A Pakistani court on Tuesday issued a notice to anti-graft body on a petition filed by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif's daughter Maryam Nawaz challenging her arrest in money laundering case.
A two-member Lahore High Court bench comprising Justice Ali Baqar Najafi and Justice Sardar Ahmad Naeem directed a special prosecutor of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to submit a reply to the petition on October 14.
Maryam's counsel Advocate Amjad Pervez said the NAB had no jurisdiction to investigate matter relating to sale/purchase of Chaudhry Sugar Mills (CSM)' shares after amendments in laws unless referred by Security & Exchange Commission of Pakistan.
He said all properties of the Sharif family, its business concerns and companies including the CSM had already been thoroughly investigated by the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) formed by the Supreme Court in Panama Papers case.
The counsel also questioned the jurisdiction of the bureau's chairman for approving the impugned ...

Pak court issues notice to anti-graft body on Maryam Nawaz's petition

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Britain launched an investigation on Tuesday into the auditors who signed off on accounts for the now-bankrupt holiday giant Thomas Cook, as the company's French branch went into receivership and its Belgian division  collapsed.
The Financial Reporting Council said in a statement that it will examine whether accountancy firm EY -- which replaced PwC as Thomas Cook's auditors in 2017 -- acted properly in scrutinising its books.
"The FRC has commenced an investigation into the audit by EY of the financial statements of Thomas Cook Group Plc for the year ended September 30, 2018," it said.
The regulator "will keep under close review both the scope of this investigation and the question of whether to open any other investigation in relation to Thomas Cook, liaising with other relevant regulators to the fullest extent permissible".
If the watchdog's probe uncovers any wrongdoing, it could spark a severe reprimand and a fine for those involved.
The FRC probe comes after a parliamentary ...

UK launches probe of Thomas Cook auditors as foreign branches collapse

Security forces Tuesday used a volley of live fire to disperse hundreds of Iraqis protesting in central Baghdad against state corruption and poor public services, an AFP reporter said.
More than 50 people were injured, most of them from tear gas inhalation and some by rubber bullets, in the first major protest against Iraq's fragile, less than year-old government, according to police and medical sources.
More than 1,000 protesters had descended on the main Tahrir Square with Iraqi flags draped over their shoulders or wrapped around their foreheads.
"Those thieves robbed us!" they cried out in condemnation of the political class in Iraq, considered the 12th most corrupt country in the world by Transparency International.
Others were on the streets to protest at the lack of public services, including rampant power cuts, water shortages and unemployment, particularly among youth.
And some carried portraits of Staff Lieutenant General Abdulwahab al-Saadi, who was this week removed from ...

Shots fired as over 1,000 protest in Iraq capital

Vatican police have seized documents and electronics during a search of the Holy See's secretariat of state and financial watchdog agency after receiving official complaints about "past financial operations."
The Vatican press office didn't provide details about the search and seizures on Tuesday or the nature of the complaints that sparked them.
The office says the complaints "concerning past financial operations." arrived over the summer from the Vatican bank and auditor general's office.
It said the chief prosecutor at the Vatican's criminal tribunal authorized the seizures.
For nearly a decade the Vatican has been trying to clean up its financial act by adhering to international anti-money laundering norms and reforming its bank, the Institute of Religious Works.
The Holy See is due for an on-site visit by Council of Europe evaluators in the spring.

Vatican's secretariat of state searched in financial probe

French billionaire Francois Pinault and son Francois-Henri Pinault have officially signed documents setting aside 100 million euros (USD 109 million) toward rebuilding Notre Dame Cathedral, following months of delay that left officials largely reliant on small charity donations to fund the first phase of repairs.
Surrounded by portraits of former cardinals, the Pinaults signed the donation agreement at the Archdiocese of Paris Tuesday.
The money will give the Notre Dame Foundation a much-awaited financial boost as authorities draw up plans for the cathedral's reconstruction, following the devastating fire on April 15.
Paris Archbishop Michel Aupetit says "everyone gives what he can according to his needs, but the big donors give us breathing room."
Francois Pinault, whose international luxury group Kering owns Gucci and Saint Laurent, pledged the money directly after the fire.
His rival, French billionaire Bernard Arnault of luxury goods group LVMH, soon followed suit, pledging 200 ...

