British lawmakers have outlawed the practice of "upskirting" -- secretly taking pictures up women's skirts -- following an 18-month campaign by a victim.
Those found guilty face up to two years in jail, leading campaigner Gina Martin to praise the bill as "politics and society at its best".
Members of the upper House of Lords on Tuesday gave the bill the final seal of approval, and it now only requires the formality of Royal Assent.
Prime Minister Theresa May personally backed the legislation, saying the practice left victims "feeling degraded and distressed".
The bill was briefly held up last year when a single MP blocked it by shouting "Object!" during a parliamentary vote.
Christopher Chope, a member of May's Conservative Party, claimed he was objecting to the manner in which the bill was introduced, but was met with cries of "shame" from MPs.
Martin tweeted that she was "over the moon" about the vote, adding "I AM EXHAUSTED AND SO HAPPY!".
From Liverpool in northwest England, ...

'Upskirting' becomes illegal across UK

PTI Automatic

China will step in to support private businesses and cut taxes to boost the slowing economy, Premier Li Keqiang said Wednesday.
Growth in the world's second largest economy is flagging, dragged down by the trade dispute with the US, and growth should slip to 6.2 percent this year according to the World Bank.
The slowdown complicates Beijing's efforts to cut debt levels and transition away from an economic model based on exports, manufacturing and investment to one more reliant on domestic consumption.
In a meeting with senior officials and leading businessmen including Alibaba's Jack Ma, Li outlined measures to fight the "downward pressure on the economy".
"We need to further stimulate the vitality of the market," Li said, according to state news agency Xinhua.
"This is an important support in the face of downward pressure and an important direction of reform," Li said.
In recent years, China has moved in the opposite direction, with state-owned enterprises growing in importance and ..

Chinese premier vows measures to support the economy

Rescuers racing to save a two-year-old boy who fell down a well in southern Spain have found several strands of his hair, authorities said Wednesday, raising hopes of finding the toddler whose fate has gripped the nation for days.
It is the first confirmation that Julen is down the 110-metre (360-foot) deep shaft after family members said he tumbled in on Sunday while playing as his parents had lunch nearby.
"We found a little hair (in the well) and the DNA tests carried out by the Civil Guard certify that they belong to the child," Alfonso Rodriguez Gomez, a government representative of the southwestern region of Andalusia, told news radio Cadena Ser.
The boy's father Jose said the discovery meant he and Julen's mother could "see a little light", adding that they felt "dead, but with hope for an angel to help us bring him back alive".
Firefighters had previously found a bag of sweets in the well, but two cameras lowered into the shaft failed to capture any trace of him.
"There is ...

Spanish rescuers find hair of missing toddler in well

Indonesia will do everything possible to advance the rights of Palestinians when it assumes its position on the United Nations Security Council, the foreign ministry said Wednesday.
Ministry official Febrian Ruddyard said the world's largest Muslim-majority country would make sure issues facing the Palestinians were not buried, and it would offer unwavering support for their bid to become a full member of the UN.
Palestinians have the status of non-member observer state at the world body. Full membership would amount to international recognition of Palestinian statehood.
"We have always reiterated that once we are elected we will push the Palestine issue in any form," Ruddyard said.
Indonesia would prioritise the rights of refugees, woman and children, but influencing the US decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital would be hard, he said.
Indonesia, along with Germany, Belgium, South Africa and the Dominican Republic, started a two-year term as a non-permanent member of the 

Indonesia vows to push Palestinian rights on Security Council

Roger Federer ground out a tough three-set win to make the Australian Open third round for an incredible 20th straight year Wednesday, with long-time rival Rafael Nadal also safely through in his drive towards an 18th Grand Slam title.
Women's defending champion Caroline Wozniacki also progressed to set up a mouth-watering clash next with in-form former world number one Maria Sharapova.
But it was curtains for South African Kevin Anderson, who slumped out to young American Frances Tiafoe and became the highest seed, at five, to be sent packing so far.
On an overcast day at Melbourne Park, second seed Angelique Kerber, the 2016 winner, and former US Open champion Sloane Stephens joined the big guns in round three, but the women's side also saw a top 10 player crash.
Ninth seed Kiki Bertens, who raced through the rankings last year after winning three titles, was whipped in three sets by Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Federer might be 37 but he's not showing his age, with British ...

