Sinai plane crash: Egypt dismisses IS claim
Egypt’s prime minister said a technical fault was the most likely cause, dismissing claims from Islamic State militants that they were responsible.
However, three airlines – Emirates, Air France and Lufthansa – have decided not to fly over the Sinai Peninsula until more information is available.
Russia is observing a day of mourning after its worst air disaster.
The plane’s black boxes have been found and sent for analysis, officials said.
The BBC’s Sally Nabil in Cairo says the crash has been a major blow to Egypt’s already struggling tourism industry, and the Egyptian authorities are trying very hard to accelerate the investigation process.
The Kogalymavia Airbus A-321 came down early on Saturday, shortly after leaving the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh for the Russian city of St Petersburg.
FBI says no evidence of bomb in explosion on Maldives president’s boat
Statement calls into question the arrest of vice-president Ahmed Adeeb, who is accused along with three soldiers of plot to assassinate leader
Staff and agencies in Colombo
Sunday 1 November 2015 04.52 GMT
The FBI has said it found no evidence an explosion on board the Maldivian president’s boat was caused by a bomb – calling into question allegations that have led to the arrest of the country’s vice-president.
Ahmed Adeeb is accused by the Maldivian government of plotting to assassinate President Yameen Abdul Gayoom.
The explosion took place on 28 September as Gayoom returned to the capital from the airport, which is on a separate island. Gayoom escaped unhurt but his wife, an aide and a bodyguard were injured.
Adeeb and three soldiers were later arrested, with officials claiming foreign intelligence agencies had deemed the explosion an assassination attempt.
Shaker Aamer released: Another prisoner let out. Another empty promise on torture
The Government promises to end a barbaric practice, but it’s taking an age to acknowledge how complicit the UK is
Let’s begin with the strongest justification that supporters of torture can offer. Just before the bomb was set to explode, word came through from Saudi Arabia – where interrogators were reportedly torturing an al-Qaeda suspect – that the device could be found inside a printer cartridge aboard a plane at East Midlands Airport. When it was located, the bomb was only 17 minutes away from detonating.
It was one of two devices designed to bring down two US aircraft in mid-flight in 2010. The information was transmitted so swiftly from Riyadh to Derby because two British secret service agents were said to be on the spot – not inside the interrogation chamber, but nearby, suggesting questions to the interrogators and analysing the answers. This is the incident to which David Cameron was presumably referring when he said earlier this year Britain’s relationship with the Saudis had saved hundreds of lives.
The Next Wave: Afghans Flee To Europe in Droves
As the situation in Afghanistan becomes ever more chaotic, an increasing number of Afghans are heading towards Europe. But as one family’s story shows, the trip often ends in tragedy.
Redwan Eharai’s journey ends where it began: in Afghanistan, in the city of Herat. Eharai, a 15-year-old boy, is carrying the heavy body of his mother Sima up the hill to the cemetery, together with neighbors and relatives. He and his mother had set out from Afghanistan together, headed for Germany. Now he is standing at her grave.
She died at the border between Iran and Turkey, struck in the head by a bullet fired by an Iranian police officer.
Hundreds of people have now come to say their goodbyes. When she was still alive and urgently needed help, no one was there for her, says Eharai, as he looks into his mother’s grave. Despite his stubble, which makes him look almost like a grown man, he currently seems more like a child.
A mass global migration crisis could be just beginning
November 1, 2015 – 12:44PM
Rod Nordland
Sid, Serbia: They arrived in an unceasing stream, 10,000 a day at the height, as many as a million migrants heading for Europe this year, pushing infants in strollers and elderly parents in wheelchairs, carrying children on their shoulders and life savings in their socks. They came in search of a new life, but in many ways they were the heralds of a new age.
There are more displaced people and refugees now than at any other time in recorded history – 60 million in all – and they are on the march in numbers not seen since World War II. They are coming not just from Syria, but from an array of countries and regions, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Gaza, even Haiti, as well as any of a dozen or so nations in sub-Saharan and North Africa. They are unofficial ambassadors of failed states, unending wars, intractable conflicts.
The most striking thing about the current migration crisis, however, is how much bigger it could still get.
Leaders of China, S Korea and Japan meet in Seoul
Li Keqiang, Park Geun-hye and Shinzo Abe hold three-way summit in bid to set aside historical animosities.
01 Nov 2015 08:16 GMT | Politics, Asia Pacific, South Korea
The leaders of South Korea, China and Japan have held their first summit in more than three years, setting aside historical animosities and territorial disputes to focus on shared security and trade concerns.
No substantive breakthroughs were expected, but Sunday’s meeting in the South Korean capital, Seoul, is a symbolic statement of intent by Northeast Asia’s three largest economies who all stand to reap significant diplomatic and economic gains from closer cooperation.
The focus was very much on economic ties, with China – represented by Li Keqiang, the premier – especially eager to boost trade links as it seeks to inject some fresh momentum into its slowing economy.