Heavy pollution shuts schools in Iran's capital

TEHRAN: Officials shut schools on Monday as the first of the winter's heavy pollution hit the Iranian capital. A blanket of choking brown-white smog descended on the city on Sunday, blocking out the view of the mountains that line its northern edge and leading many of its 14 million residents to retreat indoors or don face masks in the street. The level of the deadliest PM2.5 particles hit 156 on Monday -- more than three times the level considered safe by the World Health Organisation. "Kindergartens and primary schools are closed on Monday in Tehran and most of the cities of the province," the Ministry of Education announced, according to official agency Irna. Officials extended traffic restrictions that alternate cars with odd and even licence plates in two central parts of the city, and deployed ambulances to wait in the busiest and dirtiest areas. Tehran mayor Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf rode the metro to work on Sunday in a bid to encourage people to use public transport. Despite having around 100 stations, Ghalibaf says the metro is not sufficiently funded by the central government, and Tehran has some of the world's worst traffic congestion. Pollution has become a political football in recent years, with conservatives and reformists blaming each other for the problem. Hardliners regularly accuse the reformist vice-president Massoumeh Ebtekar, who heads the environmental protection organisation, of not doing enough. The ultra-conservative daily Vatane Emrooz said Monday that 70 percent of deaths in Tehran were linked to pollution. The pollution has been building for six consecutive days and is expected to continue until Wednesday when forecasters hope winds will move the stagnant air, an official told state television. Residents were advised to stay indoors unless absolutely necessary, with warnings that pollution is particularly dangerous for the elderly, pregnant, children and those with existing respiratory and heart conditions. Sand and cement factories around Tehran were also shuttered. Every year, Tehran suffers some of the worst pollution in the world when cold weather traps the vast levels of exhaust from the city's 10 million ageing cars and motorbikes. Two permanent zones of traffic restrictions introduced in 1979 and 2005 have failed to rectify the sprawling city's poor air quality. Local carmakers have shown little interest in introducing cleaner engines, while foreign firms have been kept out by international sanctions. In 2014, almost 400 people were hospitalised with heart and respiratory problems caused by heavy pollution in Tehran, with nearly 1,500 others requiring treatment. The health ministry estimated that pollution contributed to the premature deaths of 4,500 people in Tehran in 2012 and about 80,000 across the country.

Iraq troops aim to tighten noose on Islamic State in Mosul

BASHIQA, IRAQ : Iraqi soldiers fighting just north of Mosul, within sight of city neighborhoods, said on Sunday they were ready to tighten the noose around Islamic State militants waging a brutal defense of their Iraqi stronghold. Four weeks into the campaign to crush Islamic State in Mosul, the city is almost surrounded but the jihadists' defenses have so far been breached only to the east, where they have battled elite troops for control of around a dozen districts. The battle for Mosul, the biggest city held by the ultra-hardline Sunni Islamist group in Iraq and Syria, is the largest military operation in Iraq in a decade of turmoil unleashed by the 2003 U.S. invasion which toppled Saddam Hussein. Iraq's Shi'ite-led government, which has assembled a 100,000-strong coalition of troops, security forces, Kurdish peshmerga fighters and mainly Shi'ite militias, backed by U.S. air power, says it will mark the end of Islamic State in Iraq. But it says the fight will be a long one. An army special forces officer on the northern front line said his men aimed to target Hadba, the first neighborhood ahead of them within city limits. The district was visible from his position in the village of Bawiza. Brigadier Ali Abdulla said Islamic State fighters had been pushed out of Bawiza and another village, Saada, although progress had been slowed by the presence of civilians he said were being used by the militants as human shields. "Our approach (to Hadba) will be very slow and cautious so that we can reach the families and free them from Daesh's (Islamic State's) grip," Abdulla said. One man who escaped from Saada to Bawiza with his young son and daughter said they had to move from house to house and hide among sheep to avoid being caught by Islamic State fighters. The timing of the decision to move on Hadba would depend on progress on other fronts, Abdulla said. Security forces are advancing to the south of Mosul, targeting the city's airport on the west bank of the Tigris river. Abdulla said Islamic State was using suicide car bombs, roadside bombs, snipers and long range mortars to try to hold back the army advance in the north - all tactics it has used to lethal effect on the eastern front as well. Another officer, Captain Oqba Nafaa, said the militants were still fighting in Saada, using a network of tunnels to carry out surprise strikes on the attacking forces. The urban warfare tactics were similar to those they have deployed to lethal effect in the east of the city against elite Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) forces and an armored division.

