Eau Claire / AFP Syrian rebels renewed their bid to break a government siege on eastern Aleppo on Thursday, shelling regime-held parts of the city, hours before a brief Russian-declared ceasefire was due to begin. State media said at least 12 people had been killed in rebel rocket and gunfire on western neighbourhoods, after an assault that began with a ...

  Riyadh / AFP Twelve people have been arrested in southern Saudi Arabia on suspicion of belonging to a Yemeni rebel group fighting the kingdom, a newspaper reported on Thursday. They were detained during a wide-ranging crackdown in the border region of Najran, Al-Riyadh newspaper said. “The campaign also resulted in the arrest of 12 Yemenis suspected of belonging to ...

  Riyadh / AFP Thousands of Yemenis protested on Thursday against a UN plan to end a 19-month conflict between rebels and the government, which the president rejected as “not a map for peace.” Protesters in Aden rallied against the plan following a call by authorities in the southern city, which is serving as a temporary capital as Sanaa remains ...

  Karachi / AFP At least 21 people have been killed and dozens more injured after two trains carrying hundreds of passengers collided in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi during morning rush hour on Thursday, officials said. Witnesses described watching in horror as one train sped into the city’s Quaidabad Railway Station and rammed into the second, which was stationary, ...

  Islamabad / AFP Pakistan on Thursday accused eight Indian embassy employees of involvement in spying and terrorism but stopped short of expelling them, in the latest apparent tit-for-tat move as relations between the two countries nosedive. The declaration came days after a similar move by New Delhi, which accused six Pakistani diplomats of being part of a spy network, ...

  Sydney /AFP The reclusive leader of the IS group broke a nearly year-long silence as Iraqi forces closed in on Mosul on Thursday, urging his extremists to hold their ground. It was Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi’s first statement since Iraqi forces launched a massive offensive on October 17 to retake Mosul, where the IS chief declared the group’s “caliphate” two ...

  Pretoria / AFP US Marines are using Super Cobra attack helicopters to mount close-range airstrikes against IS militants in the Libyan city of Sirte, the US navy said on Thursday. The gunship attacks, the first of their kind to be confirmed in over two months, were launched overnight from the USS San Antonio, an amphibious transport dock ship deployed ...

  Shanghai / AFP China and Russia will invest up to $20 billion to develop a long-haul wide-bodied jet, reports on Thursday and a company statement said, as Beijing seeks to challenge leading Western manufacturers Boeing and Airbus. The hugely ambitious plan was first agreed between the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) and Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), whose products ...

  Frankfurt/ AFP German sportswear group Adidas on Thursday reported a jump in third-quarter profits, lifted by a surge in sales of its own-brand trainers and apparel. The Bavarian company, which sponsors English Premier League giants Manchester United, also confirmed its improved outlook for the year, bolstered by high-profile sponsorships during the Euro 2016 football tournament and the Rio Olympics, as ...

  Emirates Business A unit of HNA Group Co. outbid Hong Kong developers including Cheung Kong Property Holdings Ltd. with an HK$8.84 billion ($1.1 billion) offer for government land in the former Kai Tak airport area, the highest price tag in three-and-a-half years. It was the most hotly contested land tender this year, as a rebound in home prices is ...