OSCAR PISTORIUS PLANS TO APPEAL AGAINST MURDER CONVICTION -l

Dec 8, 2015- South African Olympian Oscar Pistorius will appeal against his murder conviction in the Constitutional Court, his lawyer says at his bail hearing.

He has been granted bail while he awaits sentence for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013. That hearing will be held on 18 April.

Bail has been set at 10,000 rand ($700, £450).

Pistorius will be under house arrest and will be electronically tagged. He also has to hand over his passport.

He will be able to leave the house between 7am and midday, but will only be able to move within a 20km (12 miles) radius.

Pistorius was in court to apply for bail after judges changed his manslaughter conviction to murder last week.

He is currently under house arrest after spending one year of his original five-year sentence in jail.

Pistorius now faces a minimum 15-year jail sentence for the murder of Ms Steenkamp.

In his bail affidavit, he said he had no income. During the hearing his lawyer said he was only able to pay a sum of 10,000 rand for his bail.

The 29-year-old killed Ms Steenkamp on Valentine's Day after shooting four times through a locked toilet door.
Pistorius is a six-time Paralympic gold medallist whose legs were amputated below the knee as a baby. He made history by becoming the first amputee sprinter to compete at the Olympics, in 2012, running on prosthetic "blades".

Last week, South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein accepted prosecution arguments and ruled that the lower court did not correctly apply the concept of "dolus eventualis" - whether Pistorius knew that a death would be a likely result of his actions.

Maasai lions: Two charged with Kenya poisoning

The lions were featured on BBC wildlife programme Big Cat Diary in 2007

Dec 9, 2015- Two Maasai herdsmen have been charged after allegedly poisoning a famous pride of lions in Narok, south-west Kenya, a wildlife official said.
Simindei Naururi and Kulangash Toposat reportedly doused a cow carcass with poison at the Maasai Mara Game reserve.
Eight lions are being treated for poisoning. Two others were killed but at least one was not from the pride.
The lions are thought to have killed three of the herdsmen's cows when they entered the reserve.The Kenyan Wildlife Service (KWS) warned that other animals might have been affected.
The lions, from the famous Marsh pride, were featured on BBC wildlife programme Big Cat Diary.

PARIS ATTACKS 'RINGLEADER' ABDELHAMID ABAAOUD EVADED ATHENS POLICE

The Verviers raid left two suspected jihadists dead

Dec 9, 2015- Greek police tried to capture the suspected ringleader of the Paris terror attacks, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, in January but the operation failed.
A Belgian anti-terrorism source told the BBC the Athens operation planned to target Abaaoud before anti-terror raids in Belgium, but that did not happen.
Abaaoud had been directing the Belgian cell by phone from Athens.
Abaaoud died in a battle with French police five days after the 13 November Paris attacks that killed 130 people.
The Greek operation was supposed to have taken place before the one carried out by security forces in Verviers, eastern Belgium, on 15 January. That raid saw an exchange of fire that left two suspected jihadists dead.DNA samples
Greek authorities were on Abaaoud's trail, believing him to be running the Belgian cell by mobile phone from Athens.
Anti-terror sources told the BBC that a senior Belgian police officer was in Athens co-ordinating the hunt for Abaaoud with his Greek counterparts before the raid on the Verviers cell.
It remains unclear why or how Abaaoud slipped through the Greek net. There may have been an attempt to track him down to a city centre square by tracing the signal of his mobile phone. But that did not work.
The Greek authorities are not confirming any details - all that is known is that he got away.
Greek police only carried out raids in Athens two days after Verviers, on 17 January.
Earlier that day Belgian media had reported that authorities there were seeking Abaaoud, a Brussels resident of Moroccan origin, who was believed to be in hiding in Greece.Greek police raided two flats in Athens.
One Algerian man was eventually extradited to Belgium but Abaaoud was not to be found.
It is now known that traces of DNA recovered in both flats match samples recovered from Abaaoud's body in Paris.
A neighbour at one of the flats, Vasilis Katsanos, said he had seen Abdelhamid Abaaoud in the street outside on at least two occasions.
Abdelhamid Abaaoud had been implicated in four out of six foiled attacks since this spring in France and sentenced to 20 years in prison in absentia, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve has said.
Abaaoud is not the only link between Greece and the Paris attacks.
Salah Abdeslam - who is still on the run - travelled to Greece by ferry from Italy on 1 August, leaving three days later.
And two of the suicide bombers who attacked the Stade de France crossed by boat from Turkey to the island of Leros in October, posing as refugees.
Much of the detail that has emerged in Athens raises questions about how to create a better exchange of information and closer cooperation between anti-terrorism authorities in different European countries.
But the link with Abaaoud is also a what-might-have-been.
If he had been captured in Athens in January, the attacks in Paris might never have taken place.