In some districts, control has changed hands three or four times as the militants, using tunnels and exploiting the presence of civilians as cover, have launched night-time attacks and reversed military gains of the previous day. One resident of al-Qadisiya al-Thaniya district, which the CTS entered on Friday, said the special forces later pulled back and Islamic State fighters returned. "They came back to us again, and this is what we feared. At night there were fierce clashes and we heard powerful explosions," she told Reuters. A military statement later said that CTS forces had cleared all militants from two districts of eastern Mosul, Arbajiya and Karkukli, and were still clearing three others.

TROOPS TAKE NIMRUD

About 30 km (20 miles) south of Mosul, troops recaptured the 3,000-year-old Assyrian city of Nimrud which was overrun by Islamic State militants two years ago, a military source said. Nimrud, once the capital of an empire stretching across the ancient Middle East, is one of several historic sites looted and ransacked by the militants, who deem the country's pre-Islamic religious heritage idolatrous. Iraq's deputy culture minister, Qais Hussain Rasheed, said that recapturing the remains of Iraq's rich heritage from the jihadists represented a triumph for the world. Islamic State still controls other Assyrian landmarks including the ruins of Nineveh and Khorsabad, as well as the 2,000-year-old desert city of Hatra. "Liberation of ancient Iraqi archaeological sites from the control of forces of dark and evil is a victory not only to Iraqis but for all humanity," Rasheed, deputy minister for tourism and antiquities at the culture ministry, told Reuters. The scale of the damage inflicted on the sites is not completely clear, but Iraqi officials say many buildings have been totally destroyed. More than 54,000 people have been forced to flee their homes so far in the Mosul campaign. The Norwegian Refugee Council said on Sunday tens of thousands of people "lack access to water, food, electricity and basic health services" in areas recaptured by the army in Mosul and surrounding towns and villages. Ultimately, 700,000 people were likely to need shelter, food, water or medical support.

In the north of the country, Iraqi Kurdish fighters battling Islamic State unlawfully destroyed Arab homes in scores of towns and villages in what may amount to a war crime, the U.S.-based rights group Human Rights Watch said on Sunday.

Pro-Russian candidates triumph in Moldova, Bulgaria presidential race

SOFIA / CHISINAU : Bulgarian Socialist ally Rumen Radev, a Russia-friendly newcomer to politics, won Sunday's presidential election by a wide margin, exit polls showed, prompting centre-right Prime Minister Boiko Borisov to pledge to resign. Radev, 53, entered Bulgarian politics on a wave of discontent with the ruling centre-right's progress in combating corruption, disappointment with the European Union and concerns among voters over alienating an increasingly assertive Russia. A former air force commander, Radev has argued Bulgaria needs to be pragmatic in balancing the requirements of its European Union and NATO memberships while seeking ways to benefit from a relationship with Moscow. Exit polls showed Radev, who is backed by the opposition Socialist party, winning 58.1-58.5 percent of the vote, compared with 35.3-35.7 percent for Tsetska Tsacheva, the 58-year-old candidate of the ruling GERB party. Compounding GERB's problems, Tsacheva was seen as lacking Borisov's charisma. "The loss of GERB is definite and clear," Borisov told reporters after exit polls were published. "In this election, the people showed us that something is not as it should be. That our priorities may be good, but obviously there are better ones. So the most democratic thing, the right thing to do is to (resign)," he said. Borisov's resignation would likely lead to an early election as soon as March and could be followed by months by difficult coalition talks among several political groupings. "There isn't an alternative to take over government," said political analyst Ognian Minchev. "The Socialists and the ethnic Turkish MRF party have lost much of their public trust only two years ago...Early elections are inevitable," he said. A pro-Russian candidate for president of Moldova has won the race, preliminary results showed on Sunday, following a campaign in which he vowed to slam the brakes on seven years of closer integration with the European Union.