Federer, Nadal stay on track as Sharapova sets up Wozniacki showdown

Tottenham have defied the odds to remain alive in three cup competitions and on course for a top-four finish in the Premier League after spending nothing in the summer but staying afloat without injured talisman Harry Kane could be the biggest challenge yet for manager Mauricio Pochettino.
Kane will not even be fit to train until early March after suffering ligament damage in his left ankle during Sunday's 1-0 home defeat to Manchester United.
His absence could not have come at a worse time for Pochettino ahead of a potentially season-defining run of at least 11 games on four fronts over the next seven weeks.
What will Kane miss?
====================
Kane is expected to miss both legs of Spurs' Champions League last-16 tie against Borussia Dortmund, the second leg of a League Cup semi-final at Chelsea and the final should they progress, a trip to Crystal Palace in the fourth round of the FA Cup and the fifth round if Spurs make it through, plus seven Premier League games, including ...

Can Spurs keep the pace without Harry Kane?

Five-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova's scintillating return to form continued Wednesday as she powered into the Australian Open third round to set up a mouth-watering clash with defending champion Caroline Wozniacki.
Sharapova, who is seeded 30th at the tournament and seeking to recapture former glories after coming back from a drugs ban in 2017, brushed aside Swede Rebecca Peterson 6-2, 6-1.
The 31-year-old has only conceded three games en route to round three at Melbourne Park, where she won the title in 2008 and has reached the final a further three times.
"I'm really happy the way I performed today and obviously it's always great to be back on this court," she said.
"Overall, I thought I played a really solid match." The pair emerged on Rod Laver Arena late in the night due to a long-running men's match, meaning only a smattering of fans were there to cheer on the former world number one.
While Sharapova served a 6-0, 6-0 "double bagel" to her first-round opponent Harriet 

Dominant Sharapova win sets up Wozniacki clash

An Egyptian university has overturned its decision to expel a male student over hugging his female friend on campus, in an incident that sparked controversy in the conservative country.
The young man appeared in a video carrying a bouquet of flowers kneeling before a woman and then hugging her, in what was meant to be a marriage proposal.
The footage was widely circulated online earlier this month and initially prompted the expulsion of both students from their respective universities.
But late Tuesday the Mansoura University in northern Egypt, where the video was shot, reversed its decision to exclude the male student for two years.
The student's appeal against the expulsion included "his apology for the act committed, a pledge to not repeat it and to commit to the university's values and ethics," a university statement said.
It cited the student's young age, concern for his future and his unfamiliarity with the university's rules, deciding instead to ban him from taking the ...

Egypt university overturns expulsion of student over hug

Sri Lanka has appealed to the International Monetary Fund to revive a USD 1.5-billion bailout suspended during the island nation's political crisis late last year, the finance ministry said Wednesday.
In October, President Maithripala Sirisena sparked weeks of high political drama, even featuring brawls in parliament, by sacking Ranil Wickremesinghe as prime minister and dissolving the legislature.
Courts and the parliament subsequently held that the president's actions were unconstitutional and restored the status quo after more than seven weeks of upheaval that alarmed the international community.
The crisis prompted three international credit rating agencies to downgrade Sri Lanka and the IMF to suspend its bailout programme - that began in 2016 - just as it was about to disburse another instalment.
Sri Lanka's finance ministry said in a statement the request to revive the bailout was made during talks between Finance Minister Mangala Samaraweera and IMF chief Christine Lagarde in .

Sri Lanka asks IMF to revive USD 1.5-billion bailout

Collated results from Day 3 of the Australian Open on Wednesday:
Men's singles 2nd round
Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE x14) bt Viktor Troicki (SRB) 6-3, 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 Nikoloz Basilashvili (GEO x19) bt Stefano Travaglia (ITA) 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 Tomas Berdych (CZE) bt Robin Haase (NED) 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 Andreas Seppi (ITA) bt Jordan Thompson (AUS) 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 Diego Schwartzman (ARG x18) bt Denis Kudla (USA) 6-4, 7-5, 3-6, 6-7 (6/8), 6-4 Marin Cilic (CRO x6) bt Mackenzie McDonald (USA) 7-5, 6-7 (9/11), 6-4, 6-4 Frances Tiafoe (USA) bt Kevin Anderson (RSA x5) 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 7-5 Fernando Verdasco (ESP x26) bt Radu Albot (MDA) 6-1, 7-6 (7/2), 6-3 Karen Khachanov (RUS x10) bt Yoshihito Nishioka (JPN) 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 Roger Federer (SUI x3) bt Daniel Evans (GBR) 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 Taylor Fritz (USA) bt Gael Monfils (FRA x30) 6-3, 6-7 (8/10), 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/5) Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP x22) bt John Millman (AUS) 6-3, 6-1, 3-6, 6-7 (6/8), 6-4 Grigor Dimitrov (BUL x20) bt Pablo Cuevas (URU) 

