Monday 7 December 2015

Dunya TV

Dunya TV

Tokyo shares fall by break as oil-linked stocks tumble

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TOKYO (AFP) - Tokyo stocks fell Tuesday morning as oil-linked firms took a beating after the price of crude tumbled to near a seven-year low.The precipitous drop was in reaction to a decision last week by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) not to cut output despite a global supply glut.Tokyos fall came after a drop on Wall Street where energy shares took a beating, with the Dow and S&P 500 both losing 0.7 percent and the Nasdaq off 0.8 percent.In Tuesday trading, Japanese energy explorer Inpex plunged 4.97 percent to 1,165 yen by the break, while JX Holdings, one of the countrys biggest oil refiners, dropped 3.55 percent to 499.2 yen.The benchmark Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange sank 1.03 percent, or 203.17 points, to 19,494.98, while the broader Topix index of all first-section shares fell 1.02 percent, or 16.23 points, to 1,568.98.Better-than-expected Japanese economic growth data, published shortly before markets opened, appeared to have little impact on investors.The worlds number three economy grew 0.3 percent in the July-September quarter, according to revised figures, just weeks after initial estimates showed that it had fallen into recession, denting Prime Minister Shinzo Abes growth blitz.However, economists were cautious as consumer spending remained weak with little in the way of big wage hikes to put more money in peoples pocketsThe data confirmed that the Japanese economy is growing gradually, said Hideo Kumano, chief economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute.And while severe pessimism is receding, consumption -- a key driver for the economy -- is still weak. Without more spending and higher wages, the engine of the economy wont be ignited.Toyota fell 0.88 percent to 7,636 yen, banking giant Mitsubishi UFJ was down 0.90 percent at 796.4 yen and mobile carrier SoftBank slipped 0.24 percent to 6,354 yen.Sony dropped 1.88 percent to 3,070 yen, as a pickup in the Japanese currency hit exporters.The dollar weakened to 123.11 yen from 123.36 yen in New York on Monday, while the euro fetched $1.0850, up from $1.0835 in US trade. The single currency slipped to 133.57 yen from 133.67 yen.

Oil price plunge, China data hit Asian markets

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HONG KONG (AFP) - Oil prices struggled at seven-year lows Tuesday, sending Asian energy firms plunging in line with their US and European counterparts after OPECs decision to maintain output dimmed hopes for a recovery in the black gold.Another tumble in Chinese imports and exports exacerbated the panic on regional markets, reinforcing worries about the state of the world economy at the same time as Washington considers hiking US interest rates.A global supply glut, weak demand and the growth slowdown in China have combined with soaring production over the past year to send crude slumping more than 60 percent over the past 18 months.Investors had been hoping that with the market becoming increasingly tight, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries could find a way to ease output and release some pressure on prices.However, the cartels six-monthly meeting Friday ended without any agreement between bickering members to make any cuts, which in turn battered global markets.On Monday, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude sank 5.8 percent and Brent shed 5.3 percent -- hitting levels not seen since February 2009. WTI tumbled 2.7 percent and Brent lost 1.9 percent Friday.US giant ExxonMobil, Frances Total and Italys Eni all fell between two and three percent, with many smaller producers and oil-services companies suffering even bigger drops.And Asian firms continued those losses as crude failed to recover. Hong Kong-listed Chinese giant CNOOC was down more than three percent, while PetroChina was off 1.4 percent in Shanghai.- Weak demand -===============Mining giant BHP Billiton dived almost five percent in Sydney, while Rio Tinto was off 3.5 percent. Woodside lost 3.5 percent and Oil Search plunged 15.8 percent after Woodside dropped a multi-billion-dollar bid for the latter without an explanation.Japans Inpex was off 5.4 percent while JX Holdings lost 3.2 percent.Market focus at the moment is the potential deflationary effects of lower oil prices, and the signalling that aggregate demand is weak, Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney, told Bloomberg News.Commodity-linked currencies took a hit from the falls, with Malaysias ringgit down one percent and the Australian dollar losing 0.1 percent.In China, investors were hit by another round of weak trade data indicating the worlds number two economy and key driver of global growth is heading for its worst year in a quarter of a century.Given the weak global growth and falling commodity prices, Chinas trade outlook remains challenging, Larry Hu, Head of China Economics at Macquarie Securities in Hong Kong, wrote in a report ahead of the figures.The plunge in oil prices and news from China overshadowed data out of Tokyo showing Japans economy grew slightly in July-September, meaning it averted a recession, as was initially thought from provisional results last month.However, Hideo Kumano, chief economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute, said: While severe pessimism is receding, consumption -- a key driver for the economy -- is still weak. Without more spending and higher wages, the engine of the economy wont be ignited.