With 98 percent of votes counted, online results showed Socialist candidate Igor Dodon had won 54 percent, and his pro-European challenger, Maia Sandu, had just under 45 percent. Dodon's win is in part a reflection of a loss of trust in pro-European leaders in the ex-Soviet state of 3.5 million, which was plunged into political and economic crisis after a corruption scandal came to light in late 2014."I am president for the whole country, for those who voted for me and those who voted against," Dodon said in a short briefing to journalists. In another potential blow to the European Union brand, Bulgaria - which also held a presidential vote on Sunday - elected a pro-Russian candidate by a large margin, according to exit polls. The president in Moldova is more than just a figurehead: he or she can return laws to parliament and dissolve the assembly in certain situations. Dodon's promise to pursue closer ties with Russia rather than the European Union is in direct conflict with the pro-European stance of the current government. Prime Minister Pavel Filip said the two sides would need to work together in Moldova's best interest. "This includes key reforms needed for the country's modernization and continued EU path, which cannot be reversed," he said in emailed comments after polls closed.

Squeezed between Ukraine and EU member Romania, Moldova signed a political and trade agreement with the European bloc in 2014 that damaged its ties with Moscow, which imposed trade restrictions on Moldovan farming exports. Dodon's Socialist party wants to scrap that agreement in favor of joining a Eurasian economic union dominated by Russia - a policy backed by many Moldovans who have suffered financially from the goods embargo and broader economic downturn. "He's got experience and knows that now is not the time to be turning a back to Russia, while she (Sandu) only looks to Europe," said pensioner Tatiana, declining to give her last name. The banking scandal in Moldova involved the looting of $1 billion - the equivalent of an eighth of its economic output, highlighting the scale of corruption in Europe's poorest nation.

FINDING A BALANCE

Coupled with political instability, Bulgaria's tilt toward Russia is a blow to the country's western European allies and underscores Moscow's growing influence in southeastern Europe. In Moldova, another ex-communist state near the Black Sea, voters were expected to install a pro-Russian candidate as president and slam the breaks on seven years of closer EU integration in an election also held on Sunday. While most of the key decisions in Bulgaria are taken by the government, the president, who leads the armed forces, can sway public opinion and has the power to send legislation back to parliament. Radev is not advocating NATO member Bulgaria abandon its Western alliances, mindful of the financial impact of EU aid and the country's long history of divided loyalties. But he has called for an end to EU sanctions against Russia and said Sofia should be pragmatic in its approach to any international law violations by Moscow when it annexed Crimea "We listened (to the voters') concerns. We said that we will work for Bulgarian national interests, that's what gave us broad support," a jubilant Radev told reporters. Many in the Balkan country are keen to see restored trade with their former Soviet overlord, hurt by economic problems and sanctions, and to protect vital tourism revenues. Speaking on Sunday evening, Radev said he hoped for good dialogue both with the United States and Russia and expressed hopes that with a new president in Washington, there will be a drop in confrontation between the West and Moscow. "In his election campaign (Donald Trump), already elected, said clearly that he will work for a better dialogue with Russia. That gives us hope, a big hope, for a peaceful solution to the conflicts both in Syria and in Ukraine and for a decrease of the confrontation," Radev said. Although Bulgaria's economy is expected to grow at a relatively healthy rate of about 3.1-3.3 percent this year, having shaken off recession, it remains the EU's poorest member, with average wages about 470 euros per month. Rampant graft in public administration is seen as a key factor slowing the small Black Sea state's progress in catching up with its wealthier EU peers.

Bolivian designer exports high-end indigenous fashion

Centuries ago, Spanish colonizers forced their Bolivian servants to wear the puffy skirts that have come to symbolize the country's "cholitas," or indigenous women. Today, one local designer is turning the tables with plans to export high-end cholita fashion -- blossoming skirts, bowler hats and intricately woven shawls -- to Madrid, Paris and beyond. Fresh off her first show at New York Fashion Week, Eliana Paco, a 34-year-old indigenous Aymara designer, is ready to bring her take on a once-stigmatized style to the world. "Cholitas" -- a diminutive of "chola," a sometimes derogatory world for a woman from Bolivia's indigenous majority -- were once seen here as a silent underclass of maids and manual laborers. But in a changing Bolivia currently governed by its first indigenous president, Evo Morales, Paco said she sees the traditional women's costume as a symbol of "identity and pride." She has already made her mark on the local fashion scene, where TV presenters and cabinet ministers now regularly sport the indigenous look, updated and embellished. Her mission now is to "use that sophisticated touch to cross borders," she told AFP. She took a big step in September in New York, where she made headlines with her latest collection, "Pachamama" (Mother Earth, in the Quechua language). "It's the first time a chola women's suit has arrived on the runway. There were 12 international models wearing our designs," she said.

