EUROPE'S main stock markets slid in opening deals on Friday, with London's FTSE 100 index of top companies down 0.41 per cent at 5,933.97 points.
Elsewhere, Frankfurt's DAX 30 index fell 0.52 per cent to 7,632.41 points and in Paris the CAC 40 recoiled 0.47 per cent to 3,649.33.
A 15-YEAR-OLD Pakistani girl who was shot by the Taliban for promoting girls' education has urged Pakistan to reverse a decision to rename a college in her honour to avert militant attacks on students.
Malala Yousufzai, who became a symbol of youth resistance to the Taliban, made the request after students broke into the school, tore down Malala's pictures and boycotted classes in her home town of Mingora. They said renaming the college endangered their lives.
A senior government official, Kamran Rehman, said Malala had called him from London, where she was being treated for critical wounds from the attack on October 9. The Taliban said it targeted her for promoting education for secular girls.
Malala's case won worldwide recognition for the struggle for women's rights in Pakistan and the Taliban have vowed to target her again.
Pakistani Taliban have a strong presence in the country's tribal regions bordering Afghanistan.
A bomb ripped through the office of local militant commander Maulvi Abbas in Wana, a main town in the South Waziristan tribal region in the northwest, killing him and three of his guards, two intelligence officials said on Friday.
Abbas was an associate of Hakimullah Mehsud, the head of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan militant group, they said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to brief reporters.
It was unclear who had planted the bomb. The attack came weeks after a suicide bomber in the same town attacked Maulvi Nazir, a prominent militant commander who is believed to have a non-aggression pact with the army.
Nazir was wounded in the attack and seven of his men were killed.
Since then there has been tension between followers of Nazir and the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan in the region.
British defence giant BAE Systems has announced a $A3.93 billion deal to supply aircraft to Oman. Source: AAP
BRITISH defence giant BAE Systems has announced a 2.5-billion pound ($A3.93 billion) deal to supply military aircraft to Oman.
The group said in a statement on Friday it would supply 12 Typhoon fighter aircraft and eight Hawk trainer jets, delivering from 2017.
"BAE Systems welcomes the decision by the Sultanate of Oman to purchase 12 Typhoon and eight Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer aircraft," it said.
"This contract is further recognition that both Typhoon and Hawk are leading aircraft in their class, providing the best capabilities available.
"As well as supplying aircraft, BAE Systems will provide in-service support to the Royal Air Force of Oman's operational tasks. Deliveries are expected to commence in 2017."
Earlier this year, BAE Systems had attempted to merge with European aerospace giant EADS, but the deal collapsed under the weight of political wrangling and unexpectedly strong opposition from Germany.
AT least 20 men accused of raping women ran in Indian elections in the past five years, according to a think-tank report published amid growing outrage over the gang-rape of a student on a bus.
The Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) study was released on Thursday as political parties lined up to condemn the rape of the 23-year-old woman, which has triggered widespread protests against how women are treated in India.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the ruling Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi and opposition MPs have condemned the savage assault last Sunday but the ADR said many Indian parties fielded candidates who were facing rape accusations.
"Since 2007, political parties gave tickets to 20 rape accused to fight in state elections. This is shocking and requires urgent action," Jagdeep Chhokar, the founder of ADR, said.
"The politicians who come out to condemn rape are the ones who are openly giving the rape accused a chance to fight elections. This is hypocrisy," he said.
The report stated that political parties had also given tickets to 260 men who were charged with other crimes against women, including molestation.
It did not record how many of the accused candidates had been found guilty.
"Political parties should stop giving tickets to candidates with criminal backgrounds and all those lawmakers who are accused in rape cases should be thrown out of power," Chhokar added.
Further protests were held in New Delhi on Friday, with scores of female demonstrators marching to the president's palace.
The rape victim was coerced onto the off-duty bus and raped by six men before being thrown off the vehicle.
She was seriously injured and remains in intensive care.
Five people, including the bus driver, have so far been arrested.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has welcomed the UK's decision to withdraw 3800 troops next year. Source: AAP
PRESIDENT Hamid Karzai has welcomed the announcement that Britain will pull thousands of troops out of Afghanistan next year, saying his country was ready to take over security responsibilities.
British Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday said that he would withdraw almost half of the country's 9,000 troops from Afghanistan next year as NATO hands over to Afghan forces.
The announcement comes as NATO prepares for a full security handover at the end of 2014, despite fears that a civil war could follow, and amid a spike in "insider attacks" on foreign troops by Afghans in uniform.
Karzai said the decision was "well-timed" and insisted his war-scarred nation was ready to take charge of its own security.
"The president ... welcoming the announcement said: 'the Afghan national forces are ready to provide the security and defend their country," a statement from Karzai's office said on Thursday.
"The decision by Britain is a well-timed decision."
Cameron said the withdrawal of around 3,800 British troops by the end of 2013 was possible "because of the success of our forces and the Afghan National Security Forces".
There are currently more than 9,000 British troops serving in Afghanistan with the NATO force - the second largest force in the country after the United States.
Britain has lost 438 troops in Afghanistan since the operation to topple the Taliban began in October 2001 following the 9/11 attacks.
Most British troops are stationed in southern Helmand province, one of the toughest battlegrounds against the Taliban.
EUROPE'S main stock markets retreated in opening deals on Thursday, with London's FTSE 100 index of top companies down 0.05 per cent at 5,958.44 points.
Frankfurt's DAX 30 index lost 0.33 per cent to 7,642.99 points and in Paris the CAC 40 shed 0.34 per cent to 3,652.08.
