Japan will carry out a tabletop exercise next week to simulate its response in the event of a military clash between China and Taiwan, Japanese media said.
	The Self-Defence Forces will conduct drills from Monday through Friday with the US military participating as an observer, a Japanese government source told Kyodo News.
	The exercises, which do not involve actual troop deployments, assume that the US and Japan are responding to a military conflict, Kyodo said in its Thursday report.
	A Japanese defence ministry spokesman declined to comment.
	China's foreign ministry said Japan should keep out of what it called an "internal affair".
	"I think this reflects that some people in Japan have a certain mentality that the last thing they want is a stable world," ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told a regular press briefing in Beijing today.
	"I want to emphasise that the Taiwan issue is an internal affair of China, and we hope that Japan will be very cautious with its words and ...

Japan to conduct simulated drills for China-Taiwan clash

PTI Automatic

More than 40 fighters of former Al-Qaeda affiliate Fateh al-Sham Front were killed in air strikes on their camp in northern Syria late, a monitoring group said.
	The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it could not immediately specify who carried out the strikes in the western part of Aleppo province.
	A US-led coalition as well as the Syrian government and its ally Russia have carried out strikes against Fateh al-Sham targets in recent weeks.

More than 40 jihadists killed in north Syria air strikes

A botched air strike by the Nigerian Air Force earlier this week on a camp for people displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency killed at least 90 people, the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) aid group said today.
	Most of the victims of the strike in Rann in the country's northeast on Tuesday were women and children, MSF said. Nigeria has said an air force board of inquiry will investigate the incident.
	Military commanders have already called the bombing a mistake, blaming it on "the fog of war", saying the intended target was jihadists reportedly spotted in the Kala-Balge area, of which Rann is part.
	"Around 90 people were killed when a Nigerian air force plane circled twice and dropped two bombs in the middle of the town of Rann," MSF said in a statement.
	The death toll could still rise further -- MSF said there were "consistent reports from residents and community leaders" saying that as many as 170 people were killed.
	"This figure needs to be confirmed. The victims of this ...

Toll from botched Nigeria air strike rises to 90: MSF

A botched air strike by the Nigerian Air Force earlier this week on a camp for people displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency killed at least 90 people, the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) aid group said today.
	Most of the victims of the strike in the country's northeast on Tuesday were women and children, MSF said. Nigeria has said an air force board of inquiry will investigate the incident.

Botched Nigeria air strike killed 90: MSF

At least 90 killed in botched Nigeria air strike:

Myanmar's army has detained two Kachin Baptist leaders for giving journalists information about a church allegedly hit by military airstrikes, accusing them of spying for insurgents.
	The two men, named by the army as Didi Naung Latt and Langyaw Gamsai, were arrested on December 24 in northern Shan state, where thousands have fled weeks of heavy fighting between the army and armed rebels.
	In a statement announcing their arrest late Thursday, the army chief's office accused the men of being "recruiters, informers and rumour-mongers for insurgents," including the Kachin Independence Army.
	Some 4,000 people have been displaced since the fighting erupted between the military and four major armed ethnic groups in November, including the powerful KIA.
	The unrest has rippled across Shan and Kachin states, threatening the next round of peace talks between the government, military and ethnic groups scheduled for February.
	The arrest of the two religious leaders -- Kachin has a large ...

Myanmar army detains Kachin Baptists who helped journalist

Rookie opener Soumya Sarkar led a makeshift Bangladesh to a competitive 289 all out on day one of the second Test against New Zealand in Christchurch today.
     The injury-hit tourists, with seven players having three or fewer Tests to their name, were bowled out in the last over of the day when Tim Southee grabbed his fifth wicket.
     After being put into bat on a standard New Zealand green surface, Bangladesh were ready to punish anything short or wide on a pitch which offered swing but not extreme pace.
     Their willingness to search for runs resulted in early casualties when senior batsmen Tamin Iqbal (five) and Mahmudullah (19) were removed inside 11 overs to be 38-2.
     Shakib Al Hasan mounted a sterling fightback producing a rapid 127 with Soumya who celebrated his return to Test cricket and maiden innings as an opener with 86 off 104 balls.
     In his previous three Tests in 2015, Soumya had batted at six or seven with a best score of 37.
     His recall and elevation .