Turning Heads

Paco's exuberant dresses, vibrant shawls and gravity-defying bowlers captured industry insiders' attention. "I love cholita clothing. It reminds me a lot of Yves Saint Laurent and the best era of Armani, when he used bowler hats," said Spanish designer Agatha Ruiz de la Prada. "I would love to take (Paco's designs) to Madrid, to Paris," she told AFP in Lima, Peru, where she was presenting her own collection. "Until now there had never been a cholita with the marketing sense she has."

Paco said she sees an international market for her designs. "I think it's possible European women could use the shawls or hats for everyday wear," said the soft-spoken designer with her ever-present smile. She envisions her shawls accessorizing Western dresses or jeans, she said.

10-kilo Skirts

Paco, the daughter of two artisans, takes pride in the quality of her designs. Her colorful "aguayo" shawls are hand-woven with naturally dyed alpaca or vicuna wool. The best ones take a team of three people two weeks to finish. The below-the-knee skirts have three or four layers, each using up to six meters (yards) of fabric. They can weigh up to 10 kilos (22 pounds).

China's Xi, Trump agree to meet 'at an early date'

Chinese President Xi Jinping and US president-elect Donald Trump agreed Monday to meet "at an early date" to discuss the relationship between their two powers, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said Monday. In a telephone call, Xi told Trump -- who frequently savaged Beijing on the campaign trail and threatened to impose a 45-percent tariff on Chinese-made goods -- that the world's top two economies "need cooperation and there are a lot of things we can cooperate on", CCTV reported.

Xi and Trump "vowed to keep close contact, build good working relations, and meet at an early date to exchange views on issues of mutual interest and the development of bilateral ties", CCTV said.

Before his election, Trump went as far as calling the Asian giant America's "enemy", accused it of artificially lowering its currency to boost exports, and pledged to stand up to a country he says views the US as a pushover. He has vowed to pursue a policy of "peace through strength" and build up the US navy. But he also indicated he is not interested in getting involved in far-off squabbles, and decried the proposed Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) free trade deal, which encompasses several other Asian countries and has been seen as an effort to bolster US influence, for costing American jobs. CCTV cited Trump as saying in the call that China was a large and important nation that he was willing to work with, and that he believed Sino-US relations could realise "win-win" benefits. The phrasing the broadcaster attributed to the US president-elect is typical of Chinese diplomacy. In a statement, Trump's office confirmed the call and said that "the leaders established a clear sense of mutual respect for one another". Trump "stated that he believes the two leaders will have one of the strongest relationships for both countries moving forward", it added.

- New starting point? -

Trump's contrary and ambiguous positions have left a pall of uncertainty over how he will manage the relationship between the world's two largest economies and its biggest and most powerful militaries. An editorial in the often nationalistic Global Times newspaper warned Monday that China would "take countermeasures" if Washington levied tariffs and said that "making things difficult for China politically will do him no good". Beijing would use a "tit-for-tat approach" and target US autos, aircraft, soybeans, and iPhones. It also said that China could limit the large number of students it sends to American schools. Under President Barack Obama, Washington's foreign policy "pivot" towards Asia was viewed with alarm in Beijing, which saw it as an attempt to contain its growing geopolitical and economic might. But Trump has offered no clear prescriptions for the strategic issues that plague ties between the two powers, from Beijing's territorial claims in the South China Sea to North Korea's nuclear programme and the future of Taiwan. He has also indicated America has had enough of paying to defend allies such as Japan and South Korea, even suggesting they should develop their own nuclear weapons. Mark Williams of Capital Economics previously said in a note that "if the US is less engaged in Asia, Beijing will have an opportunity to shape regional political and economic integration on its own terms". That could include an Asia-focused trade agreement of its own that excludes the US, in the same way that China was not part of TPP. Beijing is already embarked on negotiations to create the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a free trade area encompassing the Southeast Asian grouping ASEAN, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. Something of a mirror image to the TPP, it includes six of the putative Washington-led grouping's 12 members. It would encompass more than three billion people and Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told media Thursday that if the TPP does fail, "then the vacuum that would be created is most likely to be filled by RCEP". China's foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said Monday that Beijing attaches "great importance" to its relationship with the US and will make "concerted efforts" to expand cooperation with the Trump administration.

 Asked about Trump's vow to withdraw from the Paris climate change pact to cut greenhouse gas emissions -- which China and the US both ratified in September -- Geng stressed that the agreement "officially entered into force" this month.

