers beat them with sticks or cables, punched and slapped them, and there's little they can do because they're excluded from the country's labor law protections, a rights group said today.
	The abuse complaints are rampant throughout the wealthy Persian Gulf region that relies on foreign labor. The Human Rights Watch says the problem is that the migrant workers' residency is tied to their employers through a sponsorship system that prevents them easily changing jobs.
	It cited passport confiscation, non-payment of wages, excessive work, forced confinement, food deprivation and psychological, physical and sexual abuse.
	The New York-based advocacy group said the report was based on interviews with 99 women domestic workers, recruitment agents and employers in the UAE.
	Twenty-two of the women said their employers physically abused them, beating them with sticks or cables, punching or ...

Rights group: Migrant workers abused in UAE homes

A new study confirms what many Internet users know all too well: Harassment is a common part of online life.
	The first-of-its-kind report by the Pew Research Centre found that nearly three-quarters of American adults who use the Internet have witnessed online harassment. Forty per cent have experienced it themselves.
	The types of harassment Pew asked about range from name-calling to physical threats, sexual harassment and stalking. Half of those who were harassed said they didn't know the person who had most recently attacked them.
	Young adults, people 18 to 29, were the most likely age group to see and undergo online harassment. Women ages 18 to 24 were disproportionately the victims of stalking and sexual harassment, according to the survey. And people who have more information available about themselves online, work in the tech industry or promote themselves on the Internet, were also more likely to be harassed.
	Case in point: Celebrities. Stars such as the actress Jennifer ...

Survey: Harassment a common part of online life

Activists say the US-led coalition has launched airstrikes on an oil field in Syria's eastern province of Deir el-Zour that borders Iraq.
	The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the coalition launched four airstrikes on oil wells in the Jafra field yesterday.
	The Local Coordination Committees, an activist group, also reported the airstrikes today.
	The US-led coalition has aggressively targeted IS-held oil facilities in Syria, which provide a key source of income for the militants. But such strikes also endanger civilians, which could undermine long-term efforts to destroy the militant group.
	The Observatory, which relies on a network of activists around the country, said that since the airstrikes on Syria began a month ago, 553 people have been killed including 32 civilians. The rest were mostly jihadis.

Airstrikes target oil filed in eastern Syria

Federal officials working to keep Ebola from spreading into the US have ordered that all travellers who come into the US from three Ebola-stricken West African nations now be monitored for three weeks.
	Starting on Monday, anyone travelling from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone will have to report in with health officials daily and take their temperature twice a day.
	The measure applies not only to visitors from those countries but also returning American aid workers, federal health employees and journalists. The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention announced the new step yesterday.
	The virus has killed more than 4,800 people in West Africa, nearly all in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea.
	CDC Director Tom Frieden said monitoring will provide an extra level of safety.
	Passengers already get screened and temperature checks before they leave West Africa and again when they arrive in the US.
	"We have to keep our guard up," Frieden said.
	The Obama administration has resisted ...

US to track everyone coming from Ebola nations

Last year's feel-good winner of the TV singing contest Arab Idol said he wants to give back to Gaza, where he grew up, by setting up an arts center nurturing young musicians, writers and actors.
	The center would be funded by Palestinian Americans who have pledged support, Mohammed Assaf, 24, said in an interview in the Gaza City office of The Associated Press.
	He said he is waiting for a new Palestinian unity government to establish a foothold in Gaza before moving ahead. Until recently, the territory was ruled by the Islamic militant group Hamas which has ceded some control.
	Since the Hamas takeover of Gaza in 2007, residents of the crowded territory have endured an Israeli-Egyptian border blockade and three wars between Israel and Hamas.
	Assaf, who grew up in Gaza's Khan Younis refugee camp, catapulted to regional fame after his Arab Idol win and also performed in the US.
	He has visited Gaza twice this year.
	"Both times, I found Gazans to be very sad, but this time I see much .

Arab Idol winner wants to give back to Gaza

The IOC accepted Kosovo into the Olympic fold on Wednesday, clearing the way for the former Serbian province to send an independent team to the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.
     The International Olympic Committee executive board granted provisional recognition to Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008. It will propose full recognition for Kosovo at the IOC general assembly in Monaco in December which should be a formality.
     "The decision was taken by the executive board in the interests of the athletes in Kosovo and to remove any uncertainty they may have," the IOC said. "It will allow them to take part in qualifications for the Olympic Games Rio 2016 and in future editions of the games."
     The move was opposed by Serbian Olympic officials, who had worked to block international acceptance of Kosovo. Kosovo has a majority of ethnic Albanian inhabitants. Serbia, which considers Kosovo the cradle of its statehood and religion, has refused to accept the breakaway 

IOC gives provisional recognition to Kosovo

The military increased security at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery after fatal shootings at a Canadian war memorial and Parliament, even though the FBI and the Homeland Security Department said there was no specific threat against the US
	President Barack Obama condemned the shootings in Canada as "outrageous acts."
	"Obviously the situation there is tragic," Obama said, adding, "we're all shaken by it." He confirmed the death of a Canadian soldier, and extended his condolences.
	The Canadian soldier had been standing guard at the National War Memorial in the capital of Ottawa, Ontario. Gunfire also erupted inside Parliament, and authorities in Canada said at least one gunman was killed.
	The White House said Obama spoke by telephone with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper. The US has offered to help the US ally with its response, and Obama expressed the American people's solidarity with Canada.
	In a statement, the FBI said it had reminded field offices ...

