Twitter's video-sharing mobile app Vine to close

Twitter Inc announced Thursday that it would discontinue the video-sharing mobile app Vine, as it moves to cut 9 per cent of its workforce worldwide to keep costs down after beating Wall Street quarterly earnings expectations.

The decision comes on the heels of a failed attempt to sell Twitter as it fights against stagnant user growth and mounting competition from other social media platforms.

In a post published jointly by Twitter and Vine to the blog platform Medium, the social media services said that the Vine website would stay live even after the mobile app is discontinued, giving users the chance to download and save any videos.

A Twitter spokeswoman told Reuters the app will shutter in coming months but did not specify a date.

Twitter introduced Vine in January 2013 as a way for users to share small snippets of video that were six seconds or less. The service was popular with members of the microblogging site and spawned several so-called "Vine stars", attracting millions of followers.

Social media users reeled over the news and Vine quickly became the top-trending topic on Twitter in the US with over 1.64 million tweets.

"RIP VINE #GoneTooSoon," tweeted Patricia Laire (@patricialaire).

"VINE IS A QUARTER OF MY LIFE I'M SO UPSET," wrote Twitter user moon (@hrtbreaker_mp3).

Others, however, saw the news as inevitable.

"We all knew Vine was not forever," tweeted Tyzano (@Tyzano). "It just could not compete with other platforms."

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US cracks down on India-based call centre fraud racket

WASHINGTON: US justice authorities announced action on Thursday to shut down a group of Indian call centres that had cheated victims in the United States of hundreds of millions of dollars.

The Justice Department said tens of thousands of victims, most of them from South Asia, were extorted by callers pretending to be US tax or immigration officials threatening them with arrest and deportation if they did not remit money to the government.

But the victims were then directed to people working with the call centres in the United States to collect the “fines” through prepaid debit cards or wire transfers, and the money was quickly laundered out of the country, according to the Justice Department.

The agency said it had arrested 20 people and unveiled charges against five call centres and 32 individuals in India in the Ahmedabad-based operation.

The charges lodged by the US attorney in the southern district of Texas sets charges against a total of 56 people and five Indian companies for conspiracy to commit identity theft, false personation of an officer of the United States, wire fraud and money laundering.

“These individuals demanded immediate payments from the people they called to avoid deportation, to avoid arrest or to cover supposedly unpaid income taxes,” said Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell.

“In the process, these criminals took hundreds of millions of dollars from this scam alone. The victims include people all over the United States... and targeted primarily immigrants and the elderly.” The call centre racket made use of informal money transfer businesses known as hawalas to move the money. Many of the people contacted did not know the money being transferred was part of an extortion scheme, according to the Justice Department.

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US official warns over 9/11 law during Saudi visit

RIYADH: A United States law allowing victims of the Sept 11, 2001 attacks to sue Saudi Arabia could have “serious implications” for shared US-Gulf interests, a top Obama administration official said on Thursday.

US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew made the comments at the opening of a meeting with finance ministers from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, whose most powerful member is Saudi Arabia.

The US Congress voted overwhelmingly in September to override President Barack Obama’s veto of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA).

Fifteen of the 19 Al Qaeda hijackers who carried out the 9/11 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people were Saudi, but Riyadh denies any ties to the plotters.

JASTA allows attack survivors and relatives of terrorism victims to pursue cases against foreign governments in US federal court and to demand compensation if those governments are proven to bear some responsibility for attacks on US soil.

Lew said JASTA “would enact broad changes in long-standing international law regarding sovereign immunity that, if applied globally, could have serious implications for our shared interests.”

He said the Obama administration has proven its determination to hold people responsible when they commit “horrendous acts”, but “there are ways to do that without undermining important international legal principles.” In opposing the law, Obama said it would harm US interests by opening up the US to private lawsuits over its military missions abroad.

Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies have also expressed concern about erosion of sovereign immunity, a principle sacrosanct in international relations. But the potential implications go far beyond the Gulf.

Some British, French and Dutch lawmakers have threatened retaliatory legislation to allow their courts to pursue US officials, threatening a global legal domino effect.

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Pakistan bans all Indian TV and radio as tensions mount

Pakistan has banned all television and radio content from India and threatened to shut down any stations that flout the sanction.

