Spinner Jon Holland and paceman  Jhye Richardson are the surprise selections in a 15-man  Australia squad named today for the tour to South Africa next  month.
Victorian left-arm spinner Holland, 30, played two Tests  for Australia against Sri Lanka in mid-2016, but was passed  over in the recent 4-0 Ashes Test series win over England.
Richardson, 21, is one of five pace bowlers in the  Australian touring party for the four-Test series and the No.2  ranked South Africans.
Holland was the outstanding spinner in the Sheffield  Shield last season and was named man of the match as Victoria  claimed their third straight title.
"Jon was the second leading wicket taker in the Sheffield  Shield last season and has performed well in the games he has  played for Victoria this season," chief selector Trevor Hohns  said.
"We envisage the wickets we will see in South Africa will  not warrant the need to play two spinners.
"But should Nathan Lyon not be able to play at any stage,  we wanted to have 

Holland, Richardson in Australia's tour squad to South Africa

PTI Automatic

A motorcycle bomb killed three  civilians and wounded 22 others today at a market in  Thailand's insurgency-hit south, officials said, the first  such attack on a 'soft target' in the Muslim-majority region  for months.
A rebellion against Thai rule in the culturally distinct  Thai "Deep South" bordering Malaysia has left nearly 7,000  dead -- the majority civilians -- since 2004.
The death toll in 2017 from the insurgency was the lowest  in 13 years of conflict as peace talks edged forwards and the  Thai junta boosted its security lockdown on the region.
But today's bomb at a packed market in Yala town popular  with Buddhists and Muslims suggests a return to attacks on  civilian targets.
Chunks of torn corrugated roofing and parts of destroyed  motorbikes and stalls littered a narrow alleyway in the  market, as police picked through a scene of devastation  shortly after the bomb.
"The suspects parked the motorcycle in front of a stall  selling pork in downtown Yala... it detonated 10 

Three civilians killed in southern Thailand market bomb:police

A motorcycle bomb killed three  civilians and wounded 19 others today morning at a market in  Yala town in Thailand's insurgency-hit south, a policeman  said, the first such attack in the Muslim-majority region for  months.
"Suspects parked the motorcycle in front of a stall  selling pork in downtown Yala... it detonated killing three  civilians and wounding 19 others," the policeman said,  requesting anonymity.

3 civilians killed in southern Thailand market bomb: police

A landslide in southwestern Colombia  has killed 13 people on a small public bus in a rain-soaked  mountainous area, authorities said.
The landslide struck an area not far from the town of  Tuquerres in Narino on Saturday.
Rescuers have so far found the bodies of 13 people,  highway police officer Fernando Montana said.
Rescuers will search today to see if other vehicles in  the area could have been affected, the local office of  disaster risk management said in a statement.

Landslide kills 13 in Colombia

Pope Francis took a tough stand  against political corruption, hours before wrapping up his  Latin American trip with a mass at an air base before a  million faithful.
"There are exceptions. But by and large, Latin America's  political culture is sicker than it is healthy," the pontiff  told bishops from across Peru, a country that has seen its  political parties and presidents plagued by dishonesty and  graft.
"What is wrong with Peru, that when one finishes being  president one ends up behind bars?" Francis wondered aloud.
"(Ollanta) Humala, is in jail, (Alejandro) Toledo is in  jail (living in US awaiting extradition);(Alberto) Fujimori  was detained until just now; Alan Garcia, isn't sure if he's  in or out: What is wrong morally?" he asked.
Leaders of other Latin American nations have also been  accused of graft.
"If we let ourselves be led by people who only speak the  language of corruption, we are done for," the Argentinian  pontiff warned, using a popular Peruvian slang term .

Pope targets corruption in politics ahead of final Peru mass

Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas  will ask the EU to officially recognise the state of Palestine  when he meets foreign ministers from the bloc on Monday, a  senior official said.
Palestinian foreign minister Riad al-Malki said Abbas  will tell the EU it should take the step "as a way to respond"  to US President Donald Trump's decision to recognise Jerusalem  as the Israeli capital.
Abbas will also "reiterate his commitment to the peace  process" in the Middle East, Malki said in an interview with  AFP in Brussels.
A week ago Abbas denounced Trump's efforts to resolve the  long-running conflict as the "slap of the century" and caused  alarm by saying Israel had sunk the so-called Oslo accords  that underpin the stalled peace process.
"Since Trump's decision has altered the rules of the  game, he (Abbas) expects the European foreign ministers to  come forward and collectively recognise the state of Palestine  as a way to respond back to Trump's decision," Malki said.
"If the Europeans .

