The economic cost of occupation for the Palestinian people for the 2000-2017 period is estimated at USD 47.7 billion, almost thrice the size of the Palestinian economy in 2017, and it continues to rise, according to a UN report.
The UNCTAD report titled 'Economic cost of the Israeli occupation for the Palestinian people: Fiscal aspects' said the 47.7 billion dollar figure comprises lost public revenues and interest payments and includes USD 28.2 billion in estimated accrued interest and USD 6.6 billion of leaked Palestinian fiscal revenues to Israel.
This estimated cumulative fiscal cost of occupation would not only have eliminated the Palestinian budget deficit estimated at USD 17.7 billion during the same period but would have also generated a surplus nearly twice the size of the deficit.
"Alternatively, it would have increased more than tenfold the Palestinian government's development spending, pegged at USD 4.5 billion during the period under review, UNCTAD said in its report to ..

Estimated revenue loss by Palestine from 2000-17 due to occupation is $47.7 bn: UN

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Mexican authorities say they have seized more than a ton of cocaine from a tanker truck in the Gulf coast state of Tabasco.
The army said Monday that a gamma ray scanner at a highway checkpoint spotted anomalies in the truck's load.
Inside they found 1,153 packages with a weight of 2,446 pounds (1,109.7 kilograms).
The truck's driver was arrested. The army said the seizure was made Friday.
Cocaine from South America typically travels to Mexico by boat or on small planes and then is smuggled north to the US border.

Mexico seizes ton of cocaine found in tanker truck

Climate change, gun violence, the very nature of democracy and an angsty little movie star called Forky helped propel "existential" to Dictionary.com's word of the year.
The choice reflects months of high-stakes threats and crises, real and pondered, across the news, the world and throughout 2019.
"In our data, it speaks to this sense of grappling with our survival, both literally and figuratively, that defined so much of the discourse," said John Kelly, senior research editor for the site, ahead of Monday's announcement.
The word earned top of mind awareness in sustained searches at Dictionary.com in the aftermath of wildfires and Hurricane Dorian, and mass shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand, and El Paso, Texas.
It also reared itself in presidential politics and pop culture, including Forky the white plastic spork who was the breakout star of "Toy Story 4." The soiled utensil is convinced his destiny is in the trash, until he embraces his purpose as a treasured toy of ...

Dictionary.com chooses 'existential' as word of the year

The Vatican says Pope Francis has dispatched a close aide to the Greek island of Lesbos to bring back 33 asylum-seekers to Rome.
Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the papal almsgiver, headed Monday to Lesbos.
The Vatican says he'll return Wednesday with the migrants.
When returning to Italy from visiting Lesbos in 2016, Francis took three Syrian families of asylum-seekers with him aboard his flight.
Francis asked Krajewski to go to "renew solidarity to the Greek people and to the refugees."
The pope, according to the Vatican, wants to make "a further gesture of solidarity" in hosting young refugees and families from Afghanistan, Cameroon and Togo.
Ten more refugees will be brought to Italy from Lesbos later this month.
UN officials say minors risk exploitation at overcrowded migrant camps on Greek islands.

Pope sends aide to Greek island to bring back 33 migrants

Continuing its unbeaten run, Indian men's Kho Kho team entered the semi-finals of the 13th South Asian Games after clinching two wins in a day here on Monday.
India first thrashed hosts Nepal by an innings and 12 points with scores of 17-5 and later in the evening, went on to beat Bangladesh by an innings and two points with scores of 12-10.
It was India's third win in as many games in the ongoing tournament.
After finishing top of the points table, India will now take on bottom-placed Sri Lanka in the semi-final on Tuesday.
In the other semi-final, Nepal will play against Bangladesh.
Maharashtra's Abhinandan Patil and Sagar Potdar were the chief architects of India's win over Nepal. While Patil impressed everyone in the chase, Potdar showed his skills in the defence.
Patil said his team is looking forward to continuing their unbeaten run in the competition.
"I am happy that I've contributed to the team's win. We are looking to continue winning. We have worked really hard while ...