French billionaire gives USD 109 mn to rebuild Notre Dame

Indian-origin UK minister Priti Patel on Tuesday made her ministerial debut on the Conservative Party conference stage in Manchester with the announcement of new 25-million pound "safer streets" and 20-million pound anti-drugs funds as part of her wider message of getting tough on crime as the UK home secretary.
The 47-year-old Gujarati-origin Cabinet minister, who described herself as the "daughter of immigrants", was among a handful of heavyweight Cabinet speeches lined up for the annual conference, which government ministers reserve to make big ticket announcements.
"It is the job of Chief Constables to make that operational decision. It is the job of the home secretary to empower them to do so. I am giving them that power," she said, amid applause from the Tory party membership gathering.
"And today I am announcing a 20 million pound package to roll up county lines drugs gangs. To stop them terrorising our towns and villages and exploiting our children. And a new 25 million pound .

Indian-origin UK minister unveils new anti-drugs, safer street funds

Prime Minister Imran Khan in a surprise move has appointed Munir Akram, known for his strident anti-India stand, as Pakistan's new permanent representative to the United Nations, replacing Maleeha Lodhi,  a day after he returned from the US.
The Pakistan Foreign Office gave no reason for Lodhi's removal in a statement late on Monday.
The development came a day after Prime Minister Khan returned from New York, where he raised the Kashmir issue in his maiden address to the UN General Assembly last week.
"Ambassador Munir Akram has been appointed as the Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations in New York, in place of Dr Maleeha Lodhi," the Foreign Office said.
The development is seen as surprising since many including government ministers praised Lodhi and her team for "successfully managing" Khan's visit to New York, The Express Tribune reported.
The appointment of Akram, who previously served as Pakistan's Ambassador to the UN, also indicates that Pakistan is going ..

Pak PM Imran removes Maleeha Lodhi, appoints Munir Akram as new UN envoy

Sri Lankan Sports Minister Harin Fernando on Tuesday dismissed suggestions that the BCCI had issued a threat to their players that they will be ousted from the cash-rich IPL, if they toured Pakistan.
Fawad Chaudhary, Pakistan's Minister for Science and Technology, had alleged  that India was pressuring Sri Lankan players not to tour Pakistan. He had tweeted that Indian "sports authorities" were resorting to cheap tactics.
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) still sent its team for an ODI series though Island nation's top players opted out of the tour.
But Fernando said that the BCCI never tried to influence their decision and Fawad's tweet landed him in a tough situation.
"To be honest with all fairness to the (Pakistan) minister, it caused a lot of controversy as only (Lasith) Malinga had a contract to play in the Indian Premier League. I got into a situation where the Indian High Commission and everybody started talking to me and said to retweet that they had nothing to do with it which I did ..

India didn't pressurise our players to not tour Pakistan: Sri Lanka Sports Minister

The Copa Libertadores semifinals start Tuesday with a rematch of last year's troubled final as defending champion River Plate faces Argentine rival Boca Juniors.
The 2018 final was moved to Spain for the first time in its history because of fan violence prior to the second leg.
This year's final is on Nov. 23 in Santiago.
Brazil's Gremio and Flamengo meet in the other semifinal of South America's most prestigious club tournament, with the first leg on Wednesday.
River and Boca meet almost one year after River won in Madrid.
"This match is not the decider. We hope to win and reach a good result, but if we don't get it we will have another chance, we are dangerous visitors," said River coach Marcelo Gallardo.
After the final in Spain, Boca managed to regroup under a new coach, Gustavo Alfaro, and his team leads the league in Argentina.
While Alfaro has coached Boca for 40 matches, with 23 wins, 14 draws and only three defeats, he knows what really counts.
"Obviously my work will be ...

Copa Libertadores semifinals begin with River-Boca rematch

China for the first time unveiled its high-altitude, high-speed drone - the WZ-8 - at Tuesday's 70th National Day parade here, which Chinese experts say can provide more reliable reconnaissance data than satellites.
Uniquely shaped like a dagger with small wings, the reconnaissance drone is likely able to fly at a high-supersonic speed and have stealth capabilities, military analysts said.
Trucks carried the aircraft as a part of the unmanned weaponry phalanx in the parade.
The drone is likely launched in the air via a bomber or transport aircraft, state-run Global Times quoted military analysts as saying.
The biggest advantage of the drone is that it can effectively gather intelligence in real time in a controllable way compared to other platforms like satellites, Wu Jian, editor of Defence Weekly under Shanghai-based Xinmin Evening News, told the Global Times.
A satellite must travel along its orbit and conduct reconnaissance only when it is above the target, Wu said, pointing out ..