Abbas to ask EU to recognise Palestinian state: minister

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis  began a one-week trip to Asia, hoping to strengthen defense  cooperation with Indonesia and Vietnam as regional Chinese  military power looms ever larger.
"We share the Pacific -- it's an ocean named for peace --  we would like to see it remain peaceful, so all the nations  that use it and live here are prosperous," Mattis told  reporters accompanying him on a military plane headed to the  region.
In Jakarta, where he is to arrive today evening, Mattis  is to meet on Tuesday with President Joko Widodo and Defense  Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu for talks on maritime cooperation.
The vast Indonesian archipelago reaches from the Indian  Ocean to the Pacific.
In Vietnam, Mattis and his counterparts are set to  discuss freedom of movement in the South China Sea, a region  over which Beijing has extended its dominance in recent years,  militarising several small, disputed islands.
Washington hopes to draw a contrast between its own  approach and those of China .

Mattis heads to Asia to draw a contrast with assertive China

The UN Security Council will  today discuss the worsening humanitarian crisis in Syria after  Turkey launched an offensive against Kurdish militias,  diplomats said.
The council was already scheduled to meet to hear a  report from UN aid chief Mark Lowcock on his recent visit to  Syria.
At France's request, the closed-door consultations will  also touch on the Syrian campaign in Idlib and Eastern Ghouta,  as well as the latest Turkish offensive, diplomats said  yesterday.
Turkey on Saturday launched operation "Olive Branch" to  oust the Kurdish fighters of the Peoples' Protection Units  (YPG) from the Afrin region of northern Syria.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said France  was deeply worried by the "brutal degradation of the  situation" in flashpoints like Afrin.
Russia, which supports the Syrian government, also voiced  concern. The defense ministry said it was withdrawing its  troops from Afrin to prevent any "provocation."
The United States has backed Kurdish ...

UN Security Council to discuss Syria crisis, Turkish incursion

Syria's main opposition group said  it will send a delegation today to regime ally Russia to  discuss with officials Moscow's "real stance" on the Syrian  political process.
The visit by the Syrian Negotiations Commission (SNC)  comes as Moscow gets set to host peace talks in the Black Sea  resort of Sochi on January 30 along with Syrian regime backer  Iran and rebel supporter Turkey.
The SNC has said it will attend fresh UN-hosted  negotiations before then but has not yet announced if it will  also go to the Sochi talks, which dozens of rebel factions  have already rejected.
A statement by the SNC said today's visit was "in  response to an invitation by the Russian foreign ministry" and  that its delegation will hold talks with the foreign and  defence ministers as well as members of parliament.
The visit aims at "understanding Russia's real stance  towards the political process, since it is a partner in the  conflict, a godfather of talks with Syria and a guarantor of  de-escalation 

Syria opposition to visit regime ally Moscow

As gunmen went on a night-time  rampage through Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel, Aziz Tayeb  posted a desperate plea on Facebook: "Pray for me. I may die."
The telecom executive hid behind a pillar as six heavily  armed attackers stormed the luxury hotel and began spraying  terrified guests and staff with bullets.
At least 18 people were killed, including 14 foreigners  -- six of whom were Ukrainian -- in the 12-hour ordeal as the  attackers engaged in a fierce gunfight with Afghan security  forces.
"I saw people who were enjoying themselves a second ago  screaming and fleeing like crazy, and some of them falling  down, hit by bullets," Tayeb told AFP today, hours after his  traumatic experience.
One colleague, who had been stranded on the fifth floor  of the six-storey building throughout the attack, told Tayeb  that some areas of the hotel resembled a butcher's shop with  blood everywhere.
The attackers were eventually killed.
Tayeb, a regional director for Afghan Telecom in the  ...

'Pray for me': Kabul hotel guest's plea during siege

US Vice President Mike Pence  arrived in Israel today for a visit that will see him warmly  welcomed by Israeli leaders but snubbed by the Palestinians,  deeply angered by the White House's Jerusalem policy.
The visit, initially scheduled for December before being  postponed, is the final leg of a trip that has included talks  in Egypt and Jordan as well as a stop at a US military  facility near the Syrian border.
Controversy back home over a budget dispute that has led  to a US government shutdown has trailed Pence, and he sought  to blame Democrats for the impasse during a speech to troops  at the military facility on Sunday.
Arab outrage over President Donald Trump's recognition of  Jerusalem as Israel's capital on December 6 had prompted the  cancellation of several planned meetings ahead of Pence's  tour.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas is refusing to meet  Pence because of the declaration, making his visit a rare one  by a high-ranking US official not to include talks with ...

