Iran's Revolutionary Guards today  said that the unrest that had rocked Iran over several days  was at an end, and that a maximum of 15,000 people had taken  part nationwide.
"Today we can announce the end of the sedition," Mohammad  Ali Jafari, commander of the Revolutionary Guards, said on its  website.
"There were a maximum of 1,500 people in each place and  the number of trouble-makers did not exceed 15,000 people  nationwide," he added.

Head of Iran Guards announces 'end of the sedition'

PTI Automatic

A  Palestinian teenager was shot dead in clashes with the Israeli  army today near the city of Ramallah in the occupied West  Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said.
Musab Firas al-Tamimi, 17, was shot in the village of  Deir Nizam north of Ramallah, it said, bringing to 14 the  number of Palestinians killed in unrest since US President  Donald Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital last  month.
The Israeli army was not immediately available for  comment.

Palestinian shot dead in West Bank clashes with Israeli army:

Host South Korea is well prepared  should North Korea decide to take part in the Pyeongchang  Winter Olympics, with a cruise ship ready to transport and  accommodate its athletes, organisers said today.
Lee Hee-Beom, head of the 2018 Olympic organising  committee, said they had long been preparing for the North's  attendance at what he described as the "largest-ever winter  festival in history".
"We're making preparations in case North Korea sends not  only its athletes but a cheering squad and support staff as  well," Lee said.
"The International Olympic Committee has also said  several times that it would support North Korea's  participation," Lee added.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un said in a new year speech  that his country wished success for the Olympics, to be held  from February 9-25, and would consider sending a delegation.
Kim also announced the reopening of a hotline with the  South to discuss attending the Olympics, as a "significant  first step" in improving ties.
Seoul 

S Korea well prepared if N. Korea attends Olympics: organisers

Sri Lanka today said it hopes to  raise a record USD 5 billion through bond issues this year as  it seeks to repay its substantial debts.
The country has already been forced to go to the IMF for  a bailout after accumulating foreign debts of nearly USD 30  billion, according to central bank figures.
Much of the money went towards ambitious infrastructure  projects funded by Chinese loans under the previous  government, which closely allied itself with Beijing.
But many of these have been unsuccessful -- including a  huge airport in the home town of the former president.
Government spokesman Gayantha Karunaratne said the  cabinet had approved the decision to raise USD 5 billion  through bonds.
Last year the government raised USD 3.73 billion through  dollar-denominated bonds.
It secured a USD 1.5 billion bailout from the  International Monetary Fund in June 2016 following a balance  of payments crisis.
The Central Bank of Sri Lanka said last week the economy  grew at a slower than ...

Cash-strapped Sri Lanka to raise USD 5 bn in bonds in 2018

Electric or hybrid vehicles accounted  for more than half of all new cars sold in Norway last year,  official data showed today, confirming the country's  pioneering role in carbon-free transport.
Zero-emission, mainly all-electric as well as a few  hydrogen-powered cars, accounted for 20.9 per cent of total  sales in 2017, while hybrid vehicles accounted for 31.3 per  cent, the OFV Advisory Council for Road Traffic calculated.
That represents an increase over the previous year, when  zero-emission and hybrid cars accounted for 15.7 per cent and  24.5 per cent respectively of total sales.
Norway, the biggest producer of oil in western Europe,  has set itself the ambitious goal of no longer selling new  cars with a combustion engine by 2025.
Unlike heavily taxed diesel or gasoline cars, electric  cars benefit from a very generous tax system making their  purchase prices relatively competitive.
Their owners also enjoy many privileges such as free city  tolls, ferries, parking and ...

More than half of Norway's new cars are electric: data

Chancellor Angela Merkel's  conservatives resume today drawn-out talks with Germany's  second biggest party aimed at ending months of post-election  stalemate and forming a coalition government.
In the year's first such meeting, Merkel and her Bavarian  ally Horst Seehofer were scheduled to talk with Martin Schulz,  the leader of the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD).
They hope to lay the groundwork for a week of exploratory  talks from Sunday which -- if all sides can overcome major  policy differences and lingering distrust -- could lead to a  new "grand coalition" government by perhaps March or April.
However, the joyless effort to give a new lease of life  to the alliance now running the top EU economy in a caretaker  role was complicated this week when Seehofer's CSU presented a  series of hardline positions that run counter to SPD demands.
The CSU -- which seeks to claw back votes from the far-  right Alternative for Germany (AfD) ahead of Bavaria state  elections later this ...