Obama, Clinton meet for 'social' lunch

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WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton -- the woman hoping to succeed him in the Oval Office -- met at the White House for a lunch described by officials as mostly social.The former Democratic political rivals sat together for around 90 minutes, according to White House press secretary Josh Earnest.When their schedules permit, President Obama and Secretary Clinton enjoy the opportunity to catch up in person, Earnest said in a statement.This afternoon, they met privately for an informal lunch here at the White House for about an hour and a half. They discussed a wide array of topics, but this was mostly a social occasion.A year out from the 2016 presidential election, Obama has so far steered clear of endorsing any Democratic nominee.But Clinton -- his one-time secretary of state -- remains a clear favorite to secure the party nomination.The White House has been wary of appearing to tip the scales, but has at times voiced public displeasure at the Clinton camp, most notably over her opposition to Obamas signature trans-Pacific free trade deal.The agreement has yet to be ratified.

New suspected US-led Syria raids kill dozens of civilians

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BEIRUT (AFP) - Suspected US-led coalition air strikes killed at least 26 civilians in a Syrian village Monday, piling pressure on the alliance after allegations another bombing raid left regime soldiers dead.The coalition has been bombarding the Islamic State group for more than a year in Syria and neighbouring Iraq, where the jihadists have declared a self-styled caliphate.But according to a monitoring group, strikes on Monday on the village of Al-Khan in northeastern Syria only left civilians dead.Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said IS is in control of Al-Khan but is only on its outskirts, which is why all of the deaths were civilians.The death toll included at least seven children and four women, he said, adding that it was likely to rise as more than a dozen civilians were still missing under rubble.A spokesman for the US-led coalition said he had no details yet about the raid, but that a credibility assessment would review claims of civilian deaths.Last month, the US said four civilians were likely to have been killed in strikes against IS in Iraq. And in November 2014, it admitted accidentally killing two children in a strike in Syria.The Al-Khan strike came with the coalition already under pressure over allegations it carried out a raid the previous day that killed Syrian soldiers, in the first such case.Flagrant aggressionIn a letter to the UN Security Council and Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Syria accused the coalition of targeting an army camp in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor on Sunday, killing three soldiers and wounding 13.The foreign ministry letter condemned the attack as a flagrant aggression.The Observatory said four soldiers died in the first incident of US-led strikes killing Syrian troops.A Syrian military source gave the same toll, and said the attack late Sunday hit several buildings used as weapons depots and an army training camp, damaging two tanks.But a coalition spokesman said its only strikes in the area on Sunday were on an oil wellhead some 55 kilometres (35 miles) southeast of the army base, and a US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, blamed Russian strikes for the deaths.Much of Deir Ezzor is under IS control, but the regime still has a presence in small areas, including in the provincial capital.The provinces oil has been a major source of IS funding, but on Monday analysis firm IHS said the group was suffering financially due to air strikes on its oil infrastructure.IHS estimated ISs overall monthly income to be about $80 million (75 million euros) as of late 2015, around half of it from levies and confiscations.But it noted the group also had significant costs because it administers large swathes of territory.Lacks seriousness and credibilityThe Syrian government has regularly criticised the US-led strikes as ineffective and illegal because they are not coordinated with regime forces.The US coalition lacks the seriousness and credibility to effectively combat terrorism, the foreign ministry said.Staunch regime ally Moscow began its own aerial campaign in Syria on September 30 and coordinates its strikes with Damascus.On Sunday, US President Barack Obama vowed to destroy IS and hunt down its followers at home and abroad.It followed a shooting rampage in California last week that saw an apparently radicalised couple kill 14 people.While pledging to hunt down terrorist plotters in any country, Obama also said he would not be drawn once more into a long and costly ground war in Iraq and Syria.They know they cant defeat us on the battlefield... but they also know that if we occupy foreign lands, they can maintain insurgencies for years, killing thousands of our troops and draining our resources, and using our presence to draw new recruits, he said.Elsewhere, Syrian media said four people were killed in rebel rocket fire near the now-closed Russian consulate in Aleppo city.Also on Monday, the powerful Jaish al-Islam group announced it will attend a major meeting of Syrian opposition forces in Riyadh this week, the first rebel group to confirm participation.The group is the most prominent armed opposition faction near Damascus and controls most of the Eastern Ghouta suburb, which is regularly bombarded by government forces.