Pence arrives in Israel as Trump's Jerusalem move reverberates

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei  Lavrov today said the West's "unprecedented Russiaphobia" was  worse than at the height of the Cold War.
"This Russiaphobia is unprecedented. We never saw this  during the Cold War," Lavrov, fresh from a visit to New York  on Thursday and Friday, said in an interview with the Russian  daily Kommersant.

West's 'Russiaphobia' worse than during Cold War: Russian FM

France has withdrawn its bid for  Paris to host the 2025 World Expo citing financial risks as  the country gears up to organise both the Olympics and Rugby  World Cup.
The decision was revealed by the Journal du Dimanche  newspaper today after Prime Minister Edouard Philippe  announced it in a letter to organisers on Friday.
Philippe said the French bid for the event, which sees  nations from around the world showcase their achievements, was  being called off due to "adjustments in public finances" as  the country seeks to slash its deficit.
France has not hosted a world expo since 1900, a year  after a similar show saw Paris unveil its Eiffel Tower.
President Emmanuel Macron had previously given his  backing to the plan, saying it would give France a chance to  "contribute to new global ambitions".
Three other countries remain in the running: Russia,  which would host the event in the city of Yekaterinburg;  Japan, bidding for the city of Osaka, and Azerbaijan, which  would hold it ..

France drops 2025 World Expo bid over cash worries

Turkish troops and tanks  entered Syria today to push an offensive against Kurdish  militia as rockets hit border towns in apparent retaliation  and the United States urged Ankara to show restraint.
Turkey yesterday launched operation "Olive Branch"  seeking to oust from the Afrin region of northern Syria the  Peoples' Protection Units (YPG) which Ankara considers a  terror group.
But the campaign risks further increasing tensions with  Turkey's NATO ally Washington, which has supported the YPG in  the fight against Islamic State (IS) jihadists and warned  Ankara about distracting the focus from that fight.
In its first reaction to the offensive, the US State  Department urged Turkey Sunday "to exercise restraint and  ensure that its military operations remain limited in scope  and duration and scrupulous to avoid civilian casualties".
"We call on all parties to remain focused on the central  goal of defeating" IS, State Department spokeswoman Heather  Nauert said in a ...

Turkish tanks roll into Syria to fight Kurdish militia

Tunisian security  forces have killed a senior member of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic  Maghreb who was wanted by Algeria for two and a half decades,  officials said.
"A terrorist wanted by Algeria since 1993 was killed in  an operation carried out by the Special Unit of the National  Guard," Tunisian interior ministry spokesman Khlifa Chibani  said yesterday.
A security source said the person killed was Bilel Kobi,  an Algerian who was close to the network's leader Abdelmalek  Droukdel.
Kobi had been charged with overseeing links between the  network, known by its French initials AQMI, and its Tunisian  branch, the official said on condition of anonymity.
Another Algerian, Bechir Bin Neji, thought to have been  the commander of an AQMI cell in the Sammama region of  Tunisia, was also found dead with an assault rifle by his  side, Chibani said.
The Friday evening operation took place in the Mount  Sammama area of central-western Tunisia, which lies in a range  of hills that are a favoured ..

Tunisia kills senior Al-Qaeda member

Germany's centre-left Social Democrats  have voted to begin formal coalition talks with Chancellor  Angela Merkel's conservatives, bringing Europe's top economy a  step closer to a new government after months of deadlock.
At a special party congress in the western city of Bonn  yesterday, 372 out of 642 party delegates backed SPD chief  Martin Schulz's push to approve a preliminary coalition deal  painstakingly hammered out with Merkel's CDU/CSU bloc.
The thumbs-up will come as a huge relief to Merkel,  staving off the threat of snap polls or the unappealing  prospect of leading an unstable minority government.
It also means a reprieve for Schulz who had staked his  political future on a "yes" vote, despite initially rejecting  another stint as Merkel's junior coalition partner.
"We are relieved, the result shows that we had to fight  for this majority," Schulz said.
The vote, which was closely watched in Germany and  abroad, paves the way for negotiators to launch in-depth  ...