Why Pakistan’s fashion industry needs to be socially responsible

“The social reality of people in general even in Germany is to buy cheap this is the very reason that has fueled industrial disasters like the Baldia Town factory fire which resulted in the deaths of around 289 people. We only had numbers but now we’ve names, we’ve stories of the mothers , the sons and the husbands lost to this dreadful fire.” - Miro CraemerAs the three-day ‘Fashion Pakistan Week Winter Festive 2016’ ended last week with all its glitz and glamour, showcasing the latest bridal and luxury collections of the best upcoming fashion designers of Pakistan, little do we notice the gross lack of compassion and consideration for thousands of garment workers who break their backs at hazardous textile factories, skilled artisans who remain unrewarded for their hard work and small scale framers who remain unequally paid for the raw material they produce which are made into overpriced rags that is much cherished and sought after by fashionistas of Pakistan. To highlight the need to push forward for social responsibility in the fashion industry an artists' talk was held on 5th November 2016 at T2F (formerly The Second Floor) by Goethe-Institut Pakistan, the Lahore Biennale Foundation, Vasl and other partners as part of a yearlong project called, “Urbanities – art and public space in Pakistan" showcasing the work of its residents aiming to create critical discussion about urban art and its role in the public space of Pakistan especially Karachi and Lahore. Miro Craemer one of the key speaker at the event happens to be a German fashion artist and social designer selected by an international jury at Vasl Artists' Collective in Karachi to collaborate and present an artistic research project, which is seeking to highlight the Baldia factory fire incident of 2012 by translating the personal tragedies, saving the traditional handcrafts and creating social awareness of the tragedy into an artwork. As the world globalizes further so does the emergence of critical issues like climate change, child labor, gender inequality, corruption and hazardous work environment concerns more consumers especially concerning them about the source of the goods they buy and the impact they’ve on the environment and its people. Baldia fire incident points out to the urgent need of accessing Pakistan’s industrial safety and labor laws in Pakistan which because of corruption and weak institutions has been dismantled into oblivion. According to Miro, “The social reality of people in general even in Germany is to buy cheap this is the very reason that has fueled industrial disasters like the Baldia Town factory fire which resulted in the deaths of around 289 people.  We only had numbers but now we’ve names, we’ve stories of the mothers , the sons and the husbands lost to this dreadful fire.”

“We only had numbers but now we’ve names, we’ve stories of the mothers, the sons and the husbands lost to this dreadful fire.” It was shared that one of the main contractors for the demolished garment factory ‘Ali Enterprise’ was the German Textile company KiK which after  4 years of vigorous and lengthy legal proceedings in the lower courts as well as Sindh High courts led by Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER)and other labour supporting organizations decided to pay a settlement of around USD 5.15 million in compensation to the families of those who perished in the factory fires. According to Miro, “I am on a mission to find emotions and connect people to collaborate and create change. In Germany all the news about Pakistan isn’t good, but as a social designer I am surprised to meet people of Pakistan who are as passionate and vocal about social issues which matter. For me fashion is a universal language; it's a transformation of ideas and experiments into something beautiful. Everyone is an artist if we engage people to bring out their creativity and help them collaborate the outcome would be unknown and great”.

Russia and Iran in talks over $10 billion arms deal:

Russia and Iran are in talks over an arms deal worth around $10 billion that would see Moscow deliver T-90 tanks, artillery systems, planes and helicopters to Tehran, a senior Russian senator said on Monday, the RIA news agency reported. Viktor Ozerov, head of the defense and security committee in the Russian upper house of parliament, or Federation Council, told reporters talks on the potential deal were under way during a parliamentary visit to Iran, RIA said.a

New Chinese home for 'world's saddest polar bear'