The ban drew immediate criticism from cable operators and viewers in Pakistan, where Indian soaps and Bollywood films are popular.

It follows a souring in relations between the south Asian neighbors.

Tensions have run high since India cracked down on protests in Indian-administered Kashmir in July.

Relations worsened in September when militants attacked an army base there, killing 18 soldiers.

India accuses Pakistan of arming and training insurgents fighting for Kashmir's independence from India or its merger with Pakistan - a claim Pakistan denies.

Pakistan's blanket TV and radio ban follows a tit-for-tat series of restrictions in both countries' respective media industries.

There were calls in India after the Kashmir attack for a ban on Pakistani actors and actresses in the country's Bollywood film industry.

Pakistani cinemas responded by banning Bollywood films and some Indian channels.

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US seeks clarity on Duterte 'separation' comments

The US has said it will seek clarity on the Philippine president's announcement of a "separation from the US".

Rodrigo Duterte made the comments in China on Thursday at an economic forum, saying the separation applied to military and economic co-operation.

US officials said the remarks were "at odds" with the "close relationship" shared by the countries.

Mr Duterte has grown increasingly hostile towards the US - a traditional ally - since taking office in June.

His presidential spokesman said the latest comments were a "restatement" of "independent foreign policy".

"This is not an intent to renege on our treaties, but an assertion that we are an independent and sovereign nation," Ernesto Abella said on Friday.

He explained Mr Duturte wanted to "separate the nation from dependence on the US and the West and rebalance economic and military relations with Asian neighbours".

Several members of Mr Duterte's cabinet members have also said their country would not sever ties with Washington.

Speaking at a business forum in Beijing on Thursday, Mr Duterte said: "I announce my separation from the United States. Both in military, not maybe social, but economics also. America has lost."

"I've realigned myself in your ideological flow and maybe I will also go to Russia to talk to [President Vladimir] Putin and tell him that there are three of us against the world - China, Philippines, and Russia. It's the only way," Mr Duterte said.

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Russia accuses UK over 'shrinking' London embassy

The Russian ambassador to the UK has accused the British government of delaying the granting of visas to staff at its embassy in London.

Alexander Yakovenko said the embassy was "shrinking" and questioned whether the UK wanted "an adequate Russian diplomatic presence".

He also criticised the prime minister and foreign secretary for giving what he said were "anti-Russian statements".

The Foreign Office said there was no policy to delay visas.

Mr Yakovenko said Russia did not have enough diplomatic staff in London because as people returned home or went on to other postings, visas for their replacements were not being issued.

"The embassy is shrinking and if it continues the embassy will be reduced further. People cannot be replaced because the visas are not being issued," he said.

"I hope this problem will be resolved under present government."

He added: "Here in London, we simply do not understand the strategy of this country on visa issues."

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Trump takes aim at First Lady Michelle Obama

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has launched a rare attack on Michelle Obama, saying "all she wants to do is campaign" for his rival.

Speaking at a North Carolina rally, Mr Trump called the country's leadership "babies" and "losers".

He also accused the first lady of attacking Hillary Clinton in 2007 by invoking a line she said about being fit to run the White House.

The Obama campaign had denied the line referred to Mrs Clinton.

"And I see how much [Michelle Obama] likes Hillary," Mr Trump told a rally in North Carolina.

"But wasn't she the one that originally started the statement, 'If you can't take care of your home,' right? 'You can't take care of the White House or the country?' Where's that? I don't hear that. I don't hear that."

The New York businessman was referring to a remark Mrs Obama made in 2007 while campaigning for her husband, who was running against Mrs Clinton.

The first lady said: "If you can't run your own house, you certainly can't run the White House".

Some critics questioned whether the comment was an undercut aimed at Mrs Clinton's relationship with her husband, former President Bill Clinton.

But the Obama campaign maintained the line was not directed at the Clintons and instead referred to their own struggle with parenting during a campaign.

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EU 'not capable' of signing deal with Canada

A trade deal between the EU and Canada is on the brink of collapse because a Belgian region with a population of just 3.6 million opposes it.

An emotional Canadian Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland left the talks in Brussels, saying the EU was "not capable" of signing a trade agreement.

Belgium, the only country blocking accord, needed consent from the regional parliament of Wallonia.