California shooters 'radicalized for quite some time': FBI

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SAN BERNARDINO (AFP) - The husband and wife behind the shooting in California that left 14 people dead were radicalized for quite some time and both went for target practice before the massacre, authorities said Monday.The update from the FBI on the terror probe into the December 2 rampage in San Bernardino came after President Barack Obama vowed to destroy the Islamic State group and hunt down its followers, in an address to a jittery nation.The self-proclaimed Islamic State has praised the California attackers -- Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik -- as soldiers of its self-proclaimed caliphate but did not say they were members of the group.As the investigation has progressed, we have learned and believe that both subjects were radicalized and have been for quite some time, David Bowdich, the FBIs assistant director in Los Angeles, told reporters on Monday.The question for us is how and by whom and where were they radicalized? he said.Maybe theres not a by whom. Often times its on the Internet.He said the couple, killed in a shootout with police following the gun attack on a year-end office party, went for target practice in ranges around the Los Angeles area, including in the days before the tragedy.On Sunday, Obama said the attack was an act of terrorism, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation is investigating it as such.Authorities have, however, said there is no indication the couple was part of an organized larger group or cell.In addition to two rifles and two handguns used in the attack at the party organized by Farooks employer -- the San Bernardino County health department -- investigators found an impressive arsenal at their home.The threat from terrorism is real, but we will overcome it. We will destroy (IS) and any other organization that tries to harm us, Obama said Sunday, in only his third address from the Oval Office since taking office in 2009.Obsessed by IsraelFarook, an American citizen, and his Pakistani wife met on an online dating site. Last year, he traveled to Saudi Arabia, where she lived, and they married. They left behind a six-month-old daughter.On Monday, ABC News broadcast a snapshot of the couple taken by immigration as they entered the United States as newlyweds in July 2014. It shows them both dressed in traditional Muslim clothing.Malik is wearing a black hijab that covers her head, and Farook is seen in a white tunic and skullcap.Farooks family have said they were at a loss to explain the couples rampage and have added that though both were devout Muslims, there was no indication they had become radicalized.Farooks co-workers also were dumbfounded. They said he had attended the holiday party and then left, only to return with his wife, both dressed in black military-style clothing and heavily armed.In an interview with the Italian daily La Stampa, however, Farooks father said his son approved of IS ideology and was fixated on Israel.He said he agreed with (IS chief Abu Bakr) al-Baghdadis ideas for creating the Islamic State, and he was obsessed by Israel, La Stampa quoted the father of the shooter, also named Syed Farook, as saying.I always used to say to him, Be calm, patience, in two years time Israel will no longer exist, he said, in remarks reported in Italian.But family attorney David Chesley said on Monday that he had spoken with the father, who denied making those statements.Hes on four or five medications and hes saying he didnt make those statements, Chesley told CNN. He didnt recall saying any of that.

