Activists in Saudi Arabia said on Thursday they are revving up a right-to-drive campaign using social media in the world's only country that bans women from getting behind the wheel.

An online petition asking the Saudi government to "lift the ban on women driving" has attracted more than 2,400 signatures ahead of its culmination on October 26.

"The issue is not that of simply a vehicle driven by a woman, but the acknowledgement and recognition of the humanity of half of society and the God-given rights of women," the petition states.

It adds the ban is a result of tradition and custom because there is "no single Islamic text" or judicial ruling prohibiting women from taking to the kingdom's highways.

The petition website, www.oct26driving.com, includes short videos of women driving while clad in the head-to-toe black robes they are required to wear, with only their eyes exposed.

It features an "honour wall" naming 108 women whom it said have defied the kingdom's driving ban.

Activists are also encouraging women to post pictures of themselves driving using a Twitter hashtag, #IWillDriveMyself, as well as on Instagram and YouTube.

"This year will be bigger," one Tweet vowed, following a similar campaign last year.

"We are trying to do something to refresh this demand" that women be allowed to drive, one activist, Nasima al-Sada, told AFP.

"It doesn't stop," she said of the national campaign.

"We are asking the ladies to sit behind the wheel and take action" on October 26 "or any day", Sada said from the kingdom's Eastern Province, home to most of the country's oil reserves.

- 'It's our right' -

Saudi Arabia is OPEC's biggest oil exporter and the country's economy has been one of the best performing in the Group of 20 leading nations, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Several Saudi women holding corporate CEO and other senior management positions were included in this year's Forbes list of 200 most powerful Arab women, but they cannot drive in their own country.

Last year, activists also focused their demands on October 26 -- which they simply call a "symbolic" date as part of efforts to press for women's right to drive.

Published: 10 October 2014

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Crisis-hit Ukraine and the European Union will try on Thursday to forge a joint stance at crunch talks with Russia in the latest gas war with its westward-leaning neighbour.

The meeting of Ukraine and EU energy officials in Brussels became even more critical after EU member Slovakia reported a 50-percent drop in Russian supplies following its decision to divert imports to Ukraine to help ease its spreading fuel shortage.

Europe's top energy envoy will then try on Friday to convince both the Kiev and Moscow gas chiefs, during talks in Berlin, to strike a compromise before winter forces Ukraine to consider tapping into the Russian gas bound for Europe.

Russia cut its deliveries to Ukraine in mid-June after a pro-Western government took power, saying that Kiev had not been paying its bills on time.

Since then pro-Russia rebels have waged an ongoing separatist struggle in eastern Ukraine.

An acrimonious first round of talks in Berlin broke up last Friday with EU and Russian talk of an initial agreement being quickly quashed by Ukraine.

The EU energy commissioner said at the time that the "winter package" allowed Ukraine to purchase emergency supplies of gas at a reduced rate over six months.

This would give Moscow and Kiev time to negotiate a long-term contract and ways to settle Russia's debt claim of $5.3 billion (4.2 billion euros) that Ukraine denies owing.

Russia's energy minister said he thought a successful outcome on this occasion was likely.

But his Ukrainian counterpart stressed that Kiev rejected many of the conditions demanded by Moscow and laid out in last week's EU plan.

"The European Commission has submitted its proposals. And we have submitted our slightly different ones," Ukrainian Energy Minister Yuriy Prodan said shortly before setting off for Brussels.

Published: 02 October 2014

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A US judge ruled Argentina in contempt of court Monday for its attempts to skirt his block on payments to holders of the country's restructured debt.

Federal district judge Thomas Griesa said Buenos Aires had acted illegally to avoid his orders to first pay off hedge funds that sued the country for full payment on their bonds.

He noted it is "a rare thing" for a country to be ruled in contempt in a US court, but pointed to the actions of the Argentine government to skirt his orders in the long-running case.

"The court holds and rules that those proposed steps are illegal and cannot carry on," Griesa said.

But Griesa held off on deciding a penalty, which could amount to a $50,000-a-day civil fine as requested by the hedge funds.

Argentina -- which maintains it has tried to pay but is being blocked by US moves -- then slammed as illegal Griesa's latest ruling.

"The ruling by Judge Thomas Griesa saying that the Argentine Republic is in contempt of court, violates international law, the UN Charter, and the OAS charter," a foreign ministry statement said, referring to the Organization of American States.