China unveils high-altitude, high speed drone at National Day parade

The French arm of the bankrupt British tour operator Thomas Cook said Tuesday that a commercial court had placed it in receivership, and that "several serious candidates" had already shown interest in buying the company.
Thomas Cook France, which employs 780 people, had already declared insolvency last week in the wake of its parent company's bankruptcy.
It said the court in Nanterre, outside Paris, had set a deadline of October 22 for potential takeover bids, and a new court hearing to examine the offers on November 5.
"The goal is to ensure continued operations for the French subsidiary and rapidly find a takeover solution," Thomas Cook France said.
Potential buyers included some in the travel tourism sector, it said, while "other potential candidates could also come forward."
No candidates have so far come forward publicly, and the number one French player, TUI France, declined to comment last week.
The French arm of Thomas Cook owns 172 travel agencies generating annual revenue of 

Thomas Cook France placed in receivership, 780 jobs at risk

Security forces Tuesday used a volley of live fire to disperse more than 1,000 Iraqis protesting in central Baghdad against state corruption and poor public services, an AFP reporter said.
The first major protest against Iraq's less than one-year-old government left more than 50 injured, most of them from tear gas inhalation and some by rubber bullets, according to police and medical sources.

Shots fired to disperse protest in Iraq capital

FIFA has imposed a life ban for bribery on Enrique Sanz, the former general secretary of North American soccer body CONCACAF.
Sanz was easily identified as an unnamed co-conspirator in U.S. Department of Justice documents in 2015  No. 4 in the original indictment in May that year, and No. 3 in a superseding indictment unsealed that December.
American federal prosecutors alleged that he arranged and took bribes linked to commercial deals for international soccer competitions with other officials linked to FIFA. They included World Cup qualifying games and the 2016 Copa American centenary tournament.
Though Sanz was not publicly charged or sentenced, prosecutors alleged he also took part in bribery schemes working for sports agency Traffic USA before joining CONCACAF in 2012.
The indictment said he obtained an "expensive painting from an art gallery in New York" as a bribe while working for Jeffrey Webb, then CONCACFA's leader and a FIFA vice president. Webb, a banker from the Cayman ...

FIFA imposes life ban on former CONCACAF official Sanz

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says in a letter to the House Foreign Affairs Committee that Democrats are trying to "intimidate" and "bully" State Department employees and that depositions scheduled by the panel are "not feasible."
Three House committees have scheduled depositions with five current and former State Department officials over the next two weeks, including former ambassador to Ukraine Marie "Masha" Yovanovitch and Kurt Volker, the Ukrainian envoy who resigned last week.
The chairmen of the House Foreign Affairs, Intelligence and Oversight committees set an October 4 deadline for Pompeo to produce documents related to their investigation of President Donald Trump's interactions with Ukraine. The probes are part of an impeachment inquiry.
House Democrats are moving aggressively against Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani as part of their impeachment inquiry.
Giuliani has been at the heart of President Trump's efforts to get Ukraine to investigate political rival Joe Biden's ...

Pompeo says impeachment depositions not feasible

Boeing continues to target the fourth quarter for regulatory approval to return the 737 MAX to service after two deadly crashes, a spokesman said Tuesday.
Boeing last week organized simulator tests for pilots from leading US carriers on new systems upgraded after two deadly MAX crashes.
Boeing's changes received positive feedback, according to people familiar with the matter, boosting Boeing's hopes of meeting its target date.
"While the decision is up to the regulators, we continue to work towards return to service of the MAX in the fourth quarter of this year," Boeing spokesman Gordon Johndroe told AFP.
The tests took place in Miami last week and involved pilots from American Airlines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines of Boeing's upgrades to the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System, a flight handling system that has been tied to crashes of Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines flights that together claimed 346 lives.
The timeframe for returning the 737 MAX to service has .

Boeing still eyes 737 MAX return in 4Q: Boeing spokesman

Iran's judiciary on Tuesday announced it had convicted four people on charges of spying for the United States or Britain, sentencing one of them to death.
"Last week, a person accused of espionage for an American (intelligence) service was sentenced to death by a revolutionary court," judiciary spokesman Gholamhossein Esmaili told a press conference.
Esmaili did not name the accused but said the identity would be revealed if the verdict is confirmed by the supreme court.
The spokesman also did disclose the names of the other three, each sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Ali Nafariyeh and Mohammad-Ali Babapour were convicted of spying for the US and fined $55,000, the amount they were allegedly paid for collaborating with Washington.
Mohammad Amin-Nassab was found guilty of spying for Britain.
Tehran announced in July it had dismantled a CIA spy ring, arresting 17 suspects and sentencing some of them to death.
Iranian authorities said the arrests were carried out between March 2018 and .

