Sunday 31 December 2017

Alleged 'Nigerian Prince' Email Scammer Arrested In Louisiana

Alleged 'Nigerian Prince' Email Scammer Arrested In LouisianaPolice in Slidell, Louisiana, have arrested a man who allegedly helped scam people out of thousands of dollars in “Nigerian prince”-style email schemes.




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Russia calls ongoing strain with US a major disappointment

Russia calls ongoing strain with US a major disappointmentMOSCOW (AP) — The Kremlin views the continued strain on Russia's relations with the United States as a major disappointment of the year, President Vladimir Putin's spokesman said Friday.




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Nepal bans solo climbers from Everest

Nepal bans solo climbers from EverestNepal has banned solo climbers from scaling its mountains, including Mount Everest, in a bid to reduce accidents, an official said Saturday. The cabinet late Thursday endorsed a revision to the Himalayan nation's mountaineering regulations, banning solo climbers from its mountains -- one of a string of measures being flagged ahead of the 2018 spring climbing season. "The changes have barred solo expeditions, which were allowed before," Maheshwor Neupane, secretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, told AFP.




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Iran and Saudi Arabia race to pass gender reforms as Tehran relaxes headscarf arrests 

Iran and Saudi Arabia race to pass gender reforms as Tehran relaxes headscarf arrests Women in the Iranian capital will no longer be arrested for failing to wear a headscarf, Tehran police have said, in a move which follows an unexpected raft of gender reforms in Saudi Arabia. Morality police will no longer automatically detain women seen without the proper hijab head-covering in public, a strict Islamic dress code in place since the 1979 revolution. For nearly 40 years, women in Iran have been forced to cover their hair and wear long, loose garments. Younger and more liberal-minded women have long pushed the boundaries of the official dress code, wearing loose headscarves that do not fully cover their hair and painting their nails, drawing the ire of conservatives. The announcement signalled an easing of punishments for violating the country's conservative dress code, as called for by the reform-minded Iranians who helped re-elect President Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate, earlier this year. But hard-liners opposed to easing such rules still dominate Iran's security forces and judiciary, so it was unclear whether the change would be fully implemented. Younger and more liberal-minded women have long pushed the boundaries of the official dress code, wearing loose headscarves that do not fully cover their hair Credit: Getty "Those who do not observe the Islamic dress code will no longer be taken to detention centers, nor will judicial cases be filed against them," General Hossein Rahimi, Tehran police chief, was quoted as saying by the reformist daily newspaper Al Sharq. The semi-official Tasnim news agency said violators will instead be made to attend classes given by police. It said repeat offenders could still be subject to legal action, and the dress code remains in place outside the capital. Iran's morality police - similar to Saudi Arabia's religious police - typically detain violators and escort them to a police van. Their families are then called to bring the detainee a change of clothes. The violator is then required to sign a form that they will not commit the offence again. Iran's arch foe Saudi Arabia, under similar internal pressure to liberalise, announced in September that it would finally allow women to drive. Saudis watch composer Yanni perform at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Credit: Reuters Activists had been arrested for driving since 1990, when the first driving campaign was launched by women who drove cars in the capital, Riyadh. Shocking the kingdom, one of the most repressive countries for women in the world, the young Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced a tranche of liberalising changes. In 2018, women will also be allowed to attend sporting matches in national stadiums, where they were previously banned. Designated "family sections" will ensure women are separate from male-only quarters of the stadiums. The crown prince tested public reaction to the move when he allowed women and families into the capital's main stadium for National Day celebrations this year. And Saudi authorities this week allowed female contestants at an international chess tournament to play without the abaya, a long robe-like dress The ambitious 32-year-old heir to the throne upended decades of royal family protocol, social norms and traditional ways of doing business. He bet instead on a young generation of Saudis hungry for change and a Saudi public fed up with corruption and government bureaucracy.




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Turkey detains 75 Islamic State suspects: police, media

Turkey detains 75 Islamic State suspects: police, mediaTurkish police detained 75 suspected Islamic State members in two operations on Friday, state media and police said, after arresting about 120 such suspects across Turkey a day earlier, tightening security ahead of the New Year. Some 500 police officers took part in simultaneous raids across Ankara, and many of those detained were foreign nationals, state-run Anadolu news agency reported. Materials seized in the raids indicated some of the suspects had made preparations for an attack over New Year, it added.




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San Juan Mayor Says Trump Lacks 'Good-Hearted' American Values

San Juan Mayor Says Trump Lacks 'Good-Hearted' American ValuesOne-hundred days after Hurricane Maria struck Puerto Rico, San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz on Friday again slammed President Donald Trump’s response to a disaster the president says wasn’t a “real catastrophe,” even though it left at least 64 dead.




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Protests hit Tehran, two demonstrators reported killed in Iran town

DUBAI (Reuters) - Street protests hit Iran for a third day running on Saturday, spreading to the capital Tehran with crowds confronting police and attacking some state buildings, and a social media report said two demonstrators had been shot dead in a provincial town.


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South Korea seizes another ship suspected of transferring oil to North Korea

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean authorities have seized a Panama-flagged vessel suspected of transferring oil products to North Korea in violation of international sanctions, a customs official said on Sunday.


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Special Report: Meet the force behind Zimbabwe's 'Crocodile' president

HARARE (Reuters) - His wife is a beauty queen, his troops unseated Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe, and his motorcade is fit for a president. General Constantino Chiwenga, head of the armed forces until earlier this month, is on a roll.


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Probe into deadly fire at U.S. firm’s Philippines offices focuses on possible safety lapses

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Reuters) - A government investigator into a blaze that led to the deaths of 37 staff at the southern Philippines offices of an American market research firm says there are indications of fire safety lapses that may have contributed to the tragedy.


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Christians in shock after deadly attack on Coptic Church in Egypt

CAIRO (Reuters) - At an hour that Sama'an Farag usually spends leisurely sipping his morning tea, the doorman at the Mar Mina Coptic Church near Cairo found himself springing up to close the doors upon hearing gunshots and the sound of ricocheting bullets.


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Merkel eyes social cohesion as she presses for new government

BERLIN (Reuters) - Conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel, under pressure after three months of failing to form a new ruling coalition, on Sunday vowed to address growing social divisions as she worked rapidly to build a stable German government.


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Turkey's Erdogan to discuss Syria with Macron in Paris - source

PARIS (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan will visit Paris on Jan. 5 to meet his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, with the conflict in Syria high on the agenda, a source in the French president's office said on Saturday.


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Greek government applies for cancellation of asylum granted to Turkish soldier

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - The Greek government said on Saturday that it had filed a request for the cancellation of the asylum granted to a Turkish soldier accused of involvement in last year's coup attempt.


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Blaze in Manchester apartment block brought under control

LONDON (Reuters) - Firefighters battled a blaze in an apartment block in central Manchester, northern England, on Saturday, with one person taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.


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