Australian Open results

An Indonesian woman has been mauled to death by a huge pet crocodile on the island of Sulawesi, officials said Wednesday.
Deasy Tuwo, the head of a laboratory at a pearl farm in Minahasa in North Sulawesi, was killed by the 4.4-metre (14-foot) reptile last Thursday, authorities said.
The 44-year old's badly mauled body was found by colleagues the following morning, Hendrik Rundengan, from the local conservation agency, told AFP.
"The indication is that she fell into the crocodile's enclosure," he said, adding the incident was still being investigated by police.
The crocodile, named Merry, had eaten one of the woman's hands and most of her abdomen was missing, Rundengan said.
"These parts may still be inside the crocodile now," he added.
The giant reptile was sedated and removed from its enclosure Monday in a three-hour operation that involved dozens of people, including conservation officials, the army and police.
The reptile, which was owned illegally, will be transferred to a ...

Crocodile mauls woman to death in Indonesia

The membership of 332 Pakistani lawmakers, including that of the country's high-profile Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, was suspended on Wednesday after they failed to submit details of their properties and assets to the poll body, according to media reports.
Out of the 1,174 lawmakers, 839 submitted the details of their properties and assets, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) said while suspending the membership of the remaining 332.
Those who were suspended include 72 members of National Assembly, 20 members of Senate, 115 members of Punjab Assembly, 52 members of Sindh Assembly, 54 members of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 19 members of Balochistan assembly, Dunya News reported.
Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry, Minister for Health Aamir Kiyani, Raheela Magsi, National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Soori, PML-N leaders Ahsan Iqbal, Musadiq Malik and Anwaarul Haq Kakar are among those whose memberships have been suspended, the report said.
The ...

332 Pak lawmakers suspended over non-disclosure of assets

With the fate of Brexit in the balance and an embattled prime minister in trouble, a decision by British MP to debate the height of letter boxes raised more than a few eyebrows.
The 10-minute rule motion, a procedure allowing MPs to state their case for a new bill, was held just after Prime Minister Theresa May faced angry questions in parliament.
"Having delivered newspapers as a boy, I fully understand the challenge of low-level letterboxes. However, I feel that our government have slightly more important things to discuss this afternoon," @TweetingBeattie wrote on Twitter.
"Gotta smile at our democracy sometimes," said @AidanMelville, while @acoulton wrote: "Crazy times".
But Liberal Democrat lawmaker Richard Newby said he was "pleased" parliament was "getting its priorities right".
"Anyone who's ever been leafleting knows how irritating low-level letterboxes can be," he wrote.
In parliament, Conservative MP Vicky Ford, who brought the motion, said her proposed legislation to amend 

British MPs pause Brexit turmoil for letter-box debate

Fourteen people were killed and thousands fled when Boko Haram attacked a remote town in northeast Nigeria, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Wednesday.
The medical charity said Monday's attack in Rann, in Borno state near the border with Cameroon, also destroyed some of its facilities and would affect humanitarian operations.
Fighters from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) faction of Boko Haram targeted a military base in the town and torched buildings as they left.
MSF's emergency programme manager, Hugues Robert, said a small team returned to Rann on Tuesday to assess the damage, and described the situation on the ground as "chaotic".
"The figures we got yesterday from people who have been there... were 14 people died," he told AFP by phone from Geneva.
Three of the 14 were soldiers, he added.
Military and humanitarian sources said on Tuesday that seven people were killed, including three soldiers.
Rann, which is some 175 kilometres (110 miles) northeast of the ...

14 dead, aid affected after jihadist raid in Nigeria: MSF

A suicide attack targeting US-led coalition forces in the flashpoint northern Syrian city of Manbij killed a US serviceman and 14 other people on Wednesday, a monitor said.
"There are nine civilians dead, five from the SDF accompanying forces", the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, referring to a Kurdish-led force present in the city.
It said the blast, which targeted a restaurant in the centre of Manbij and was claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group, also killed a US serviceman, although the coalition did not immediately divulge any casualty figures.