Merkel resumes talks to end political stalemate

Myanmar is set to raise the minimum  wage to around $3.60 a day, state media announced today, as  Aung San Suu Kyi's civilian government struggles to project  economic progress after almost two years in power.
The new daily figure of 4,800 kyats represents a 33  percent increase on Myanmar's first-ever minimum wage  introduced in 2015 by the previous army-backed administration.
"The new minimum wage will be applied across all regions  and states to all businesses with 10 or more workers," the  state-backed Global New Light of Myanmar reported.
Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), which took  power in April 2016, made the economy a central plank of its  campaign.
But critics say it has failed to make real progress,  struggling to pass laws that make Myanmar an easier place to  do business or articulate a clear economic vision.
Myanmar saw GDP growth in 2017 slow to 5.9 per cent, the  International Monetary Fund said in November, estimating a  rebound to 6.7 per cent this ...

Suu Kyi govt ups Myanmar minimum wage as economy staggers

A Russian helicopter crashed in Syria  on New Year's Eve killing both pilots following a technical  fault, Moscow's defence ministry said today.
The Mi-24 military helicopter was flying to Hama,  northwestern Syria, and there was no firing from the ground,  agencies quote the ministry as saying.
"Both pilots died in a hard landing 15 km (nine miles)  from the air base," the ministry said, adding that a  technician had been injured and taken to another air base at  for emergency treatment.

Russian helicopter crashes in Syria, two dead: Moscow

Colin Munro smashed his way  into the record books as New Zealand crushed the West Indies  by 119 runs in the final Twenty20 here today to sweep the  series.
Munro, with a rollicking 104 off 53 deliveries, became  the first player to hit three centuries in international  Twenty20 cricket as New Zealand posted an imposing 243 for  five, their highest Twenty20 total.
The West Indies reply began disastrously with openers  Chadwick Walton and Chris Gayle out without scoring in Tim  Southee's opening over.
Their innings folded at 124 for nine in 16.3 overs with  Shai Hope unable to bat after being injured while fielding.
It ended a disappointing tour for the West Indies with  New Zealand winning both Tests, the three one-day  internationals and two Twenty20s with one match washed out.
With the West Indies two down for one run after five  balls, Andre Fletcher did his best to rebuild the innings and  ensured the tourists kept up with New Zealand's run rate for  the first eight overs.
But ...

Munro blasts record century as New Zealand crush West Indies

Scoreboard of the third  Twenty20 International between New Zealand and West  Indies, here today:
New Zealand
M. Guptill c Walton b Emrit 63
C. Munro c Hetmyer b Brathwaite 104
T. Bruce b Brathwaite 23
A. Kitchen run out(Walton/Emrit) 9
K. Williamson b Taylor 19
G. Phillips not out 7
M. Santner not out 6
Extras: (lb4, w7, nb1) 12
Total (for five wickets; 20 overs) 243
Fall of wickets: 1-136, 2-191, 3-204, 4-226, 5-226.
Bowling: Taylor 4-0-53-1 (1nb), Badree 4-0-51-0 (1w),  Nurse 4-0-43-0, Brathwaite 4-0-50-2 (2w), Emrit 4-0-42-1.
West Indies
C. Walton c Munro b Southee 0
C. Gayle c Phillips b Southee 0
A. Fletcher b Sodhi 46
R. Powell c Williamson b Kitchen 16
S. Hetmyer run out (Guptill/Phillips) 7
C. Brathwaite c Bruce b Boult 15
A. Nurse not out 14
R. Emrit lbw b Sodhi 5
J. Taylor c Santner b Boult 13
S. Badree c Bruce b Southee 2
S. Hope Injured. Did not bat
Extras: (w4, nb2) 6
Total: (for 9 wickets; 16.3 overs) 124
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-1, 3-42, 4-49, 5-80, 6-92, 7-99,  8-114, .

Mount Maunganui, Jan 3 (AFP) Scoreboard of the third

China's box-office revenues surged  in 2017 after slowing sharply the preceding year, official  media reported, as the world's second-largest movie market  edges closer to overtaking the US.
Ticket revenue grew 13.45 percent to 55.9 billion yuan  ($8.6 billion) in 2017, more than triple 2016's growth rate,  state media Xinhua reported late Tuesday, citing data from the  State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and  Television (SAPPRFT).
China's box-office grew just 3.7 percent in 2016,  dramatically slower than 2015's 48 percent growth.
Over half of 2017's ticket revenue came from domestic  films, with record breaking patriotic action blockbuster "Wolf  Warrior 2" collecting 5.7 billion yuan, topping the year's box  office list.
The American action thriller "The Fate of The Furious"  came in second, with box-office revenue of 2.7 billion yuan.
International films -- most of which were made in the US  -- grossed 25.8 billion yuan and accounted for 46 percent of  2017's ..