US increases security, though no threats cited

A member of the popular musical group Banda el Recodo was found dead in the Pacific resort city of Mazatlan, and his wife and her alleged lover were detained on suspicion of murder.
	Aldo Sarabia, part of the brass section of the 18-member group, was reported missing by his band mates last week.
	Sinaloa State Prosecutor Marco Antonio Higuera Gomez said Sarabia's wife, Alma Delia Chavez Guerrero, and her purported lover, Yahir Alfredo Sandoval, met about four months ago.
	The prosecutors said that the day after Sarabia returned from a recent tour, Chavez invited her husband to dine at a seafood restaurant.
	En route, Sandoval emerged with a gun from his hiding place in the trunk of the couple's SUV, the prosecutor alleged.
	Higuera Gomez said the suspects could face 30 to 50 years in prison if convicted.
	Sarabia's body was discovered yesterday in the neighbourhood of El Recodo, which has the same name as the band.
	The body had at least one gunshot wound and was in a state of ...

Mexico banda musician found dead in northern state

Dozens of artifacts are on their way back to Peru after being seized in the United States during investigations into the smuggling of cultural relics.
	Investigators from US Immigration and Custom Enforcement's Homeland Security department held ceremonies in Denver, San Antonio and Boston yesterday to repatriate more than 40 items, including 20 Incan artifacts allegedly taken from graves in Peru.
	Investigators say a middleman purchased those items from local farmers and then shipped them by mail from Bolivia to a smuggler in New England.
	A Utah man forfeited two other objects, a pre-Columbian statue and a funerary vessel, after Israeli authorities arrested him on smuggling charges.
	Those two items and a vessel from the northern Lambayeque region of Peru recovered from a Tennessee business that sells Mayan artifacts were returned to the Peruvian consul general during the Denver ceremony.
	"The cultural treasures returned today do not belong in the hands of any private collection or .

US returns dozens of stolen artifacts to Peru

The White House today cautioned against making assumptions about President Barack Obama's changes to US immigration rules based on a new federal contract proposal from the Homeland Security Department to buy enough supplies to make as many as 34 million immigrant work permits and residency cards over the next five years.
	The Associated Press reported earlier in the day the contract proposal suggested that the Obama administration appeared to be preparing for an increase in the number work permit applications form of immigrants living illegally in the country.
	The US government produces about 3 million work permits and residency identification, known as green cards, annually. The new contract for at least 5 million cards a year would provide the administration with the flexibility to issue far more work permits or green cards even if it chose not to exercise that option.
	"I think those who are trying to read into those specific orders about what the president may decide are a little 

White House says immigration plans not final yet

Several dozen tons of cement bags stored in a warehouse are one of the few tangible achievements so far of a USD 2.7 billion plan to rebuild war-wrecked Gaza Strip.
	The program was launched with high expectations at an international conference in Cairo on Oct 12, but has run into obstacles, including wrangling between the rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah for control in Gaza and what officials say has been a trickle of promised aid.
	Hardest hit by delays are tens of thousands of Gazans living in communal shelters or the ruins of their homes since the summer war between Israel and the Islamic militant Hamas destroyed or damaged some 100,000 homes.
	"We are waiting and waiting," said Samer al-Khaisy, 29, who lives with his wife and three pre-school daughters in one room of his damaged apartment, with holes in the wall covered by plastic sheets.
	Getting cement, steel and gravel from Israel into Gaza is a major challenge because of a blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt in ...

Gaza rebuilding slowed by trickle of aid, rivalry

Libyan army troops today pushed into Benghazi, the first time in two months that government forces had entered the eastern city, which has been under control of Islamist militias.
	The advance was a significant boost to the troops, though fighting was still raging in Benghazi and the army had a long battle ahead, said Meloud al-Zewi, spokesman for Libya's special forces.
	Al-Zewi said Libyan troops first swooped into the district of Benina, where Benghazi's airport is located, then took control of other districts, including the eastern, heavily populated neighborhood of Sedi Khalifa.
	Pictures of soldiers kissing the ground and residents welcoming the armored vehicles were widely circulated on social networking sites.
	On its official Facebook page, the Libyan army urged residents to stay from crowding around the army in their joy for fear this would make them an easy target.
	Libya is witnessing its worst spasm of violence since the downfall of the longtime dictator Moammar ...