Suicide attack targeting US-led coalition in Syria kills 15: monitor

Facebook said Tuesday it will tighten rules for political ads in countries like India where elections are scheduled in the first half of the year, building on transparency efforts already underway in the United States, Britain and Brazil after a series of scandals.
"As we prepare for major elections around the world this year, we're continuing our focus on preventing foreign interference and giving people more information about the ads they see across our platforms," the social media giant said in a post on its Business page.
In India, the network will launch an Ad Library and enforce authorisations before spring elections, it said.
In the US, Britain and Brazil political advertisers must confirm their identity and location before they can run Facebook ads, which are also housed in a public, searchable library for up to seven years.
"By shining a light on political ads, news organizations, regulators, watchdog groups and people anywhere in the world can hold advertisers and us more ...

Facebook to tighten political ad rules for 2019 elections

One in three Christians in Asia faces high levels of persecution after a "shocking increase" of religious-based threats and violence across the world, particularly in China and sub-Saharan Africa, a global advocacy group said Wednesday.
Around half of China's 100 million Christians encounters persecution, "the worst it's been in more than a decade", following "new laws seeking to control religious expression", the Open Doors watchdog said.
Following North Korea on the list are Afghanistan, Somalia, Libya, Pakistan, Sudan, Eritrea, Iran, India and Syria.
India entered the top 10 for the first time, Open Doors said, as "Hindu extremists act with impunity and violent attacks on Christians and churches rise".
Persecution worldwide increased for the sixth straight year, with a total of 245 million Christians - one out of nine worldwide - facing high levels in 2018, up from 215 million, or one in 12, the previous year.
"Worldwide, our data reveals that 13.9 per cent more Christians are ...

One in three Christians in Asia faces persecution: report

A dominant Rafael Nadal overwhelmed Australia's Matthew Ebden in straight sets to reach the third round of the Australian Open on Wednesday and stay on track for an 18th Grand Slam title.
The Spaniard, who cut short his 2018 season to have surgery on a foot injury, raced through the tie in just 116 minutes.
The 32-year-old's newly remodelled serve only briefly came under pressure from Ebden, 31, who enjoyed vociferous home support on Rod Laver Arena before losing 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.
The Australian forced three break points at 3-2 in the first set, but could convert none before the second seed reeled off four games in a row to close it out in 35 minutes.
It was one-way traffic from then on as Nadal, sporting a trademark sleeveless shirt, cruised into the last 32.
"I played a solid match, I was happy with the way I served. I did a few things very well," said Nadal, who next plays Australian 27th seed Alex de Minaur.
"It is an honour to play here. Was a great atmosphere." Nadal pulled out of .

Clinical Nadal overwhelms Aussie Ebden

Tottenham defender Serge Aurier was arrested on suspicion of assault after police were called to his home near London but released without charge, reports said on Wednesday.
Sky Sports News reported that the Ivory Coast international, 26, was taken into custody on Saturday and missed Tottenham's 1-0 defeat by Manchester United at Wembley the following day.
Police issued a statement to AFP saying: "A 26-year-old man... was arrested on suspicion of ABH (actual bodily harm) and has been released with no further action."
A Tottenham spokesman quoted by the Evening Standard newspaper said: "We are aware of an incident concerning Serge Aurier this weekend. The player was released without charge."
The former Paris Saint-Germain player, who has played 12 times for Mauricio Pochettino's Spurs side this season, received a suspended two-month prison sentence after an assault on a police officer outside a Paris nightclub in 2016.
He was also suspended by PSG for making a homophobic slur against ..

Spurs defender Aurier released after arrest on suspicion of assault

A new blast has been heard at a hotel complex in Kenya's capital, 24 hours after several extremists attacked.
Witnesses say security forces are conducting a painstaking sweep for any explosives in the Nairobi complex of half a dozen buildings. Emergency responders near the scene appear unperturbed.
Kenya's president has said "all the terrorists have been eliminated" in the attack that authorities say killed 14 people. Some 700 people were evacuated in the overnight security operation.

New blast heard as Kenyan forces sweep for bombs

A suicide attack targeting US-led coalition forces in the flashpoint northern Syrian city of Manbij killed a US serviceman and seven other people on Wednesday, a monitor said.
There was no immediate confirmation of the US death from the coalition.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said seven Syrian civilians were killed in the blast along with the US serviceman.

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