Rookies lift Bangladesh as Southee takes five

Scoreboard at the close of the
first day of the second Test against New Zealand at Hagley Oval in Christchurch today:
 Bangladesh first innings
 Tamim Iqbal c Watling b Southee        5
 Soumya Sarkar c de Grandhomme b Boult 86
 Mahmudullah c Watling b Boult         19
 Shakib Al Hasan c Watling b Southee   59
 Sabbir Rahman c Southee b Boult        7
 Nazmul Hossain c Raval b Southee      18
 Nurul Hasan c Watling b Boult         47
 Mehedi Hasan b Wagner                 10
 Taskin Ahmed c Williamson b Southee    8
 Kamrul Islam lbw Southee               2
 Rubel Hossain not out                 16
 Extras (b4, lb2, w5, nb1)             12
 Total (all out; 84.3 overs)          289
 Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-38, 3-165, 4-177, 5-179, 6-232, 7-248, 8-257, 9-273.
 Bowling: Boult 24-4-87-4, Southee 28.3-7-94-5, de Grandhomme 14-4-58-0, Wagner 18-1-44-1.

Christchurch, Jan 20 (AFP) Scoreboard at the close of the

Cricket Australia was investigating today on-air comments by a television commentator after he appeared to pass on tactical advice to a player during a Twenty20 Big Bash League match.
     Network Ten commentator Mark Howard told Adelaide Strikers captain Brad Hodge during Wednesday's game that bowler Ben Laughlin had previously been successful against Sydney Thunder batsman Shane Watson.
     "Our master statistician Lawrie Colliver tells us Laughlin has got Watson twice in the last eight balls he's bowled him in this competition," Howard told Hodge, who was wearing an on-field microphone.
     "I'll leave that with you skipper," Howard said during the live broadcast, to which Hodge replied: "I'll bring him on next over then... Let's get him into the game. Next over bud."
     Laughlin was then brought into the attack for the next over.
     "Very naughty. Very, very naughty, Howie," said ex-England batsman Kevin Pietersen, who was in the commentators' box with Howard.
     Cricket ..

Inquiry into Big Bash TV's live tactical talk

Debutants Nurul Hasan and 18-year-old Nazmul Hossain were leading a Bangladesh rescue mission after New Zealand struck with three quick wickets after lunch on day one of the second Test today.
     Nurul was 31 and Nazmul 15 with their 46-run partnership reviving Bangladesh from 179-5 to be 225-5 by tea at Hagley Oval in Christchurch.
     They put the brakes on a New Zealand breakthrough when three wickets fell for 14 runs in a 16-ball burst after lunch including makeshift opener Soumya Sarkar for 86 and Shakib Al Hasan 59.
     New Zealand had put the injury depleted Bangladesh unit into bat on the greenish wicket and had them 38-2 before Soumya and Shakib put on 127 for the third wicket.
     Injuries kept the experienced Imrul Kayes, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mominul Haque, with 98 Tests between them, out of the match.
     In their place were Soumya for his fourth Test and a high score of 37 in his last outing two years ago, as well as the untested Nazmul and Nurul.
     Soumya, whose .

Debutants lead Bangladesh rescue mission

Barcelona ended a decade-long drought without winning away to Real Sociedad as Neymar's first-half penalty handed the Spanish champions a 1-0 Copa del Rey quarter-final, first leg lead.
     Atletico Madrid also took a huge step towards the semi-finals as goals from Antoine Griezmann, Angel Correa and Kevin Gameiro downed an under-strength Eibar 3-0 at the Vicente Calderon.
     Barca hadn't won in their last eight meetings at Anoeta with coach Luis Enrique describing their 1-1 draw back in November as "almost a miracle" given how his side had been outplayed.
     However, the Catalans continued signs of their return to form in a bright start that was rewarded when Neymar was clearly upended by Aritz Elustondo 20 minutes in.
     Just as in the last round, Lionel Messi handed over responsibility from the spot to the Brazilian and he sent Geronimo Rulli the wrong way.
     "It is always difficult to play at Anoeta and against Real Sociedad, but I think it was a complete performance," ..