Tennis: Vintage Rafa will be back next year vows Nadal

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MANILA (AFP) - An improved Rafael Nadal will show up for the 2016 season, the worlds former top tennis player said Monday after his worst season in a decade.The 29-year-old Spaniard, now ranked number five, declared himself healthy and optimistic for next year after a late 2015 rally that saw him beat all but two of the worlds top 10 players he has faced since October.I think its obvious that I did not have the best season possible, but I am number five in the world so actually its not a disaster, he told reporters in Manila.I dont know if Im going to win it (number one) back, (but) Im working hard to create opportunities to compete for the best tournaments and Im working so hard to try to make that happen.He had surgery to remove his appendix in late 2014 after various problems with his knees, hamstrings and back.Nadals world ranking sunk to number 10 earlier this year when his long reign as a French Open champion ended.He also had embarrassingly early exits from Wimbledon and the US Open.But the left-hander, with 14 Grand Slam titles to his name including a record nine French Open crowns, has since enjoyed a resurgence in form.He defeated the likes of Andy Murray, David Ferrer and Stan Wawrinka in the group stages of the season-ending World Tour Finals in London before losing to world number one Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals.I think I finished it very well this season and I want to continue it that way, he said Monday.Nadal is in the Philippine capital this week to play in a parallel International Premier Tennis League tour, which promotes a shortened, speeded-up version of the game.Showing few signs of his struggles in the previous months, the Spaniard swiftly won over the crowd with his signature intensity over two sets, grunting, chasing and diving after seemingly lost causes all over the court.He beat world number six Tomas Berdych 6-5 (7/3) in the mens singles after teaming up with Croatian Ivan Dodig to defeat Berdych and Canadian Daniel Nestor in the mens doubles, 6-3.Even as he nears 30, Nadal rejected suggestions it might be time to adjust his playing style, maybe in the mould of his great rival Roger Federer, to make him last longer in the tour.Im not Federer, Im Rafael Nadal. He has his style and I have my own style. I for sure try to improve many things during all my career and for sure Im working hard to be a better player.And if I am a better player for sure I will have the chance to play a bit longer.Nadal said he was treating the IPTL tour, which began in Japan and will also have stops in India, Dubai and Singapore this month, as part of his preparation for the 2016 season.Nadal is expected to compete next month in the Australian Open, which he has won just once.

Football: Blatter, Platini to face FIFA ethics committee December 16-18

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PARIS (AFP) - The FIFA ethics committee probing allegations of corruption against suspended president Sepp Blatter and his would-be successor, Michel Platini, will hear from the pair between December 16-18, a committee spokesman said Monday.Mr Platini and Mr Blatter will have the chance to present their positions during hearings scheduled between December 16-18, the spokesman told AFP.Both men were provisionally suspended by the ethics committee in October for 90 days.The moves came after Swiss prosecutors opened an investigation into possible criminal mismanagement at FIFA during Blatters tenure, including evidence of a murky $2 million payment made to Platini in 2011, reportedly for work he did a decade earlier.Aside from the Swiss probe, the United States justice department has charged 14 ex-FIFA officials and sports marketing executives with more than $150 million of bribery and corruption dating back decades.Those indictments, unsealed in May, uncorked the scandal that has shaken world football and grown seemingly wider each week.

Justice Wajeeh-ud-Din accuses 55 PTI leaders of party election rigging

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ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – Justice (R) Wajeed-ud-Din Monday accused 55 significant leaders of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) of rigging the previous intraparty elections. The former PTI member has requested that PTI chairman Imran Khan should not allow these leaders to participate in the coming party elections.In an email sent to the PTI chief, Justice (R) Wajeeh-ud-Din listed top PTI leaders including Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Jehangir Tareen, Naeem-ul-Haq and Shireen Mazari. The email also stated that the party tribunal had investigated every complaint in the previous intraparty polls. Dunya News has obtained a copy of the email.Retired Justice Wajeeh-ud-Din has also called for barring those who were not concerned with the previous party elections and those who were performed duties in the organizer setup.PTI has earlier announced to hold fresh intraparty elections and a 7-member committee was formed in this regard.PTI chief said he wants to transform the party into an institution, adding that the workers will directly elect their representatives.Read Further:PTI announces intraparty electionsTalking to the media after Advisory Council’s session, Khan told the press that a seven-member committee has been formed and that the date for the intraparty elections will be decided after consultations.Khan claimed the local body elections were rigged, while also terming them ‘accountability’ for his party. He also admitted to weaknesses shown on various occasions.