The wide-ranging deal, seven years in the making, was to be signed next week.

• Belgium-Canada Ceta trade dispute bedevils EU summit

Speaking outside the seat of the Walloon government, Ms Freeland told reporters: "It seems evident for me and for Canada that the European Union is not now capable of having an international accord even with a country that has values as European as Canada."

She added: "Canada is disappointed, but I think it is impossible."

It was unclear whether the EU would keep negotiating with Wallonia in coming days to solve the impasse.

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Russian ambassador says Moscow ready to provide assistance to Philippines

After the president of the Philippines announced a separation from the US – a statement which his government has since walked back – Russia’s ambassador to the country said Moscow is ready to provide assistance to and fully cooperate with Manila.

Formulate your wish list. What kind of assistance do you expect from Russia and we will be ready to sit down with you and discuss what can and should be done,” Russian Ambassador Igor Khovaev told GMA News on Friday.

He went on to state that Russia is open to working with the Philippines in “any area, any field of possible cooperation.”

The ambassador assured the news outlet that Moscow would not “interfere with the domestic affairs of a sovereign state,” and that the “true Russia” is much different than the one portrayed in Hollywood films.

Khovaev added that the Philippines and Russia “deserve to know each other much, much better.”

He also said that Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte impressed Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev during a meeting in Laos last month, and that Moscow supports the leader’s fight against illegal drugs and criminality.

For its part, the Philippines’ budget minister announced that his country is open to all forms of assistance, but will choose what is in the “best interest of the country,” Reuters reported.

‘Troubling rhetoric’ 

Meanwhile, relations between Duterte and the US aren’t quite as rosy. The Philippines leaderannounced it was “time to say goodbye” to Washington on Thursday, including to military and economic cooperation. 

However, the Philippines’ trade minister, Ramon Lopez, told CNN on Friday that the leader“wasn’t talking about separation” from the United States.

Although Duterte explicitly stated that the Philippines would be separating from the US economically, Lopez said that “in terms of economic [ties], we are not stopping trade, investment with America. The president specifically mentioned his desire to strengthen further the ties with China and the ASEAN region, which we have been trading with for centuries.”

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ISIS fighters enter Kirkuk mosques, kindergarten, take civilians hostage

Islamic State militants have reportedly entered houses and mosques in Kurkuk, Iraq, and taken civilians as hostages. They have also broken into a kindergarten building, according to a Rudaw news agency report citing the city’s police chief.

This latest intrusion comes just hours after Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) “sleeper cells” launched an attack on government buildings in the city that sparked clashes with security forces, and also as Iraqi forces continue their offensive on the IS stronghold of Mosul.

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#BREAKING: ISIS militants enter houses and mosques, taking civilians as hostages in #Kirkuk.

12:56 PM - 21 Oct 2016

 
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READ MORE: ISIS ‘sleeper cells’ attack Kurdish-controlled Kirkuk, sparking clashes & curfew – reports

“It was expected that ISIS sleeper cells would make a move one day in Kirkuk now that the Mosul offensive has started and they want to boost their own morale this way,” Kirkuk Governor Najmaldin Karim told Rudaw earlier on Friday.

“Some of [the militants] have hidden themselves inside mosques and tall buildings and try to shoot as snipers, but our forces are in control and in places where escalations were feared it was all controlled. Strong forces combined of security, police, and anti-terrorism are all inside Kirkuk today,” he said.

“They were sleeper cells...many women and children fled to Kirkuk as refugees and it is possible that some militants had come with them,” Kiruk added, referring to the attackers.

The city’s police chief and governor have called on residents to stay in their homes until the situation is under control.

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700,000 residents, incl. children of all ages, to flee #Mosulduring military op – #UNICEF http://on.rt.com/7s9t 

3:45 AM - 19 Oct 2016

 
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The unrest has so far led to the deaths of at least 28 people – six policemen, 12 militants, and 16 power station workers, according to reports from Rudaw and AFP. The workers were killed in the nearby town of Dibis, located 55 kilometers (34 miles) from Kirkuk.

"Three suicide bombers attacked the power plant at around 6:00 am (03:00 UTC), killing 12 Iraqi administrators and engineers and four Iranian technicians," Dibis Mayor Abdullah Nureddin al-Salehi al-Salehi told AFP.

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