A suicide bombing today on a camp grouping former rebels and pro-government militia in troubled northern Mali left 40 people dead, UN and local sources said.
	The president's office ordered three days of national mourning following the attack, the worst in the country in recent years.
	A member of the UN peacekeeping mission MINUSMA, who asked not to be identified, initially put the death toll at 37 but hospital sources later told AFP that 40 people had been killed and 60 hurt.
	The camp is located in Gao, a former bastion for Malian rebels and Islamist fighters who together seized control of much of the country's vast arid north in early 2012.
	It was set up under a 2015 peace deal signed between the government and various militia and rebel groups following a French-led international military intervention that was launched in 2013 but which is still in place.
	The attack occurred as former rebels in the Tuareg-led CMA movement and ex members of a pro-government militia prepared to go 

Mali suicide attack kills 40 fighters

PTI Automatic

Two Moroccan peacekeepers died after gunmen attacked their convoy in the Central African Republic's remote southeast, the UN mission has said.
	The attack Tuesday took place about 60 kilometres from the town of Obo, as the troops were escorting a convoy of fuel trucks sent from Zemio, MINUSCA said.
	"Two peacekeepers died and two others were injured," it said. "The attackers fled into the bush."
	The United Nations Security Council yesterday condemned the attack "in the strongest possible terms."
	"The members of the Security Council expressed their deepest condolences and sympathy to the families of the peacekeepers killed, to the Government of Morocco and to MINUSCA and extended their sympathies to the government of the Central African Republic," the UNSC said in a statement.
	"Attacks targeting peacekeepers may constitute a war crime and reminded all parties of their obligations under international humanitarian law," the UNSC added urging the Bangui government "to swiftly ...

Two Moroccan troops killed in C Africa convoy attack: UN

Coach Mickey Arthur urged veteran Pakistan captain Misbah-ul-Haq today to continue playing despite a difficult tour of Australia, saying he was an "integral" part of the team.
     Misbah went back on comments he made after last week's series-losing Melbourne Test that he intended to retire and is leading Pakistan in this week's final Test in Sydney.
     Pakistan's most successful skipper, who has scored a total of 20 runs in four innings in the series, said his remarks after the innings and 18 runs defeat in Melbourne were triggered by frustration.
     Misbah is expected to make a decision on his Test career upon his return home, but Arthur said the 42-year-old skipper remained an integral part of Pakistan's team-rebuilding plans.
     Arthur said he had spoken to the captain after the Melbourne Test and that Misbah had been "shattered".
     "Misbah is a guy with such high morals and high values and high standards. He was shattered he hadn't contributed," Arthur told the ...

Misbah 'integral' to rebuilding Pakistan - Arthur

No play was possible as rain washed out the first session on the third day in the third Sydney Test between Australia and Pakistan today.
     Covers protected the Sydney Cricket Ground pitch and surrounds, with little likelihood of play into the early afternoon.
     Pakistan will resume at 126 for two with Azhar Ali on 58 and Younis Khan on 64 in reply to Australia's 538 for eight declared.
     Australia have already won the series after victories in the Brisbane and Melbourne Tests, while Pakistan are battling to avoid their 12th straight Test defeat in Australia.

Session washed out in Australia-Pakistan Test

Turkey said today it had identified the gunman behind the New Year's massacre on an elite Istanbul nightclub that killed 39, as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned the attack aimed to polarise Turkish society.
	The assailant stormed the glamorous Reina nightclub on the Bosphorus early on Sunday morning, spraying 120 bullets at terrified partygoers celebrating the start of 2017.
	Of the 39 dead, 27 were foreigners including citizens from Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan, Iraq, Tunisia and Morocco.
	At least 36 people have now been detained in the probe, but the gunman himself remains on the run after slipping into the night following the attack.
	"The identity of the person responsible for the attack has been established," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said during an interview with state-run Anadolu news agency, without giving any name.
	The attack was claimed by the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, with reports suggesting the authorities suspect the gunman may be from ...