Iran swine flu outbreak kills 33 in three weeks: state media

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TEHRAN (AFP) - An outbreak of swine flu has left 33 people dead in two provinces of southeastern Iran in the past three weeks, the official IRNA news agency reported on Monday.IRNA quoted Deputy Health Minister Ali Akbar Sayyari as saying there had been 28 deaths in Kerman province and five in Sistan-Baluchistan and warning the H1N1 virus was likely to spread to other areas including the capital Tehran. The health ministry predicts that the virus will spread in the coming days to Tehran, West and East Azerbaijan and Kermanshah provinces more than to other places, he said.Nearly 600 people have been hospitalised in Kerman province over the outbreak, the head of the provinces medical university, Ali Akbar Haghdoost, told the ISNA news agency.Traces of the H1N1 virus were uncovered three weeks ago and we were the first province to report the epidemic, Haghdoost said.He called for limited travel during a three-day holiday weekend due to start on Thursday in order to prevent the spread of the virus.Haghdoost suggested the outbreak was now under control.We have received 5,000 doses of vaccines today and a shipment of 15,000 will arrive tomorrow, he said.Health Minister Hassan Hashemi said on Sunday the number of deaths from flu was similar to previous years, but that it was evolving and becoming harder to treat.This flu comes from beyond our borders, especially from Sistan-Baluchistan near Pakistan, Hashemi said, quoted by the Youth Journalist Club (YJC) state television website.But every year it becomes wilder and more resistant to treatment, he added.YJC only referred to the illness as the flu, and made no mention of swine flu.Patients suffering from diabetes, cardiovascular, kidney, lung diseases and cancer, as well as the elderly, children under five and pregnant women are more sensitive to the virus and must be vaccinated, said Sayyari.A senior official from the Health Ministrys Infectious Disease Department on Monday reported the state of swine flu to parliaments hygiene and treatment committee, IRNA reported.A major H1N1 outbreak in 2009 sparked a World Health Organization pandemic alert in June 2009, after the virus emerged from Mexico and the United States. The alert was lifted in August 2010 and the outbreak left some 18,500 people dead in 214 countries.The first instance of swine flue in Iran was reported in June 2009 when a 16-year-old Iranian boy entered the country with his family on a flight from the United Sates.

ICC targets World Twenty20 on US soil - report

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SYDNEY (AFP) - Cricket chiefs hope to stage a Twenty20 World Cup in the United States within a decade as the game ramps up efforts to crack the huge American sports market, a report said Tuesday.The International Cricket Councils head of global development Tim Anderson said the world governing body had ambitions to further popularise the sport in a country more used to baseball, basketball and gridiron.While still alien to many Americans, thousands travelled from the United States to this years 50-over one-day World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, while a lucrative broadcast deal with the United States is already worth big money to ICC.If we continue to make good progress, we would (hope to) see a World Twenty20 in the USA in the next rights cycle, Anderson told the Sydney Daily Telegraph, with the newspaper pointing to 2024 as the likely date.We think thatd be a great concept. Other sports have done that, not just football, but rugby are doing that with major events as well so we see that as a medium-term goal.India are scheduled to hold the next Twenty20 World Cup in 2016 with Australia hosting the event in 2020.Cricket greats Shane Warne and Sachin Tendulkar recently took a number of former international stars to the US for a three-match ICC-sanctioned T20 series, attracting large crowds.Among the throng of big-name retirees playing were Brian Lara, Courtney Walsh, Curtly Ambrose, Muttiah Muralitharan, Wasim Akram, Jacques Kallis, Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden, Glenn McGrath and Brad Haddin.Some of the worlds biggest active players could also be padding up in the United States soon.In the shorter term, our full members are keen to play some big cricket in the USA. I think thatd be a fantastic way to take cricket to a new heartland for the game, said Anderson.Theres already an ODI-accredited venue in Florida (and another potential site in Indianapolis) but, within the next 12-18 months, you could potentially have full members playing cricket (one-day internationals) in the USA.To strengthen its bid to establish itself in the American market, the ICC is also looking at trying to enter the countrys college sport programme to boost participation at a grass roots level, the report said.The ICCs full members are Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies and Zimbabwe.