China box-office back to strong growth in 2017

Indonesia launched a new cyber  security agency today as the world's biggest Muslim majority  country moves to tackle online religious extremism and a flood  of fake news on social media.
Millions of Indonesians are going online for the first  time just as concern about Internet hoaxes reaches a fevered  pitch.
One of the most high-profile cases in recent times was a  false claim circulating on social media in December that  Beijing was seeking to wage biological warfare against  Indonesia.
The viral hoax prompted the Chinese embassy to issue a  statement saying that the reports were "misleading".
Today, Indonesian president Joko Widodo named Major  General Djoko Setiadi, former chairman of the country's  encryption agency, to lead the new body.
Setiadi's Herculean task will include cracking down on  terrorist networks which communicate online and combating  online hate speech that has been blamed for driving  fundamentalism in a country once praised for its religious  pluralism.
"We .

Indonesia launches cyber agency to tackle extremism, fake news

North Koreans attending Pyongyang's  ice sculpture festival have been treated to a chilling glimpse  of the country's latest weaponry -- an ICBM in frozen form.
The official Rodong Sinmun newspaper ran a report today  showing smiling spectators dressed in thick winter coats  posing in front of the replica on New Year's Eve, waving  cameras and smartphones to grab a shot.
Pyongyang says the weapon depicted in the sculpture, a  Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile, which it tested  in November, is capable of hitting the US mainland.
"The ice sculpture recalled the November incident which  had caused tremendous excitement for tens of millions of  soldiers and people," the paper said.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un used his annual New Year  address to warn he has a "nuclear button" on his table, but  reached out to Seoul and appealed for warmer ties, in a move  that could presage something of a thaw in relations between  the two.
Pyongyang said today it would reopen a hotline ...

North Korea's chilling new weapon: ICBM made of ice

New Zealand's Colin Munro  became the first player to hit three centuries in  international Twenty20 cricket when he smacked 104 against the  West Indies here today.
New Zealand, looking to sweep the series, posted an  imposing 243 batting first in the third T20, the seventh  highest innings of all time in the format.
Munro, with previous centuries against India and  Bangladesh, moves ahead of four players, including the West  Indies' Chris Gayle, on two T20 centuries.
His rollicking 104 off 53 deliveries included 10 sixes  and three fours.
After New Zealand won the toss and opted to bat, Martin  Guptill made a timely return to form in a century stand with  Munro for the first wicket.
Guptill, who struggled earlier in the series, found form  from the first ball when he drove Jerome Taylor through cover  for four.
Munro hit Samuel Badree's first ball over the square leg  boundary as New Zealand blasted away at 10-an-over.
Rayad Emrit, selected to make his T20 debut two months  short of 

Munro smacks record 3rd ton in N Zealand's 243 against WIndies

A baby and a five-year-old girl  were killed in an explosion east of Vietnam's capital Hanoi  today that destroyed several houses and wounded at least six  other people.
Authorities are investigating the cause of the blast in  Bac Ninh province's Yen Phong district, which occurred at 4:30  am demolishing buildings and sending debris flying through the  air.
The explosion completely razed five homes and shattered  the windows of surrounding buildings, according to an AFP  reporter at the scene.
A one-year-old boy and a girl were killed, according to a  report from the provincial health department seen by AFP,  while six others were taken to hospital with injuries.
"The blast seemed to be in an area where there are many  families involved in collecting scrap," a local official told  AFP, requesting anonymity.
Salvage of metal from the tonnes of Vietnam War-era bombs  that still blanket the country often ends in tragedy.
In August six people were killed, including three  children, when a 

Two children die in Vietnam explosion

Taiwan's top court has ordered a  dentist to pay his mother around Tw$22.33 million (US$744,000)  as reimbursement for the money she spent raising and educating  him.
The supreme court yesterday upheld a previous ruling that  the 41-year-old, identified by his family name Chu, should  honour a contract he signed with his mother 20 years ago  promising to refund her.
The plaintiff, surnamed Lo, divorced her husband in 1990  and raised their two sons on her own.
Worried that nobody would look after her when she got  old, Lo signed the contracts with her sons after they both  turned 20, stipulating that they must pay her 60 percent of  the net profit from their incomes.
Lo accused her sons of ignoring her after they both  started relationships, saying their girlfriends even sent her  letters through their lawyers demanding her not to "bother"  her sons, according to local reports.
She filed the lawsuit eight years ago when they refused  to honour the contracts. The older son eventually ..