Libyan army troops advance into Benghazi

Mexican authorities say 19 suspects died in three nearly simultaneous confrontations just across the border from Texas.
	The government of the border state of Tamaulipas says suspected drug gang members in each case opened fire on military or police.
	The government said late yesterday all three incidents happened within a half hour between Reynosa and Matamoros, across from Brownsville, Texas.
	Federal police killed three suspects in the first incident. Marines then killed nine suspects who purportedly had an armoured vehicle.
	The army then killed seven suspects, two of whom allegedly had .50-cailber rifles.
	No military personnel were apparently wounded.
	The statement came the same day that Mexico's National Human Rights Commission reported that soldiers had executed 12 to 15 suspects in a June 30 incident in southern Mexico.

Mexican military kills 19, suffers no casualties

Kosovo could join the Olympic fold this week, while Gambia could face suspension.
	The status of the two countries will be discussed Friday during an International Olympic Committee executive board meeting in Montreux, Switzerland, IOC spokesman Mark Adams said today.
	The IOC's possible recognition of Kosovo has angered Serbian Olympic officials, who have worked to block international acceptance of the breakaway province.
	IOC recognition would clear the way for Kosovo to compete as an independent team at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
	Gambian athletes, meanwhile, could be barred from competing for their country in a continuing dispute over control of their national Olympic body.
	Kosovo, which has a majority of ethnic Albanian inhabitants, declared independence in 2008. Serbia, which considers Kosovo the cradle of its statehood and religion, has refused to accept the split.
	The Serbian Olympic Committee said it has been informed by the IOC that Kosovo will be granted full ...

IOC weighs Kosovo recognition, Gambia suspension

A court in Saudi Arabia sentenced 27 people to prison for planning a series of attacks against US forces in Qatar and Kuwait, with more than half of the defendants charged today with also trying to join forces with a group in Syria to smuggle fighters to Iraq, official media reports said.
	The same court also sentenced yesterday two Saudi citizens to death and a third to 12 years in prison for taking part in violent protests in the eastern town of al-Awamiya, a Shiite stronghold where protests erupted in 2011 demanding greater rights from the Sunni-led monarchy.
	The verdicts were announced by the official Saudi Press Agency.
	The state media reports did not say when the al-Qaida-linked attacks were planned, and did not name the Syrian group with which 14 of the defendants allegedly tried to form an alliance.
	The al-Qaida-linked members on trial included 25 Saudis, a Qatari and an Afghan national. They were given varying sentences of between six months to 30 years in prison.
	The ...

Saudi convicts 27 for plotting attack on US forces

A man who allegedly confessed to killing seven women in Indiana refused to even acknowledge his name to the judge today during his initial court appearance, and a sheriff explained later that the suspect was upset his hearing was in open court before dozens of journalists.
	The judge asked Darren Vann, 43, of Gary, Indiana, if he swore to tell the truth and to also confirm his name at an initial court appearance in the strangulation death of 19-year-old Afrikka Hardy.
	But Vann stood unmoving and stone-faced, staring back silently at the judge.
	After a pause, Magistrate Judge Kathleen Sullivan warned Vann as he stood before her in striped jail garb and with his wrists and legs shackled that he would be held in contempt.
	He still declined to speak, neither shaking his head nor uttering a word.
	"Mr. Vann, are you choosing not to take part in this hearing?" Sullivan asked Vann during the hearing.
	Sullivan then addressed Vann's public defender, Matthew Fech, urging him to advise his ..

Man suspected of killing 7 refuses to answer judge

Spacewalking astronauts doubled as trash men today, heaving an old science experiment and two antennas overboard at the International Space Station.
	It was the third spacewalk in as many weeks outside the orbiting lab. This time, it was on the Russian side of the house and went so well that it wrapped up more than two hours early.
	Russian spaceman Alexander Samokutyaev used his left gloved hand to shove the antennas away one by one, five minutes apart. He paused dramatically before letting the second one loose, for a better camera view.
	The dish antennas, up to 0.7 meters long, resembled white umbrellas. The first one spun as it drifted away.
	"It looks like it's going to rain: Antennas are flying low," someone said in Russian.
	A couple of hours earlier, spacewalker Maxim Suraev released a seismic experiment, essentially a panel stretching 1.8 meters long and 1.4 meters across.
	"Three cheers," someone noted in Russian. "This is an event of some note."
	The panel, shining yellow ..

3rd spacewalk in 3 weeks at space station

The World Health Organization says Ebola is now believed to have killed more than 4,800 people globally and that the spread of the lethal virus remains "persistent and widespread" in West Africa.
	In a new update issued today, WHO said there have been 9,936 probable, suspected and confirmed cases of Ebola, mostly in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia.
	It said transmission remains "intense" in the capital cities and that cases continue to be underreported.
	WHO noted a lack of available beds in Ebola clinics is forcing many families to care for sick relatives at home, risking further spread of the virus.
	Liberia had the worst bed shortage, with only 23 percent of patients hospitalized in a clinic. WHO estimated 4,388 beds are still needed in West Africa.

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