White House slams Trump's plan to ban Muslims

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WASHINGTON (AFP) - Senior White House officials lined up Monday to condemn Donald Trumps proposal to ban Muslims from entering the United States, saying it was contrary to US values and interests.Youre being generous by describing it as a proposal, said White House spokesman Josh Earnest, castigating the fiery Republican presidential frontrunners latest outburst as cynical. I think what Mr Trump is doing is something that hes been doing over the course of his entire campaign, which is... to play on peoples fears in order to build support for his campaign.I think what hes doing, hes dividing America in a really cynical way, Earnest told MSNBC.A statement from Trumps campaign team earlier ignited a political firestorm, by suggesting he would stop Muslims from entering the country until our countrys representatives can figure out what is going on.The comments come in the wake of a mass shooting that saw a married couple kill 14 people and we denounced by many in his own party.Its entirely inconsistent with the kinds of values that were central to the founding of this country, said Earnest.One of President Barack Obamas top foreign policy aides, Ben Rhodes, told CNN that the plan was also contrary to our security. The fact of the matter is (the Islamic State group) wants to frame this as a war between the United States and Islam, he added.And if we look like we apply religious tests to who comes into to this country, we are sending a message that essentially we are embracing that.Rhodes added that the move plan, if acted upon, would also call into question the United States ability to work with Muslim communities to counter radicalization.

Trump wants Muslims temporarily barred entry to US

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WASHINGTON (AFP) - Republican frontrunner Donald Trump on Monday called for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States, unleashing some of the most provocative and divisive remarks of his controversial presidential campaign.The stunning statement followed last weeks mass shooting in California by a Muslim couple believed to have been radicalized by extremists, and landed with a thunderclap just as fellow presidential candidates were contemplating ways to improve national security.Trumps campaign team said the halt on Muslims entering the country should remain in place until our countrys representatives can figure out what is going on.His aides did not specify if the proposal would affect both tourists and immigrants, and also did not say if it would target American Muslims currently abroad.The statement drew sweeping condemnation by presidential rivals and the White House, which denounced Trumps call to bar Muslims as totally contrary to US values.We have, in our Bill of Rights, respect for the freedom of religion, one of President Barack Obamas top foreign policy aides, Ben Rhodes, told CNN.Trumps campaign cites poll data allegedly showing hatred toward Americans by large segments of the Muslim population.Where this hatred comes from and why we will have to determine, the billionaire real estate mogul, who is leading in opinion polls among likely Republican voters, said in the statement.Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses, our country cannot be the victims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in jihad, and have no sense of reason or respect for human life.Trump has been increasingly virulent in his remarks targeting Muslim Americans since the deadly Paris attacks, and again in the wake of last weeks shooting rampage in California, which left 14 dead and 21 wounded.Last month, he caused a furor when he claimed he saw thousands and thousands of people cheering in parts of New Jersey with substantial Arab-American populations as the Twin Towers collapsed on September 11, 2001.But his latest statement was particularly jarring, and it unleashed severe condemnation on Twitter, including from other Republicans running for president.Donald Trump is unhinged, former Florida governor Jeb Bush tweeted. His policy proposals are not serious.Every candidate for president needs to do the right thing & condemn @realDonaldTrumps statement, added Senator Lindsey Graham, one of the foremost Republican national security voices in Congress.Democratic presidential contender Martin OMalley said Trumps incendiary comment removes all doubt: he is running for president as a fascist demagogue.Trump has appeared immune to the denunciations. He remains the clear frontrunner for the Republican nomination less than two months before the first state-wide votes are cast in the primary race, even amid broad public outrage at his insensitive remarks.Trump is to deliver a speech at 0000 GMT aboard the USS Yorktown in South Carolina.The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nations largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, holds a press conference at the same hour to denounce Trumps comments.Anti-Muslim hysteria has become a prominent feature in his campaign, Robert McCaw, a CAIR government affairs department manager, told AFP.Trumps campaign said some of the poll figures it cited were from the Center for Security Policy, which McCaw noted has been branded a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.In New Jersey, director Ahmed Shadeed of the Islamic Center of Jersey City, warned that Trumps remarks were giving the right to people to hurt us.Im asking him, Im begging him it has to stop, all these accusations, he said after prayers at a mosque in the city, as he urged Trump and others to see Muslims as part of the American mosaic.White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Trump was tapping into a darker side to play on peoples fears in order to build on support for his campaign.Instead of condemning the Muslim community, US officials should work with Muslim leaders to root out extremist voices and insulate those who are vulnerable to being radicalized, Earnest told MSNBC.