RUSSIA HITS TARGETS IN SYRIA FROM MEDITERRANEAN SUBMARINE -

Russia says the cruise missiles hit IS targets in Raqqa - the self-proclaimed IS capital

Dec 9, 2015- Russia says it has for the first time hit targets in Syria with missiles launched from a submarine.
Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said Kalibr cruise missiles from the Rostov-on-Don submarine were fired at so-called Islamic State (IS) militants, at two "terrorist positions" in Raqqa.
Russia began air strikes in Syria in September, saying this had been requested by President Bashar al-Assad.
A US-led coalition says Russia often targets moderate Syrian opposition.
The Kremlin denies the accusations.
It says it is hitting "all terrorists", but at least some of its air strikes have hit civilians and Western-backed rebels, according to Syrian activists.
"We used Kalibr cruise missiles from the Rostov-on-Don submarine from the Mediterranean Sea," Mr Shoigu said in televised meeting with President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.
"We can say with complete confidence that fairly serious damage was done to weapons stores and a factory for preparing mines and, naturally, oil infrastructure," the defence minister added.
Raqqa, in northern Syria, is the self-proclaimed capital of the IS militant group.
Mr Shoigu also said that Russia had informed the US and Israel in advance about the missile strikes.
Neither country has publicly commented on the issue.
In October, Russia said it had fired 26 sea-based cruise missiles from warships in the Caspian Sea - about 1,500km (930 miles) away from targets in Syria.
The US-led coalition has been targeting IS militants in Syria since September 2014, and does not co-ordinate its raids with the authorities in Damascus.

Paris attacks: Bataclan third attacker identified

Dec 9, 2015- French police have identified the third attacker at the Bataclan during the Paris attacks, Prime Minister Manuel Valls says.

Mr Valls did not name the man, but did not dispute reports naming him as French national Foued Mohamed-Aggad, 23, from Strasbourg.

Ninety people were killed at the Bataclan in last month's attacks.
All three gunmen who attacked the venue wearing suicide vests have been confirmed as French nationals.

Other attackers who took part in the co-ordinated attacks around Paris on 13 November that killed 130 people in total have either been identified as home-grown French or Belgian extremists.

Mohamed-Aggad reportedly travelled to Syria in late 2013 as part of a group of radicalised youth from Strasbourg that included his brother.
Several of the group were later arrested upon returning to France in spring last year. Mohamed-Aggad is believed to have remained in Syria.
He was identified late last week by police after DNA samples were confirmed to match with members of his family, AFP reports.
The two others who blew themselves up at the music venue were identified as Frenchmen Omar Ismail Mostefai, 29, and Samy Amimour, 28.

The three men stormed the Bataclan at around 21:40 on 13 November, during a concert by the Eagles of Death Metal rock group. They opened fire on concert-goers, repeatedly reloading their guns before police started to arrive at the scene.
One of the gunmen was killed but the two others took hostages and eventually died when elite police units launched a final assault hours later.

French media say that Mohamed-Aggad was recruited by Mourad Fares, a man known to have actively recruited young Frenchmen on behalf of jihadist groups in Syria.
Fares was arrested in Turkey last year. French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve described him as a "particularly dangerous individual close to jihadist terrorist movements" including the so-called Islamic State (IS).

He was placed under provisional detention in France in September 2014 and is being prosecuted for a string of terrorism-related offences in France and Syria.
One other Paris attacker remains to be identified, but two men who blew themselves up at the Stade de France carried Syrian passports that are suspected to have been fake.
Mohamed-Aggad's father, Said, told Le Parisien that he had only learned of his son's role in the Bataclan massacre through the media and "would have killed him beforehand" if he had known that he would go on to carry out such an attack.
Said Mohamed-Abbag separated from his wife in 2007 and said his son had lived with his mother.

The other two Bataclan attackers were identified in the aftermath of the shooting.
Mostefai was identified from a finger-tip found at the venue. He was reported to have previously worked as a baker in Chartres near Paris but in 2010 was identified by authorities as a suspected extremist.

Amimour, from the north-eastern Paris suburb of Drancy, had been charged with terror offences in 2012 over claims he planned to travel to Yemen.
After being placed under judicial supervision, he disappeared, with authorities issuing an international arrest warrant.

SYDNEY POLICE ARREST TEENAGER AND MAN OVER 'TERROR PLANS' -

Police said the two are being charged with "conspiracy to conduct an act in preparation for a terrorist act"

Dec 10, 2015- Police in Sydney have arrested a 15-year-old and a 20-year-old in a counter-terror operation.
They have been charged with "conspiracy to conduct an act in preparation for a terrorist act", Federal Police said.
The arrests are linked to a plot outlined in material seized last year as part of Operation Appleby.
That operation, in September 2014, was sparked by intelligence reports that Islamist extremists were planning random killings in Australia.
Then-Prime Minister Tony Abbott said at the time a senior Australian Islamic State militant had called for "demonstration killings", reportedly including a public beheading.
Phil Mercer, BBC News, Sydney: "Continue to thwart attacks"
While its FA-18 fighters bomb so-called Islamic State targets many thousands of kilometres away, and its soldiers train Iraqi forces, Australia continues to confront the enemy within.
More counter-terrorism raids in Sydney have yielded further arrests, and will make an uneasy nation even more anxious on the eve of the first anniversary of the deadly Sydney siege.
Last month, a poll found that more than half of Australians thought a large-scale attack was likely, and one-quarter was convinced it was inevitable.
The prime minister has promised a "calm, clinical and effective" response to the menace of home-grown extremism.
"We cannot eliminate entirely the risk of terrorism any more than we can eliminate the risk of any serious crime," said Malcolm Turnbull in his first national security address. "But we can mitigate it. We will continue to thwart and frustrate many attacks before they occur."
Timeline of recent Australia terror incidents