Iran convicts 4 on espionage charges

US sportswear giant Nike on Tuesday gave its backing to athletics coach Alberto Salazar after he was banned for four years for doping.
Salazar was banned following a lengthy investigation by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).
The coach works with athletes at the Nike-backed Oregon Project in Portland, but Nike said Salazar's ban "had nothing to do with administering banned substances to any Oregon Project athlete".
"As the panel noted, they were struck by the amount of care Alberto took to ensure he was complying with the World Anti-Doping Code," Nike said in a statement.
"We support Alberto in his decision to appeal and wish him the full measure of due process that the rules require," the statement continued.
"Nike does not condone the use of banned substances in any manner."
Salazar guided the career of British four-time Olympic gold medallist Mo Farah, who said in response to the ban that he had "no tolerance for anyone who breaks the rules or crosses the line".
Salazar .

Nike supports coach Salazar after doping ban

Britain's counter-terrorism officers said they have charged a British Sikh duo with fraud offences relating to charitable funds after they had been arrested back in July.
Rajbinder Kaur, 50, is charged with money laundering and six counts of theft amounting to 50,000 pounds and 38-year-old Kaldip Singh Lehal is charged with providing false or misleading information to the UK's charity watchdog Charity Commission.
The Birmingham-based pair, believed to be related as brother and sister, are linked to Sikh Youth UK and were arrested on July 3 by the West Midlands Counter Terrorism Unit (WMCU).
"Kaur has been charged with money laundering, six counts of theft amounting to 50,000 pounds and one count under Section 60 of the Charities Act 2011  knowingly or recklessly provide false or misleading information to the (Charity) Commission," a West Midlands Police statement said.
"Lehal has been charged with one count under Section 60 of the Charities Act 2011  knowingly or recklessly provide ...

UK counter-terror police charges British Sikh duo with charity fraud

The Australian unit of the Adani group on Tuesday said the Gandhian values are at the core of the Indian conglomerate,  refuting former Greens leader Bob Brown's accusations that its owner Gautam Adani is "leeching" off the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi, ahead of his 150th birthday celebrations.
Holding a demonstration in front of a statue of Gandhi in Brisbane, Brown criticised Adani's sponsorship of the Mahatma's birthday celebrations in the city on Wednesday, saying the billionaire industrialist was trying to piggyback off everything Gandhi stood for, the Australian Associated Press reported.
"I think it's fantastic that the world will celebrate Gandhi's birthday tomorrow (October 2) but Adani leeching on to that and trying to get some kudos from putting some money into it is a travesty," he said.
"(Gandhi) comes from Gujarat state as does Adani, that's where the similarity ends - they're polar opposites," the former senator said.
Responding to his remarks, Adani Australia in a ...

Gandhian values core of company, says Adani Australia

Britain on Tuesday launched an investigation into the auditors who signed off on accounts for the now-bankrupt holiday giant Thomas Cook, as the company's Belgian division finally collapsed.
The Financial Reporting Council said in a statement that it will examine whether accountancy firm EY -- which replaced PwC as Thomas Cook's auditors in 2017 -- acted properly in scrutinising its books.
"The FRC has commenced an investigation into the audit by EY of the financial statements of Thomas Cook Group Plc for the year ended 30 September 2018," it said.
The regulator "will keep under close review both the scope of this investigation and the question of whether to open any other investigation in relation to Thomas Cook, liaising with other relevant regulators to the fullest extent permissible".
If the watchdog's probe uncovers any wrongdoing, it could spark a severe reprimand and a fine for those involved.
The FRC probe comes after a parliamentary business committee launched its own inquiry 

UK launches probe of Thomas Cook auditors

Human activity churns out up to 100 times more planet-warming carbon each year as all the volcanoes on Earth, says a decade-long study released Tuesday.
The Deep Carbon Observatory (DCO), a 500-strong international team of scientists, released a series of papers outlining how carbon is stored, emitted and reabsorbed by natural and manmade processes.
They found that manmade carbon dioxide emissions drastically outstrip the contribution of volcanoes -- which belch out gas and are often fingered as a major climate change contributor -- to current warming rates.
The findings, published in the journal Elements, showed just two-tenths of 1 percent of Earth's total carbon -- around 43,500 gigatonnes -- is above the surface in oceans, the land, and in our atmosphere.
The rest -- a staggering 1.85 billion gigatonnes -- is stored in our planet's crust, mantle and core, providing scientists with clues as to how Earth formed billions of years ago.
One gigatonne is equivalent to around 3 million ..

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