New suspected US-led Syria raids kill dozens of civilians

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BEIRUT (AFP) - Suspected US-led coalition air strikes killed at least 26 civilians in a Syrian village Monday, piling pressure on the alliance after allegations another bombing raid left regime soldiers dead.The coalition has been bombarding the Islamic State group for more than a year in Syria and neighbouring Iraq, where the jihadists have declared a self-styled caliphate.But according to a monitoring group, strikes on Monday on the village of Al-Khan in northeastern Syria only left civilians dead.Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said IS is in control of Al-Khan but is only on its outskirts, which is why all of the deaths were civilians.The death toll included at least seven children and four women, he said, adding that it was likely to rise as more than a dozen civilians were still missing under rubble.A spokesman for the US-led coalition said he had no details yet about the raid, but that a credibility assessment would review claims of civilian deaths.Last month, the US said four civilians were likely to have been killed in strikes against IS in Iraq. And in November 2014, it admitted accidentally killing two children in a strike in Syria. The Al-Khan strike came with the coalition already under pressure over allegations it carried out a raid the previous day that killed Syrian soldiers, in the first such case.In a letter to the UN Security Council and Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Syria accused the coalition of targeting an army camp in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor on Sunday, killing three soldiers and wounding 13. The foreign ministry letter condemned the attack as a flagrant aggression. The Observatory said four soldiers died in the first incident of US-led strikes killing Syrian troops.A Syrian military source gave the same toll, and said the attack late Sunday hit several buildings used as weapons depots and an army training camp, damaging two tanks.But a coalition spokesman said its only strikes in the area on Sunday were on an oil wellhead some 55 kilometres (35 miles) southeast of the army base.Weve seen those Syrian reports but we did not conduct any strikes in that part of Deir Ezzor yesterday. So we see no evidence, Colonel Steve Warren told AFP.We struck 55 kilometres away from the area that the Syrians say was struck. That was the only area in Deir Ezzor we struck yesterday, he added.There were no human beings in the area that we struck yesterday, all we struck was a wellhead.Much of Deir Ezzor is under IS control, but the regime still has a presence in small areas, including in the provincial capital.The provinces oil has been a major source of IS funding, but on Monday analysis firm IHS said the group was having trouble making ends meet due to air strikes on its oil infrastructure.IHS estimated ISs overall monthly income to be about $80 million (75 million euros) as of late 2015, around half of it from levies and confiscations.But it noted the group also had significant costs because it administers large swathes of territory. The Syrian government has regularly criticised the US-led strikes as ineffective and illegal because they are not coordinated with regime forces. The US coalition lacks the seriousness and credibility to effectively combat terrorism, the foreign ministry said.Staunch regime ally Moscow began its own aerial campaign in Syria on September 30 and coordinates its strikes with Damascus.On Sunday, US President Barack Obama vowed to destroy IS and hunt down its followers at home and abroad.It followed a shooting rampage in California last week that saw an apparently radicalised couple kill 14 people.While pledging to hunt down terrorist plotters in any country, Obama also said he would not be drawn once more into a long and costly ground war in Iraq and Syria. They know they cant defeat us on the battlefield... but they also know that if we occupy foreign lands, they can maintain insurgencies for years, killing thousands of our troops and draining our resources, and using our presence to draw new recruits, he said.Elsewhere, Syrian media said four people were killed in rebel rocket fire near the now-closed Russian consulate in Aleppo city.