Indian men's Kho Kho team enter semi-finals at 13th South Asian Games

Barcelona legend and Al Sadd coach Xavi backed hosts Qatar to make an impression at the next World Cup after exciting forward Akram Afif was named Asian player of the year on Monday.
Doha-based Xavi, who collected the award on Afif's behalf at the Asian Football Confederation awards in Hong Kong, said the Qataris would be competitive in 2022 "for sure".
Japan's Saki Kumagai was rewarded for a glittering career for club and country as she was named women's player of the year at the ceremony in protest-hit Hong Kong.
Afif, 23, made a record 10 assists as Qatar stormed to their first Asian Cup title in February, reaping the rewards of heavy investment in their national set-up as the World Cup looms.
Afif also helped Xavi's Al Sadd reach the AFC Champions League semi-finals, where they lost to Saudi eventual winners Al Hilal 6-5 on aggregate.
"I think they are working very well, they are competing against very big countries," Xavi, who won the 2010 World Cup with Spain, said of Qatar.
"I .

Xavi backs Qatar to compete at World Cup after Akram award

Harry Maguire is frustrated that defensive lapses are costing Manchester United crucial points after they let slip a winning position for the second consecutive match against Aston Villa.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side were leading 2-1 midway through the second half at Old Trafford on Sunday before a Tyrone Mings equaliser forced them to share the points.
The 2-2 draw left United in ninth place in the Premier League with 18 points from 14 matches, their worst return at a similar stage since 1988/89.
United also conceded a late goal in the previous week in a 3-3 draw against Sheffield United after storming back from 2-0 down to lead 3-2.
"We got ourselves in a great position in the second half (against Villa) and again conceded a sloppy goal really," Maguire told MUTV.
"As a defender especially, it's frustrating," he added. "We haven't really conceded many chances or goals prior to the last two games and then we've conceded five."
Jose Mourinho returns to Old Trafford for the first time ..

Maguire frustrated over Man Utd defensive lapses

Azerbaijani lawmakers on Monday appealed to the president to dissolve parliament and call snap elections, in a surprise move that followed the prime minister's resignation a month ago.
Members of the current parliament, which is dominated by President Ilham Aliyev's Yeni Azerbaijan party, backed the appeal urging its own dissolution by 99 votes to one.
At the moment, the next parliamentary elections are scheduled for October, 2021.
But under the terms of the constitution, early elections have to be held 60 days after the legislature is dissolved by a presidential decree.
Yeni Azerbaijan's executive secretary Ali Ahmedov told journalists last week that "parliament's composition needs to be renewed as part of the reforms that are being carried out by President Aliyev".
He gave no further explanation for his statement, which followed a cabinet reshuffle nearly a month ago.
In October, the then prime minister Novruz Mammadov tendered his resignation in a surprise move.
Aliyev appointed ...

Azerbaijan MPs ask president to dissolve parliament

Dutch prosecutors accused Russia on Monday of allowing a suspect in the downing of flight MH17 to return to rebel-held eastern Ukraine in defiance of an extradition agreement.
Vladimir Tsemakh, an alleged air defence specialist for pro-Moscow separatists, was one of dozens of prisoners exchanged by Kiev and Moscow in September in a deal hailed as a first step towards ending five years of conflict.
The Netherlands said it had then immediately asked Moscow at the highest levels to hand him over for questioning over the 2014 downing of the Malaysia Airlines plane, but that Russia said it could not find him.
"According to media reports Mr Tsemakh had already returned to his residence in eastern Ukraine," the Dutch prosecution service said in a statement.
"The Public Prosecution Service has concluded that Russia willingly allowed Mr Tsemakh to leave the Russian Federation and refused to execute the Dutch request, while under the European Convention on Extradition, it was obliged to do ...

Russia let MH17 suspect return to E Ukraine, say Dutch

Thirteen Pakistani nationals, mostly children and women, were killed when a fire broke out in their tin house in Shuneh area in Jordan, officials said on Monday.
The Foreign Office in a statement in Islamabad said three Pakistanis were also injured in the fire early on Monday and are reported to be in stable condition.
"Thirteen Pakistani nationals including seven children, four women and two men living in Jordan have expired due to a fire which broke out in their tent," the statement said.
The cause of fire has been reported as short circuit.
The victims were residing near Karameh city which is 40 kilometers west of Amman near the Dead Sea.
The victims belonged to Joya family from Dadu district in Sindh province. The head of family, Ali Sher Joya, has survived, the incident.
The family reportedly migrated from Pakistan to Jordan in 1970s and were associated with the agriculture/farming profession.
Jordanian Prime Minister Omar al-Razzaz instructed ministers of interior and health to .