Taiwan court orders dentist to pay mother for raising him

The Palestinians will not be  "blackmailed" by US President Donald Trump, a senior official  said today, after he threatened to cut aid to them worth more  than USD 300 million a year.
"We will not be blackmailed," senior Palestinian official  Hanan Ashrawi said in a statement.
"President Trump has sabotaged our search for peace,  freedom and justice.

Palestinians will not be 'blackmailed' by Trump funding

Pyongyang said today it will restore a  hotline with the South, after Seoul proposed high-level talks  in response to Kim Jong-Un's calls for better relations and  suggestion his country might attend the Winter Olympics.
Kim also welcomed Seoul's support for his overtures, a  North Korean official told state television.
In his New Year address, Kim warned the US that he has a  "nuclear button" on his table, but extended an olive branch to  the South, saying his country might take part in the  Pyeongchang Winter Olympics next month.
In response, South Korea's unification minister Cho  Myoung-Gyon on Tuesday offered to hold high-level talks on  January 9 to discuss the North's participation in the Olympics  as well as other matters of mutual interest.
"By upholding a decision by the leadership, we will make  close contact with South Korea in a sincere and faithful  manner," the Yonhap news agency quoted Ri Son-gwon, the head  of North Korea's agency handling inter-Korean affairs, as  ...

N Korea says will open inter-Korean hotline

Raheem Sterling scored the fastest  goal of the Premier League season as leaders Manchester City  got back on track with a 3-1 win against Watford, while  Fernando Llorente put Tottenham on course for a 2-0 victory at  his former club Swansea.
Sterling struck after just 38 seconds before Christian  Kabasele's first-half own goal put Pep Guardiola's side in  control at Eastlands.
Sergio Aguero made it three as City gave the perfect  response after their 18-game winning run was ended in a  goalless draw at Crystal Palace on Sunday.
Unbeaten City are 15 points clear of second-placed  Manchester United as they continue to turn the title race into  a lengthy coronation party.
Guardiola had complained that the hectic festive fixture  schedule was a "disaster" after City striker Gabriel Jesus  suffered a knee ligament injury at Palace.
But Guardiola was able to replace the Brazilian with  Sergio Aguero, while David Silva returned from a two-game  absence.
City, playing their fourth match in .

Quick-fire City back in the groove, Llorente fires Spurs

Pace spearhead Mitchell Starc is in  line to return to Australia's bowling line-up with second  spinner Ashton Agar unlikely to play in tomorrow's final Ashes  Test against England.
Captain Steve Smith said Starc was "ready to go" after  bowling this week in the nets after missing the drawn fourth  Melbourne Test with a bruised heel.
"Starcy has pulled up pretty well this morning and he  says he's ready to go. I guess that's a good indication,"  Smith told reporters on Wednesday.
Agar's chances of playing in his fifth Test, bowling in  spin tandem with Nathan Lyon, have also been downgraded with  extra grass on the Sydney Cricket Ground pitch.
"The wicket's got a fair bit of grass and looks to be a  pretty good wicket," Smith said.
"I'd say we'll probably opt for just the one spinner.  Nathan's done a terrific job throughout this series and I'd  say we'll go down that route."
Australia have already clinched the Ashes with an  unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-Test series ahead of the  

Starc 'ready' to go says Smith, Agar likely to sit out

The Qatar Open second and third seeds  -- Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta and Tomas Berdych of the Czech  Republic -- crashed out of the tournament in the first round  on a night of shocks in Doha.
Both seeds lost in third set tie-breaks.
Carreno Busta was beaten by Croatia's Borna Coric, 7-5,  2-6, 6-7 (8/10) in an enthralling match lasting 2 hours 41  minutes.
And Berdych went down 4-6, 6-1, 6-7 (4/7) in the match on  centre court which followed against his fellow 6ft 5ins  opponent, Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff.
It means the tournament has lost two of its top-ranked  players after having already being shorn of three major stars  -- Novak Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga --  before it began, as they try to recover from injuries.
To complete a bad night for the seeds, number six seed  Filip Krajinovic of Serbia also lost, in straight sets to  Germany's Peter Gojowczyk.
Busta's match with Coric was the game of the tournament  so far.
The 21-year-old Croat, who beat Andy ...

AFP

AFP

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