'Stage is set' for historic world climate pact: Kerry

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PARIS (AFP) - US Secretary of State John Kerry warned Monday that a week of hard bargaining lies ahead at UN climate talks in Paris but argued the stage is set for a historic deal.Kerry arrived in the French capital earlier in the day for the final intense period of negotiations at the UN conference which is seeking a pact to rein in the greenhouse gas emissions blamed for altering Earths climate.I am an optimist or I wouldnt be doing what Im doing, Kerry told conference-goers at a meeting in Paris organised by tech news site Mashable.I think the stage is set. I think the attitude is currently there. I think there are players that would like to try to scale it back, to hold us back a little.My hope is the momentum that we are building and good negotiating over the next days will overcome those hurdles and that towards the end of the week, we will be able to come to an agreement.I think we can, he added, promising that both he and his French counterpart Laurent Fabius, whom he met privately on arrival in Paris, hope to have a global climate deal by Friday.I am so hopeful that Paris will be a truly historic moment when we will ratify what people all over the world are coming to understand, he said.This is happening, its happening now, its happening faster than scientists had predicted it would, he said, referring to global warming.He derided global warming deniers as members of the Flat Earth Society and warned they would be left on the wrong side of history.Despite his upbeat tone, Kerry did admit tough talks lay ahead, with leaders from the developing world insisting that the rich countries that created most of the carbon emissions threatening the planet pay for the clean-up. It is time to get rid of this rigid differentiation between developed and developing in a way that prevents us from maximising our progress going forward, he said.And he admitted that the United States could not sign a pact promising that it shall meet a certain target as a legal treaty would have to be approved by the US Congress, where the Republican majority opposes emissions cuts.The frank and civil answer is that certain terms have legal impact and certain legal impacts have political impacts and a certain political impact could kill the agreement, he said.Kerry and a large US negotiating team will spend the week in Paris for the technical and political negotiations on a final deal and will take part in public events.

New Yemen peace talks to start on December 15

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GENEVA (AFP) - Warring factions in Yemen will relaunch peace talks on December 15, the UN envoy to the embattled country said Monday, voicing confidence that a temporary ceasefire will be in place before negotiations begin.Talks to ease the violence in Yemen have been stalled for months, with the conflict escalating since March when a pro-government coalition led by Saudi Arabia began bombarding Iran-backed Huthi rebels. With the humanitarian crisis in the impoverished country deteriorating, UN envoy Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed said a swift halt to the fighting was imperative for those caught up in what has increasingly become a regional conflict. Ahmed told reporters that three delegations would take part in talks likely to be held outside Geneva which have no definitive timeline and will last as long as it takes.The delegations include representatives of President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadis government, the Huthi rebels, and officials from the General Peoples Congress (GPC), who are loyalists of former president Ali Abdullah Saleh.Though not formally aligned, some GPC members have expressed support for the Huthis. The UN envoy further said he was almost certain a temporary ceasefire would be in force by December 15 in order to create an environment conducive to peace talks.Everyone seems to be welcoming this idea that we will have a ceasefire, Ahmed said, noting that a permanent ceasefire remained a more distant prospect and would depend on the outcome of negotiations. According to the UN envoy, Riyadh said it would observe a ceasefire and pause its aerial assault so long as Hadi was on board with the plan.Each delegation will be made up of 12 members, including eight official negotiators and four advisors.The delegations have not yet been finalised, in part because the UN has insisted that more women be included, according to Ahmed. Asked about reports that Huthi rebel leaders had been dragging their feet and refusing to name their delegates in an apparent bid to further stall dialogue, the UN envoy said he was certain that the Iran-backed faction would show up. Talks will focus on four main areas, including the terms for a permanent ceasefire and the withdrawal of armed groups from the areas under their control. Another area of dialogue was described as confidence-building measures which includes broadening humanitarian access in the country where aid workers have been killed and kidnapped. Finally, delegates will try to hammer out a political future for Yemen, a country plunged into worsening chaos since the insurgents overran the capital Sanaa, forcing the government to flee to Saudi Arabia.Jihadist groups have exploited the conflict by making sweeping gains. The announcement on the restart of talks came after the killing of the governor of Yemens second city Aden, Jaafar Saad, in an attack claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group, which has threatened further violence. The assassination happened a day after the UN envoy visited Aden. Ahmed said he was extremely concerned by the ever-growing suffering of the Yemeni people and called on the rival camps to show courage, personal sacrifice and tenacity in the bid for peace. The United Nations says more than 5,700 people have been killed in Yemen, almost half of them civilians, since the Saudi-led air campaign began.
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