Trading in shares in the NYSE Euronext trans-Atlantic stock market was suspended for what a spokesman for the company said was technical reasons, but there was market speculation that US rival InterContinental Exchange (ICE) might be mounting a takeover offer.
A partnership between Qantas and Emirates is set to receive approval from the competition watchdog. Source: AAP
CHRISTMAS has come early for Qantas, with the competition watchdog approving its alliance with Emirates, but the struggling Flying Kangaroo did not get all the yuletide presents it wished for.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said on Thursday it was likely to give the tie-up the green light when it handed down a final decision in March 2013.
"The ACCC considers that the alliance is likely to result in material, although not substantial, benefits to Australian consumers," ACCC chairman Rod Sims said in a statement.
However, the ACCC rebuffed their request for a 10-year term.
Mr Sims said the ACCC was prepared to grant only a five-year authorisation, citing concerns on their ability to lift ticket prices on some trans-Tasman routes through cutting or limiting capacity.
Therefore, the ACCC said in its draft determination it would impose a condition on Qantas and Emirates that would "restrict the ability of the alliance to reduce or limit growth in its capacity" on four routes between Australia and New Zealand.
The four routes - Sydney-Auckland, Melbourne-Auckland, Brisbane-Auckland and Sydney-Christchurch - represented about 65 per cent of trans-Tasman capacity in the 12 months to June 30, 2012, the ACCC said.
"The condition requires the applicants to maintain a base level of capacity on the routes of concern for the term of the authorisation and to increase capacity in accordance with a specified growth factor," the ACCC said.
Requirements to grow capacity would be put off until a later date, the ACCC said, given Qantas and Emirates' claims about there being excess capacity on the relevant routes.
Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce welcomed the draft decision, saying the airline had put in a strong case to the ACCC that highlighted the benefits of the partnership for travellers and Australian tourism.
"We will now focus on responding to the issue raised by the ACCC in relation to the trans-Tasman as we move to securing final approval of this landmark partnership," Mr Joyce said in a statement.
Qantas had said previously it was considering launching new routes across the Tasman as part of its alliance with Emirates, with direct service between Perth and Adelaide to Auckland believed to be among the options being looked at.
The proposed tie-up involved an extensive codesharing arrangement, reciprocal frequent-flyer benefits and joint marketing, pricing and coordination on certain routes between the two carriers.
It was regarded as a key plank of Mr Joyce's plan to turn around Qantas' struggling international operations, which reported a $450 million loss in 2011/12.
In addition to the public benefits, federal Transport Minister Anthony Albanese said the alliance would help Qantas expand in Asia.
"The solid commercial position provided by the alliance also provides the opportunity for Qantas to invest in additional aircraft capacity and international services, especially to meet the growth in Asia but also its broader international network," he said in a statement.
Some analysts have said the deal could boost Qantas' earnings by up to $150 million, but Qantas had not offered a estimates on how the deal would boost the bottom line.
Qantas closed up one cent at $1.46.
BRAD Pitt and several colleagues are praising US President Barack Obama's current stance on drugs.
Last Friday, 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot dead 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.
The massacre occurred barely a month after voters in two US states - Washington and Colorado - legalised marijuana in November's elections.
In light of the shooting, Obama recently said that prosecuting pot users is "not a top priority".
Pitt, Russell Simmons, Danny Glover and John Legend all serve as executive producers on The House I Live In, a documentary highlighting the human rights injustices resultant of America's anti-drug war.
They are all happy that The White House has focused its attention on other matters.
"President Obama should be commended for expressing the will of the people in Colorado and Washington," the producers say in a joint statement to ET Online.
"Our jails are overburdened with nonviolent drug users in this country, too often serving harsher sentences than violent criminals. This defies all common and economic sense.
"The President's statement reflects a saner and more sensible drug policy, and a step away from the decades long failed war on drugs."
SEVERAL companies associated with Perth Glory owner and businessman Tony Sage have been raided by federal police.
It is understood the Australian Federal Police (AFP) spent several hours in the soccer club's Leederville building as well as at the office of mining company Cape Lambert Resources, which Mr Sage chairs.
An AFP spokeswoman said she could not comment on an ongoing investigation but did confirm several commercial and residential premises were raided in Perth and Sydney on Wednesday.
"The AFP can confirm that today a number of search warrants were executed on commercial and residential premises in Perth and Sydney," she said in an emailed statement.
The searches were part of an ongoing AFP investigation in partnership with commonwealth agencies including the Australian Crime Commission, Australian Tax Office, and Australian Securities and Investments Commission, she said.
"The investigation is ongoing, therefore it is not appropriate to make any further comment at this point in time," she said.
French judges have decided not to drop aggravated pimping charges against Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Source: AAP
FRENCH judges have decided not to drop aggravated pimping charges against Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
His lawyer says the former International Monetary Fund chief will appeal.
Strauss-Kahn's lawyers have argued the investigating judges in the case are biased.
The case revolves around a suspected luxury prostitution ring in northern France.
A court in the French city of Douai decided on Wednesday to retain the preliminary charges.
Strauss-Kahn's lawyers have said he attended "libertine" gatherings but didn't know some women present were paid.
The case is one part of an intercontinental legal saga that exposed Strauss-Kahn's active sex life and buried his French presidential ambitions.
Strauss-Kahn reached a settlement in the US last week with a hotel maid who accused of him of trying to rape her in May 2011.