Germany's centre-left backs formal coalition talks with Merkel

Women's rights protesters took to  the streets in European cities to voice their frustration at  sexual harassment, violence and discrimination against women.
Hundreds of people gathered in London chanting "Time's  up! Time's up!", as similar demonstrations took place across  the continent.
"I am here today to say time is up on violence against  women and girls all across the world," Kiyleigh, 29, told AFP  at the march outside Prime Minister Theresa May's Downing  Street office yesterday.
"I work with women who suffer from domestic abuse, sexual  abuse from male perpetrators and I don't want to see that any  more," she said.
Protesters also waved placards reading "Don't touch my  rights" and "Keep your rosaries off my ovaries".
Social campaigner Helen Pankhurst, the great  granddaughter of suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst, was among the  figures to give speeches.
"No means no. Sexual harassment is not OK. Abuse is not  OK. People have to respect what women say," said Liberty  Folker, ..

Women's rights protestors slam harassment, violence

Bangladesh has sought to reassure the  international community that a planned repatriation of  hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims to conflict-scarred  western Myanmar would be "voluntary" and in coordination with  the United Nations.
In a briefing to foreign diplomats, Bangladesh Foreign  Minister A H Mahmood Ali insisted that the operation to return  some 750,000 refugees who fled unrest and a military crackdown  in Myanmar would involve the UN's refugee agency.
"In order to ensure that the return is voluntary,  Bangladesh has incorporated provisions for involvement of  UNHCR and other relevant international organisations in the  entire return process," he said at the meeting in Dhaka  yesterday.
Plans by Bangladesh and Myanmar to repatriate the  refugees, who face desperate conditions in overcrowded camps  near the countries' shared border, are due to begin within  days and last for two years.
But they have been met by angry protest among the  Rohingya refugees, with many ...

Bangladesh says will coordinate with UN over Rohingya return

President Donald Trump launched  a fresh attack on his opponents ahead of a new effort in the  bitterly divided US Congress to end a budget impasse before  hundreds of thousands of federal workers are forced to start  the workweek at home without pay.
The impact of the shutdown that began at midnight Friday  has been largely limited so far, closing sites like New York's  Statue of Liberty, but the effect will start to become acute  if the stalemate runs into tomorrow.
Republicans and Democrats have traded bitter  recriminations over who is to blame for the failure to pass a  stop-gap funding measure by a January 20 deadline, a year to  the day since Donald Trump took office as US president.
"Great to see how hard Republicans are fighting for our  Military and Safety at the Border. The Dems just want illegal  immigrants to pour into our nation unchecked," Trump wrote on  Twitter.
He also encouraged the Senate's Republican leaders to  invoke a procedural maneuver known as the "nuclear ..

Trump lashes out ahead of vote to end shutdown

Turkish air raids killed eight  civilians today in the northern Syrian enclave of Afrin,  according to a war monitor and a spokesman for the Kurdish  forces that control the area.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights  said the dead, who included at least one child, were killed in  air strikes on the village of Jalbara.
"Eight civilians were killed in missile strikes on a  chicken farm where they were living," said Birusk Hasakeh, a  spokesman for the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in  Afrin, blaming Turkish warplanes.
In pictures sent by Hasakeh to AFP, Kurdish Red Crescent  rescuers could be seen retrieving bloodied bodies from a  collapsed concrete structure and laying them on orange  stretchers.
It was the second day of "Operation Olive Branch," an  offensive by Turkish forces and their Syrian rebel allies  against the YPG-held Afrin region.
Yesterday, Hasakeh told AFP that Turkish bombardment had  killed 10 people, including seven civilians.
Turkish ...

Turkish strikes kill 8 civilians in Afrin region: monitor,

Turkey today ruled out the risk of  a clash with American forces in its operation in Syria, saying  there were no US troops in the area where the campaign was  taking place.
Turkey yesterday launched operation "Olive Branch"  seeking to oust from the Afrin region of northern Syria the  Peoples' Protection Units (YPG) which Ankara considers a  terror group.
But the campaign risks further increasing tensions with  Turkey's NATO ally the United States - which has used the YPG  in the fight against Islamic State jihadists.
"US officials declared that there has been no American  military or American soldiers in the region," Turkish Deputy  Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag told reporters in Istanbul.
"It is out of the question to have a direct clash between  Turkey and the US in the region," he added.
Afrin is an enclave of YPG control, cut off from the  longer strip of northern Syria that the group controls to the  east extending to the Iraqi border, where there is an American  presence.
Turkey 

AFP

AFP

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