• 11 Aug 2014: Image emerges apparently showing young son of an Australian militant fighting in Syria holding the severed head of a soldier.
• 27 Aug 2014: New counter-terrorism units set up in airports to stop people travelling to join militant groups.
• 14 Sep 2014: Prime Minister Tony Abbott commits 600 troops to international fight against the so-called Islamic State.
• 18 Sep 2014: Australia carries out what it calls its biggest counter-terrorism raids; Mr Abbott later confirms this was linked to an alleged plot by Australia-based individuals to kill a randomly selected member of the public.
• 15-16 December, 2014: Gunman Man Haron Monis, a self-styled cleric originally from Iran, takes 17 people hostage in a cafe in the centre of Sydney. Monis and two hostages are killed after a 16-hour siege. His former lawyer describes him as "unhinged" but not a jihadist.
• 2 April: British police arrest a 14-year-old boy in connection with an alleged plot to target an Anzac memorial event in Australia.
• 7 October: Four people detained in Sydney in connection with the killing of police worker Curtis Cheng.

At least 800 heavily armed officers arrested 16 people as part of Operation Appleby in September 2014, in what was Australia's biggest ever anti-terror operation.
Police said the arrests on Thursday were not linked to a new plot, but to documents seized during those raids that talked about a plan to target government and police buildings.
Three other people already in jail for other offences will also face new charges, they said.
"As a result of putting all of that information together, working through those documents, putting physical and electronic surveillance together, we were able to build a case of conspiracy for five people involved in the preparation of these documents," said Deputy Commissioner of National Security Michael Phelan.

Caption: Deputy Commissioner Michael Phelan said both of the suspects arrested would face court on Thursday

Those arrested on Thursday are also known to those involved in the terror-linked shooting of Sydney police worker Curtis Cheng, police said.
Mr Cheng, 58, was shot dead outside his police headquarters office as he left work last October.
Police shot dead his attacker, 15-year-old Farhad Jabar, at the scene.
New South Wales Police said the 15-year-old boy arrested on Thursday had clearly been radicalised.

Caption: Farhad Jabar, 15, was killed in a shootout with police on Friday after he gunned down police accountant Curtis Cheng

"It is disturbing that we continue to deal with teenaged children in this environment," said Deputy Commissioner Catherine Burn.
"To be putting a 15-year-old before the courts on very serious charges that carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment demonstrates the difficulties law enforcement face."
Police said a total of 11 people had now been charged under Operation Appleby

Trucks carrying drugs stranded in Rupaidiha

Dec 8, 2015- Trucks carrying medicines that were rerouted from Birgunj-Raxaul border point have been stuck at Nepalgunj-Rupaidiha border for the past one and a half weeks.
At least five cargo trucks laden with medicines have been stranded on the Indian side of the border due to obstructions at the border point. In addition, 150 cargo trucks and fuel tankers are also awaiting customs clearance in Rupaidiha.
Though the authorities tried to reroute the cargo trucks from the obstructed border areas, they have not been able to enter the Nepali territory due to the demonstrations in Nepalgunj for the past few days. The trucks are carrying medicines and surgical equipment.
Pharmaceutical entrepreneurs have been requesting the government to bring the medicines from the relaxed border points.
Gopi Barnawal, a drugs entrepreneur, said they are requesting the leaders of Samyukta Loktantrik Madhesi Morcha to let the cargo trucks pass through the border. The Morcha leaders and activists, who are protesting on no-man’s-land, have refused to oblige, he said.
Nepali security officials are also coordinating with the Indian authorities to bring the cargo trucks. Area Police Office in Jamunaha informed that the Indian authorities have stopped the cargo trucks in Rupaidiha citing security situation.
Various districts across the country are reeling under an acute shortage of medicines, including life saving drugs, due to an Indian blockade and protests by Madhes-based parties in Tarai districts.

Indian PM urged to lift embargo

KATHMANDU: The Human Rights and Peace Society Nepal on Monday sent a memorandum to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling for a swift end to the unofficial blockade on essential supplies.
Coinciding with the World Human Rights Day, which falls on December 10, the society submitted the letter with signatures of thousands of Nepalis to the Indian Embassy on Monday. Beginning on Saturday, the society had collected the signatures at New Road, Ratna Park, Basantapur, Chabahil, among other thoroughfares in the Capital.
“On the occasion of the 67th World Human Rights Day, we would like to remind His Excellency of the fact that blockade is an act of betrayal against the spirit of human rights and appeal for an immediate end to the Indian blockade on Nepal,” said society’s President Gangadhar Adhikari.