Earlier this year, Griesa effectively froze Argentina's ability to transfer funds to restructured bondholders, as long as it does not pay the holdouts in the restructuring, mainly the $1.3 billion in bonds held by Aurelius Capital management and NML Capital.

Because Argentina refuses to pay off the two, calling them "vulture funds", Griesa's order forced the country to default on a debt service payment to restructured bondholders at the end of July.

After that President Cristina Kirchner's government passed new domestic legislation aiming to transfer its bond contracts away from US jurisdiction to Argentine jurisdiction, so that they could make the payments.

And then it announced its plan to fire the official trustee for most of its debt payments, Bank of New York Mellon, which Griesa had ordered not to transfer any funds to the country's creditors.

The hedge funds then sought the contempt ruling from Griesa.

"Argentina has repeatedly and wilfully violated the orders of the court. Argentina has repeatedly and wilfully declared its intention to continue to violate these orders," they said in a complaint last week.

Earlier Monday, Argentina's US ambassador warned US Secretary of State John Kerry in a letter that a contempt ruling against the country would constitute "unlawful interference" by the United States in its affairs.

Published: 01 October 2014

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California approved a law which will prevent paparazzi from using drones to take photos of celebrities, among a series of measures aimed at tightening protection of privacy.

Governor Jerry Brown signed into law a string of legislative bills also including an expansion of one against so-called "revenge porn," when former lovers share nude photos of their exes online.

The drone ban bill, which is aimed at shoring up privacy for the general public but will work equally well for celebrities, was authored by lawmaker Ed Chau.

"As technology continues to advance and new robotic-like devices become more affordable for the general public, the possibility of an individual’s privacy being invaded substantially increases," he said.

"I applaud the governor for signing (the law) because it will ensure that our state's invasion of privacy statute remains relevant even as technology continues to evolve," he added on his website.

Published: 01 October 2014

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The International Criminal Court has opened a formal investigation into an "endless list" of atrocities committed in the Central African Republic, prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said on Wednesday.

"My office has gathered and scrupulously analysed relevant information from multiple reliable sources," Bensouda said in a statement.

The move comes after a preliminary ICC investigation earlier this year into the violence that has plagued the country for over 18 months established that there were grounds to prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity.

"My office has gathered and scrupulously analysed relevant information from multiple reliable sources," Bensouda said in a statement.

"Based on this independent and comprehensive analysis, I have concluded that an investigation is warranted."

The country plunged into conflict after a coup in March 2013 by a mainly Muslim rebel alliance, the Seleka, which overthrew president Francois Bozize and made their own man, Michel Djotodia, head of state.

Published: 25 September 2014

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The Dalai Lama will convene a rare meeting of India's religious leaders to try to tackle rape, communal violence and other issues facing the world's biggest democracy, an aide said Tuesday.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner has invited India's spiritual leaders for the two-day meeting this weekend to seek practical strategies to address "important issues ailing society today", a statement said.

The aide, Gelek Namgyal, said the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism, who has lived in India since 1959, was deeply concerned about levels of violence in the country, along with environmental degradation and poverty.

Namgyal said the Dalai Lama's initiative was not a criticism of India's Hindu nationalist right-wing government, which swept to power in May.

But the meeting in New Delhi, the first such gathering organised by the Dalai Lama, comes at a time of rising communal tensions in India, particularly between majority Hindus and minority Muslims.

"His Holiness has decided to come forward because he is concerned about the problems in India," Namgyal told AFP.

Published: 16 September 2014

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A-list designers broke new ground at New York Fashion week with innovative stagings led by wedding couturier to the stars Vera Wang, Polo by Ralph Lauren and Donna Karan.

Wang, 65, one of America's most popular fashion designers, loves black and her collection for spring/summer 2015 was no exception.

Wang decked out a Chelsea gallery in a striking take on the famous Tuileries Garden in Paris where the models came out from behind a wall of black box trees and strode down a gravel-strewn runway that was difficult to navigate in high heels.

"It's a bit my version of the Tuileries... done in a very New York way, notably in the lack of color," she explained to AFP.

It may not have been Versailles but Wang said her collection had "the spirit, extravagence and feminity, but also the weakness and pride of Marie-Antoinette."

There were ruffles, ruching, wide pleats belted at the waist, mini dresses, crepe trousers, bandeau tops and asymmetric jackets.

Published: 10 September 2014

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Francois Hollande's spurned girlfriend turned poison pen has skipped France for the Indian Ocean isle of Madagascar, a day after dropping a bombshell with her best-selling kiss-and-tell about life with the president.