13 Pakistanis, mostly children, killed in Jordan fire

A young man was killed and five other people were injured Monday in a new protest against UN forces in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), an AFP reporter saw.
Demonstrations have erupted in the city of Beni, where local people accuse the UN peacekeeping force MONUSCO of failing to protect them against a notorious militia, the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF).
The reporter said police repeatedly fired warning shots in a bid to disperse a new protest.
He then saw a corpse being taken to Beni hospital by fellow protesters. The head of the hospital morgue confirmed that the body had been fatally wounded by gunfire.
Eastern DRC has been troubled for years by militias that control swathes of territory and exploit its mineral wealth.
The Congolese army launched operations against the ADF at the end of October. In response the ADF has carried out massacres in an apparent bid to discourage civilians from helping the military.
Another 27 people were hacked to death on Wednesday, bringing 

Protester killed in new anti-UN demo in DR Congo

Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories has cost the economy of the Palestinians more than USD 2.5 billion a year for the past two decades, a UN report said Monday.
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development report estimated the total fiscal loss to the Palestinian government between 2000 and 2017 at USD 47.7 billion.
The figure included USD 28 billion in accrued interest and USD 6.6 billion in leakage from Palestinian fiscal revenues.
It said the amount would have been enough to eliminate the Palestinian government's USD 17.7 billion budget deficit over the same period more than twice over.
The report argued if the USD 47 billion had been invested sensibly in the impoverished Palestinian economy, it would have created an extra two million jobs over the 18-year period, or 110,000 a year.
The report was presented at the Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute (MAS) in the West Bank city of Ramallah, home to the Palestinian government.
Misyef Jameel, senior ..

Israeli occupation costs Palestinian economy USD 2.5 bn a year: UN

One of China's highest-ranking Uighur officials and the former head of the troubled northwest Xinjiang region was sentenced Monday to life in prison over graft charges, a court said.
It is among the most high-profile cases in President Xi Jinping's sweeping campaign against corruption in the ruling Communist Party, which critics have compared to a political purge.
Nur Bekri, an ethnic Uighur who was most recently head of China's national energy administration, pleaded guilty to accepting over 79 million yuan (USD 11.2 million) worth of bribes over the course of twenty years, according to the Shenyang Intermediate People's Court in northeast China.
Investigators claimed he had used his position to live "extravagantly" and benefit himself and his family, buying luxury cars and doling out favours to others.
In the courtroom, Bekri said he would "obey the verdict and not appeal", said the Shenyang court on its official Twitter-like Weibo account.
In addition to life imprisonment, Bekri ...

Former head of Xinjiang jailed for life over graft

Sri Lanka's newly-elected President Gotabaya Rajapaksa said on Monday that his recent visit to India, his first foreign trip, has revitalised the historical ties between the two countries, vowing that Colombo will maintain a warm and mutually beneficial relationship in all aspects with New Delhi.
President Rajapaksa arrived in New Delhi on Thursday on a three-day visit, his first overseas trip after storming to victory in Sri Lanka's presidential elections, the results of which were declared on November 17.
"At the conclusion of a very successful visit to India, the remarkable welcome, hospitality and respect accorded by Narendra Modi & Govt has revitalised the historical bond between India & LKA," the President said in a tweet on Monday.
"I look forward to maintaining a warm and mutually beneficial bilateral relations in all aspects," he said.
India offered a USD 400 million credit line to Sri Lanka for development of its infrastructure and economy during president ...

Lanka-India bilateral ties revitalised, will maintain warm relations with New Delhi: Prez Gotabaya

At least 26 people were killed when their bus crashed into a barrier on a mountain road and careered into a ravine in northwest Tunisia, officials said Monday.
The health ministry said that 17 people were also injured in Sunday's accident in a mountainous region popular with Tunisian tourists.
The accident was one of the deadliest ever in a country whose poor road safety record has sparked criticism of officials.
All those aboard the bus were Tunisian, the ministry said.
The age of the vehicle, more than 20 years old, and speeding were the suspected causes, a minister, Noureddine Selmi, told state television after an initial investigation.
The bus had set off from Tunis towards the picturesque northern mountain town of Ain Draham, a popular autumn destination for domestic visitors.
The interior ministry had initially reported the deaths of 22 out of the 43 people on board, saying the bus had "fallen into a ravine after crashing through an iron barrier".
The health ministry said four ..