GUANGZHOU: A polar bear dubbed the "world's saddest" by animal rights activists has been removed from a Chinese shopping mall where campaigners said it was suffering in unsuitable conditions. The Grandview Mall in the southern city of Guangzhou held a farewell party for Pizza the bear at the weekend, it said on social media. A spokesman for the mall, which set up an "Ocean World" attraction with 500 species to try to draw in shoppers, told AFP: “Pizza left the aquarium with escorts after the farewell party” on Sunday. Chinese media reports said he was returning to the facility where he was born in captivity in the northern port of Tianjin. The mall claimed the move was a temporary one due to the facility being renovated, and that Pizza would return after the works were completed. But the US-based Humane Society International mounted a media-friendly campaign to highlight the bear's plight, coining the description the "world's saddest polar bear" and generating global headlines. It distributed video showing Pizza pacing around his 40-square-metre glass-fronted enclosure and shaking his head as onlookers took pictures on their cellphones. The footage showed the bear was in poor physical and mental condition, it said. Peter Li, China policy expert at HSI said in a statement: "Pizza the polar bear has endured a life of deprivation and suffering in his small, artificial glass-fronted room at the shopping mall. "At last he will feel the sun on his fur, sniff fresh air and see the sky above in the company of his mum and dad." The move was a result of public pressure, he said, and suggested that if the bear was in poor health that could be another factor.“We implore the Mall to make this a permanent move for Pizza and to not condemn him to return," he added. Pictures of the bear's farewell party posted on China's Twitter-like Weibo by the mall showed children queuing up to say goodbye to the bear. “Tears and sadness are only temporary, we will make the cosiest home to await your return,” it said.

CII to take up men’s rights issue today

 In an interesting move, the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) will take up an issue regarding men’s rights in its upcoming session starting from today. In a letter addressed to the CII chairman, Sahibzada Zahid Mahmood Qasmi, one of the members, has raised the issue seeking its recommendation to pass a bill for the protection of the men’s rights. The CII, which has included the issue on its agenda, will discuss the matter during its three-day session starting on Monday 

In the letter, Qasmi stated that on the pattern of a bill for women’s rights proposed by the council, another bill should also be adopted for the protection of men’s rights to save them from many sorts of ‘exploitations at the hands of women and their powerful families’. While talking to The Nation, Qasmi said that he was thankful to CII Chairman Mohammad Khan Sherani who has included his suggestion for deliberation in the upcoming session of the council. He said that he was the ardent supporter of women’s rights and at the same time he wanted to see the rights of men be protected in the light of Quran and Sunnah, as the Holy Quran has explicitly defined the rights and duties of both men and women in their lives. In the letter, Qasmi said that there were reported cases in parts of the country where the women had subjected their husbands to severe torture and in most of the cases get them beaten up by their brothers and other close relatives. “There were cases where a woman has roughed up her husband by her brothers or a father and other relatives. In various districts of Punjab, several cases have come forth where men’s nails have been pulled out or their hands and feet have been cut off. These cases have been lodged in various police stations,” the letter said. “We support the rights of women but men should be granted their rights as well.”

Myanmar Muslim Rohingya villages torched

YANGON: Hundreds of buildings in Rohingya villages in western Myanmar have been torched, according to new satellite images released on Sunday as fresh fighting flared in the strife-torn region. Northern Rakhine, which is home to the Muslim Rohingya minority and borders Bangladesh, has been under military lockdown ever since surprise raids on border posts left nine police dead last month. Soldiers have killed several dozen people and arrested scores in their hunt for the attackers, who the government says are radicalised Rohingya militants with links to overseas Islamists. Fresh fighting flared on Saturday with two soldiers and six attackers killed, according to the military who said they brought in helicopter gunships to repel an ambush. The crisis and reports of grave rights abuses being carried out in tandem with the security crackdown have piled international pressure on Myanmar´s new civilian government and raised questions about its ability to control its military. Authorities have heavily restricted access to the area, making it difficult to independently verify government reports or accusations of army abuse. New satellite images released by Human Rights Watch show what the group said was evidence of mass arson attacks against Rohingya villages. Their analysis showed more than 400 buildings torched in three Rohingya villages where the fighting has been taking place. The group said active fires and burn scars showed that most of the destruction was caused by arson. The latest images were taken on 10 November. Brad Adams, the group´s Asia director, said the new photos showed "widespread destruction" that was "greater than we first thought". "Burmese authorities should promptly establish a UN-assisted investigation as a first step toward ensuring justice and security for the victims," he said in a statement. The resurgence of violence in western Rakhine has deepened and complicated a crisis that already posed a critical challenge to the new administration led by democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi. The state has sizzled with religious tension ever since waves of violence between the majority Buddhist population and the Muslim Rohingya left more than 200 dead in 2012. More than 100,000 people, mostly Rohingya, were pushed into displacement camps by the bloodshed and have languished there ever since. Rights groups say they face apartheid-like restrictions on movement and have repeatedly called on Suu Kyi to carve out a solution. But Buddhist nationalists at home viciously oppose any move to grant them citizenship, claiming the Rohingya are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh despite their long roots in the country. The military and government have rejected allegations that troops have burned Rohingya villages, accusing insurgents of lighting the fires.