Airport sources in Madagascar said Valerie Trierweiler arrived in the capital Antananarivo Saturday morning, and was then to catch a domestic flight to points unknown.

It was unclear whether Trierweiler, a journalist, was visiting the French-speaking isle for business, humanitarian work or simply to avoid the blaze of public scrutiny her book has ignited.

"Thank You For The Moment", in which the glamorous 49-year-old dishes on her tempestuous relationship with Hollande including her pill-popping suicide attempt after discovering his adulterous affair, has skyrocketed in sales on shelves and online since its release on Thursday.

It shot to the top of Amazon France's bestseller list in just one day, and has since "sold out at almost all points of sale, proof of its extraordinary debut", according to the head of the French booksellers union.

Trierweiler met Hollande in the mid-2000s while he was in a relationship with fellow politician Segolene Royal -- herself a former presidential candidate -- and the pair began a secret liaison.

Hollande subsequently left Royal, the mother of his four children, for Trierweiler who became the de facto first lady of France after he was elected in 2012, despite the fact the pair were not married.

Trierweiler says in the book she tried to commit suicide in the presidential bedroom with an overdose of sleeping pills after news of Hollande's affair with actress Julie Gayet broke in January.

Hollande announced shortly thereafter that his relationship with Trierweiler was over.

Published: 09 September 2014

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In many places swimmers might prefer to avoid sharks, but wetsuit-clad tourists in Palau clamour to dive among the predators thanks to a pioneering conservation initiative that has made them one of the country's main visitor attractions.

Palau created the world's first shark sanctuary in 2009 and the move has been so successful that plans are now underway to completely ban commercial fishing in the island nation's vast ocean territory by 2018.

The fishing-free zone in the northern Pacific, described as unprecedented by famed US marine scientist Sylvia Earle, will cover 630,000 square kilometres (240,000 square miles), an area almost the size of France.

The architect of the ambitious plan is Palau President Tommy Remengesau, who said the ban was needed to "let the ocean heal" after years of industrialised fishing in the Pacific that has seen stocks of some species such as bluefin tuna fall to critical levels.

Remengesau said Pacific island nations, which are also struggling to deal with climate change, were effectively "the conscience of the world" on environmental matters and had to lead by example because of their special connection with the ocean.

"The ocean is our way of life," he said. "It sustains and nurtures us, provides us with the basics of our Pacific island cultures, our very identities."

Just a decade ago, dozens of so-called "shark boats" regularly docked in Palau's commercial centre Koror, hanging fins to dry from their rigging as they worked to supply a seemingly insatiable demand in Asia for the primary ingredient in shark fin soup.

During the height of the trade, an estimated 73 million sharks a year had their fins hacked off and were thrown back into the sea to die.

"I would have been very upset to see that," said Maayan Sagr, a 22-year-old Israeli tourist on a six-week dive master's course in Palau, which is regularly voted the world's top spot for underwater enthusiasts.

"The nature and the sharks are the reason I came here," she said. "Everybody knows it's quiet and peaceful but the main attraction is the sharks, getting to see them in their natural environment."

Remengesau said Palau's world-first shark protection measures sparked global change in attitudes towards the top predator, which went from being seen as a dangerous pest to a valuable part of the eco-system.

About one-third of the world's countries have followed the Pacific nation's lead in banning shark-finning, according to the Pew Environment Group.

Crucially, demand for shark fin soup in China has waned thanks to a ban from official state banquet tables and celebrities publicly speaking out against eating the dish, which is often regarded as a status symbol.

Remengesau said sharks had more value to Palau as eco-tourism assets, citing a 2011 study that found a single reef shark could contribute almost US$2.0 million to the economy over its 10-year lifespan via the dive tourists it attracts.

"We feel that a live shark is worth a thousand times more than a dead one," he said.

Published: 04 September 2014

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France's former first lady Valerie Trierweiler was roundly attacked Thursday for her kiss-and-tell book about her acrimonious split with President Francois Hollande after his affair with an actress.

The surprise memoir, which hit bookstands on Thursday and in which she recounts her stormy relationship with Hollande, was described as "outrageous" by Prime Minister Manuel Valls and a "dishonour for France" by right-wing leader Marine Le Pen, usually a trenchant critic of Hollande.

Hollande's previous partner Segolene Royal, the mother of his four children whom he left for Trierweiler, also shot down as "rubbish" the book's claim that Hollande -- who became France's first Socialist president in nearly two decades when he was elected 2012 -- secretly despised the poor.

Published: 04 September 2014

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