Barca end Sociedad hoodoo, Atletico cruise

Months before his death, Osama bin Laden fretted about the Islamic State group's impatient, violent tactics and the fading of Al-Qaeda, documents released by the CIA today showed.
	The latest release from the trove of documents found when Navy Seals stormed the Al-Qaeda chief's secret Pakistan compound and killed him in 2011 show bin Laden trying to keep his jihadist followers around the world aligned in his war against the United States.
	They also reveal a worried father warning his sons that they could be injected with electronic chips to track them, and advising Al-Qaeda soldiers in Northern Africa that it was okay to masturbate.
	He also spent significant time trying to manage the handling of foreigners kidnapped by far-flung affiliates of his radical Islamic group.
	And he showed a strong focus on affairs in his family's original homeland, Yemen, where a powerful new branch -- Al-Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) -- was having a strong impact.
	One letter to AQAP founder ...

Bin Laden documents: worry over IS tactics, 'aging' Al-Qaeda

A small US city today filed a lawsuit against Purdue Pharma, the maker of the pain reliever OxyContin, accusing the company of helping fuel an opioid crisis that has devastated the town.
	"There is clear evidence that Purdue ignored their responsibility to stop the diversion of OxyContin into the black market, directly leading to the heroin crisis on our streets today," Ray Stephanson, the mayor of Everett, in the western state of Washington, said in announcing the suit.
	"Their drive for profit caused this epidemic, which has overwhelmed our treatment and emergency systems."
	The first-of-its-kind civil suit asks that the drugmaker be made to pay the costs of handling the crisis as well as punitive damages.
	The Connecticut-based drug firm has previously been accused of misleading doctors and patients about the addictive nature of OxyContin, a prescription drug that often leads to heroin abuse.
	The company agreed to pay more than USD 600 million in fines in 2007 for minimizing the ..

US city sues maker of painkiller OxyContin

African troops have suspended an operation to force Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh to hand over power, launching a last bid to convince him to leave the country through talks, the president of regional bloc ECOWAS has said.
	The talks will be led by Guinean president Alpha Conde in the Gambian capital Banjul this morning, according to Marcel Alain de Souza, head of the Economic Community of West African States.
	"We have suspended operations and given him an ultimatum," said de Souza, who attended the swearing-in of The Gambia's new president Adama Barrow yesterday.
	"If by midday, he doesn't agree to leave The Gambia under President Conde we really will intervene militarily," he added.
	De Souza said there had been "a few warning shots so far" and it was "out of the question that he remains where he is".
	"What we are asking is for him to leave," he added.
	Conde will first travel to Mauritania where he will meet the country's president Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz -- who led the previous ...

African forces suspend operations in Gambia for talks

A US air strike has killed an Al-Qaeda leader in northern Syria, the Pentagon has said.
	Mohammad Habib Boussadoun al-Tunisi died in the January 17 strike near Idlib, Pentagon press secretary Peter Cook said yesterday.
	"He was involved in extremist facilitation and external operations and has been connected to terrorist plots to attack Western targets," Cook said.
	Cook said Boussadoun was an Al-Qaeda "external operations leader" who arrived in Syria in 2014 after spending several years in countries across Europe and the Middle East.

Al-Qaeda operations leader killed in US strike in Syria: US

Britain's Royal Navy have been brought in to dispose of a suspected World War II bomb discovered in London's River Thames close to parliament, police said.
	"The Royal Navy are now in attendance and will safely remove and dispose of the ordnance over the next few hours," London's Metropolitan Police said in a statement yesterday.
	The involvement of the armed forces came hours after police temporarily evacuated Westminster underground station, which serves the Houses of Parliament.
	The rush hour shutdown also saw the closure at around 5:15 pm (local time) of Westminster Bridge, in the shadow of parliament's Big Ben clock, and Waterloo Bridge, both of which have since reopened.
	"Further temporary road closures are expected to be necessary throughout the night as the ordnance is dealt with. The majority of these will be in central London," police said.
	The ordnance was spotted after coming to the surface of the water in the tidal flow of the Thames, a police spokesman told AFP.
	It ..