Pro-Russian candidate wins Moldova presidency

CHISINAU: Pro-Russian candidate Igor Dodon on Monday emerged as winner of Moldova's hotly disputed presidential runoff, branded an East-West tug-of-war. With 99.9 percent of ballots counted, Socialist Party chief Dodon had 52.3 percent of the votes, according to the electoral commission, with pro-European rival Maia Sandu on 47.7 percent. "We have won, everyone knows it," Dodon told a press conference overnight. But Sandu said on Monday that she does not accept the outcome of the vote in the impoverished ex-Soviet country. "These elections were neither proper nor free," she said at a press conference. "We faced lies and manipulation, the use of dirty money, administrative resources and mass media against us." Some 1,000 people gathered on the central square of the capital Chisinau to protest against the result, an AFP correspondent at the scene said. The demonstrators decried the "rigged elections", calling on the foreign minister and electoral commission leadership to resign over their failure to ensure that all eligible Moldovan nationals residing abroad could vote. Protesters shouted "We need a European president!" and "Jail Dodon!" as police stood by. The full results are expected to be announced later this week.

- Ties with Moscow -

Wedged between Ukraine and Romania, the tiny nation of 3.5 million people is caught in a political tug-of-war between Russia and the West. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow respected the results and congratulated the winner. Dodon had come out top in the first round of voting on October 30 with 48 percent ahead of Sandu, a centre-right former education minister who worked for the World Bank, with 38 percent. Dodon -- who served as economy minister under a communist government between 2006 and 2009 -- has called for deeper ties and boosting trade with Moscow. Sandu meanwhile had urged a path towards Europe, calling for the withdrawal of thousands of Russian troops from the Russian-speaking separatist region of Transdniester, which broke away in the early 1990s after a brief civil war. Moldova signed an historic EU association agreement in 2014, and half of its exports now go to the bloc. The move was bitterly opposed by Russia, which responded with an embargo targeting Moldova's crucial agriculture sector. "Close ties united us with Moldova before but then the scope of our relations slid," Peskov told journalists on Monday. "But Russia has always been and remains committed to maintaining ties with Moldova." Both candidates criticised the vote as badly organised, highlighting the shortage of ballot papers for overseas voters. More than 4,000 Moldovan and international observers were on hand to monitor the vote. Turnout was 53.4 percent, the electoral commission said.

- Corruption scandals -

The vote comes as a Moscow-friendly general also claimed victory in ex-communist Bulgaria's presidential election on Sunday, prompting Prime Minister Boyko Borisov to announce his resignation as his nominee was dealt a crushing defeat. Speaking at a polling station on Sunday, Dodon had described his campaign as "against the oligarchs, against those who have robbed our country and want to destroy it". Moldova has been rocked by corruption scandals and political turmoil in recent years. In 2014, $1 billion (920 million euros) mysteriously disappeared from three banks, prompting huge street protests and the arrest of former prime minister Vlad Filat, who has since been convicted of corruption and abuse of office. A recent report published by Transparency International called the country "the regional launderer for money of dubious origin". Moldova's current Prime Minister Pavel Filip, who has served since January, is pro-European and introduced political changes including the direct presidential vote. Filip on Monday called for Dodon to keep the country on a pro-European path. "The association agreement with the EU and the reforms are irreversible and relate to national interests," Filip wrote on his Facebook page. "It is important to cooperate for the success of key reforms, which are essential to the country's modernisation."

Russia says arrests Islamic State-linked group plotting Moscow attacks

 Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has arrested 10 people from Central Asia with links to Islamic State who planned to carry out attacks with firearms and explosives in Moscow and St Petersburg, Russian news agencies reported on Saturday. The FSB said in a statement that the 10 had been detained with the help of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It said they had been plotting assaults with automatic weapons and home-made explosives in public places in the two Russian cities. Moscow last year launched a campaign of air strikes in Syria to help President Bashar al-Assad take on various rebel groups as well as the Islamic State militant group. The Kremlin has said its main objective is to crush Islamic State. Thousands of Russians have been fighting in Syria with anti-Assad forces, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in early November, warning of possible attacks by them when they return home. The Ferghana Valley, a fertile and densely populated strip of land that straddles Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, is considered to be the heart of Islamist militancy in Central Asia. Tajikistan also borders Afghanistan and is seen by some as a possible conduit for militant Islamists.