Death toll in Tunisia bus accident rises to 26

Britain's Apostrophe Protection Society is closing down, its founder has announced, saying it had sadly lost the fight against "ignorance and laziness".
Former journalist John Richards, 96, started up the society in 2001, aiming to preserve the correct use of what he said was the "much abused punctuation mark".
Richards spent the last quarter of his career as a sub-editor, preparing journalists' copy for the newspaper -- a task which often involved correcting their use of apostrophes.
When he retired, he kept spotting the same glaring mistakes in daily life and decided to take action, seeing the apostrophe as an endangered species in need of protection.
But Richards said that with regret, he was now closing down operations for two reasons.
"One is that at 96 I am cutting back on my commitments and the second is that fewer organisations and individuals are now caring about the correct use of the apostrophe in the English language," he wrote on the society's website.
"We, and our many ..

End of an error: full stop for UK apostrophe society

Russian scientists have shown off a prehistoric puppy, believed to be 18,000 years old, found in permafrost in the country's Far East.
Discovered last year in a lump of frozen mud near the city of Yakutsk, the puppy is unusually well-preserved, with its hair, teeth, whiskers and eyelashes still intact.
Scientists are still to determine whether the specimen is a dog or a wolf.
In recent years, Russia's Far East has provided many riches for scientists studying the remains of ancient animals.
As the permafrost melts, affected by climate change, more and more parts of woolly mammoths, canines and other prehistoric animals are being discovered.
The puppy is being studied by scientists in Yakutsk's Mammoth Museum and the Stockholm-based Center for Palaeogenetics.

Russian scientists present ancient puppy found in permafrost

The incoming head of the UN's atomic watchdog agency said Monday he will take a "firm and fair" approach toward inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities, and plans to visit Tehran in the near future.
Argentine diplomat Rafael Mariano Grossi's comments came after he was confirmed as the new director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency unanimously at a special session. His four-year term begins on Tuesday.
The 58-year-old succeeds Yukiya Amano, who died in July, and takes over at a time when the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers is unraveling.
The landmark 2015 deal known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action promised Iran economic incentives in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program. The IAEA's role has been to inspect and verify Iran's compliance with the deal.
With the unilateral withdrawal of the United States from the agreement last year and the imposition of new American sanctions, Iran's economy has been struggling.
So far, the other nations involved 

New UN nuclear agency chief: "firm and fair" stance on Iran

The US will imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Brazil and Argentina, President Donald Trump said in a tweet Monday.
"Brazil and Argentina have been presiding over a massive devaluation of their currencies," he posted, adding this was hurting American farmers.
"Effective immediately, I will restore the Tariffs on all Steel & Aluminum that is shipped into the U.S. from those countries." Trump also called on the Federal Reserve to "likewise act" so other nations no longer "take advantage of our strong dollar by further devaluing their currencies."
Last year, Trump announced global tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum -- but in March agreed to lift them for Argentina and Brazil, as well as a number of other countries initially included.
Referencing these tariffs in a subsequent tweet, the president claimed that US markets were "up as much as 21%" since then.  Despite this American steel has continued to suffer with overall employment edging ...

US to impose steel, aluminum tariffs on Brazil and Argentina

Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Monday met the new Sri Lankan leadership, including President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, and discussed issues of trade, investment and tourism to further deepen the bilateral relations.
Qureshi arrived in Colombo on Sunday night on a two-day official visit to Sri Lanka to meet the country's newly-elected leadership and convey to it a felicitation message of Prime Minister Imran Khan.
According to the Pakistan Foreign Office, Qureshi also handed over a letter from  President Arif Alvi to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and invited him to pay a visit to Islamabad at his earliest convenience.
"FM calls on the President of Sri Lanka. Bilateral issues, trade, investment and people to people contacts discussed. FM handed over a letter from the President to President of Sri Lanka and invited him to visit Pakistan at his earliest convenience," Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Muhammad Faisal said in a tweet.
"FM calls on Prime Minister of Sri Lanka .

Pak FM Qureshi meets Sri Lanka's new leadership to boost bilateral ties

Russia and China on Monday launched a giant gas pipeline linking the countries for the first time, one of three major projects aimed at cementing Moscow's role as the world's top gas exporter.
Presiding by video link-up over an elaborate televised ceremony, Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping hailed the "Power of Siberia" pipeline as a symbol of cooperation.
"Today is remarkable, a truly historic event not only for the global energy market, but first of all for us and for you, for Russia and China," Putin said.
Xi said the project served as a model of cooperation.
"China-Russia relations are entering a new era," Xi said. "Everyone worked hard." The ceremony featured hard-hatted gas workers and videos showing the pipeline's difficult path from remote areas of eastern Siberia to Blagoveshchensk on the Chinese border.
Workers burst into applause and celebratory music played as the CEO of Russian gas giant Gazprom, Alexei Miller, speaking from the Amur region, 

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