Royal Navy to dispose of suspected WWII bomb in London

US President Barack Obama delivered an angry parting shot at Congress, berating Republicans for blocking his efforts to close the military prison facility at Guantanamo Bay.
	The facility "never should have been opened in the first place" Obama said in a terse two-page letter yesterday. "There is simply no justification beyond politics for the Congress' insistence on keeping the facility open."
	The Obama administration has conducted a flurry of last-minute transfers, and this week sent eight Yemenis and two Afghan inmates to Oman.
	That brought the number of men remaining at Guantanamo down to 45, but in his letter Obama said only 41 remained. A US defense official confirmed the transfer of four additional detainees, but did not immediately provide details.
	Obama struggled to find a solution to the vexed question of what to do with the forever detainees, and it is uncertain they could be convicted in a civilian court.
	The outgoing president had tried to transfer many detainees ...

Obama slams Congress for blocking Guantanamo closure

Gambians including the country's army chief took to the streets in scenes of wild celebration after President Adama Barrow was inaugurated in neighbouring Senegal.
	Young men shouted and sang while hanging out of cars, and children danced with their mothers on main roads near the capital Banjul yesterday, where the long-serving leader Yahya Jammeh was believed to remain despite the expiry of his mandate and a military intervention that could remove him at any moment.
	Gambians briefly forgot the Senegalese troops flowing over the border and the lack of resolution of the country's political crisis, cheering the president they have wanted to see take power for so long.
	In Westfield, a traditional opposition stronghold outside Banjul, AFP journalists witnessed dozens gathered in groups wearing "Gambia has decided" and opposition coalition T-shirts. Stern soldiers looked on but didn't halt the proceedings.
	"We are grateful that God has answered our prayers," said Barrow supporter ...

Celebrations erupt in Gambia after Barrow inauguration

Stick-wielding inmates hurled stones and lit fires in a Brazilian jail where dozens were previously massacred, as authorities struggled to contain a wave of gang violence.
	Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas yesterday to try to separate two groups of inmates as they fought a pitched battled in the courtyard of the Alcacuz prison, AFP reporters overlooking the facility saw.
	Unrest also erupted overnight in the town of Natal near the jail, prompting the government to order the armed forces to deploy to the town.
	"The troops will reinforce the patrols in the streets of Natal after the riot in Alcacuz prison," President Michel Temer's office said in a statement.
	Globonews television channel showed pictures of injured inmates being evacuated from the jail.
	Rioting had also broken out overnight in six towns in the state, a spokesman for local authorities told AFP.
	Rioters set on fire 21 buses plus other vehicles and seven people were arrested in that unrest, the spokesman ...

Troops deployed as Brazil riots spread

The singer of Latin pop hit "La Lambada," Loalwa Braz, was found dead today in a burned-out car in her native Brazil, police and media said.
	Braz, 63, provided the sensual lead vocals for the international hit song released by French group Kaoma in 1989.
	A police official told AFP that firefighters found Braz in the coastal town of Saquerema near Rio de Janeiro.
	Brazilian media said firefighters were called to the singer's home and found her body totally burned inside the car.
	News site G1 citing police said armed men had been seen near her home during the night but it was too soon to say whether they were linked to Braz's death.
	Braz's parents were both musicians and she started out in the profession herself at the age of 13.
	She performed with Brazilian greats such as Gilberto Gil and Caetano Veloso.
	She lived in France for several years in the 1980s. Her hit song featured in an advert for the soft drink Orangina.
	"It is sad. She was a warm and likeable person," said another 

'Lambada' singer found dead in Brazil: police

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres used his first address at the World Economic Forum in Davos today to push for a new partnership with business to help fight climate change and reduce poverty.
	Guterres took over from Ban Ki-moon on January 1 with an ambitious plan to reform the United Nations at a time when it is struggling to raise funds for its humanitarian work and to address global crises.
	The UN chief singled out business as the "best allies" to shield the Paris climate deal from "the possibility of less supportive action of some governments", in a veiled reference to US President-elect Donald Trump.
	Trump, who takes office on Friday, has expressed skepticism about climate change, raising fears that he will withdraw the United States from the Paris deal on combating global warming.
	"I would say that the best allies of all those who want to make sure that the Paris agreements are implemented, the best allies today in the world are probably in the business sector and it is .

AFP

AFP

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