Turkey identifies Istanbul gunman, makes new arrests

A Palestinian UN worker accused by Israel of aiding the Islamist group Hamas was sentenced to seven months' jail today in a plea deal which will see him released soon.
	Waheed Borsh was convicted of "rendering services to an illegal organisation without intention", his lawyer Lea Tsemel told AFP.
	The Israeli justice ministry confirmed the plea deal, saying that it also included eight months' probation.
	Borsh was arrested in July and with time already served and good behaviour, he is expected to be released on January 12.
	The case centred on accusations that rubble in Gaza under the responsibility of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) was misused by the militant group Hamas that controls the enclave.
	Coming shortly after accusations against a senior employee of the World Vision NGO, the case caused a major stir in Israel, with officials accusing the UN of naivete and alleging systematic misuse of aid by Hamas.
	Israel originally alleged that Borsh had been recruited by 

UN worker accused of aiding Hamas sentenced to 7 months

Two Moroccan peacekeepers died after gunmen attacked their convoy in the Central African Republic's remote southeast, the UN mission said today.
	The attack took place yesterday about 60 kilometres from the town of Obo, MINUSCA said, adding: "Two peacekeepers died and two others were injured...The attackers fled into the Bush.

Two Moroccan troops killed in C Africa convoy attack:UN

Italy vowed today to increase deportations of migrants whose asylum requests have been rejected, after a riot in a reception centre sparked by the death of a young woman.
	The country, which has been on the frontline of migrants arriving across the Mediterranean from North Africa, is pushing for an agreement with Niger and a renewed deal with Tunisia to facilitate returns.
	"We have saved many lives but we cannot accept rule-breaking. We need to speed up deportations," Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano, the country's former interior minister, said in an interview with La Stampa daily.
	He was "working to tie up agreements which will reduce arrivals and prevent departures" from the coast of North Africa, he said after a record 181,000 people were rescued from the Mediterranean and brought to safety in Italy in 2016.
	Asylum seekers set fires inside the reception facility near Venice earlier this week in a protest over living conditions and access to healthcare after a 25-year-old woman .

Italy to step up deportations after migrant death protest

China has agreed for thousands of migrant construction labourers to work in Israel in a bid to alleviate a housing crisis in the Jewish state, the Israeli government said today.
	The agreement would see 6,000 Chinese workers arrive in Israel in the six months after the formal signature of the deal expected at the end of February, a joint statement from the interior and finance ministries said.
	An Israeli delegation and China's commerce ministry have signed a draft agreement in China, it said.
	The statement quoted Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon as saying the arrival of the Chinese workers would "energise efforts to solve the housing crisis".
	Housing costs in Israel have been rising steeply since 2008, according to Bank of Israel data, significantly impacting the cost of living and triggering a wave of street protests in 2011.
	Kahlon, whose Kulanu party ran in the 2015 general election on a platform of lowering living costs, came under fire after an August government report showed ...

Israel says China to send thousands of construction workers

Suspected Muslim rebels staged the Philippines' biggest jailbreak today when they stormed a dilapidated jail in the violence-plagued south of the country, freeing 158 inmates and killing a guard, authorities said.
	The attack added to a long history of daring jailbreaks in the southern Philippines, home to a decades-old Muslim separatist insurgency as well as extremist gangs that have recently declared allegiance to the Islamic State group.
	More than 100 armed men believed to have been led by a local Muslim guerrilla commander attacked the jail in Kidapawan city about 1:00 AM (local time) in what appeared to be a well-planned raid to free fellow rebels, jail authorities said.
	"There are high-value targets in our custody who were the subject of a rescue operation," jail warden Peter John Bonggat told AFP.
	Six of the escapees were killed and eight captured as security forces hunted them in nearby farmlands throughout today, according to Bonggat.
	The assailants were heavily armed and 

More than 150 inmates escape in Philippine jail raid

A commuter train derailed today at a station in Brooklyn and injured nearly 80 people, officials said, setting off a panic during the morning rush.
	The Long Island Rail Road train crashed around 8:30 AM (local time) at Atlantic Terminal in the heart of the New York borough.
	"76 non life-threatening injuries reported at scene of LIRR train derailment, Atlantic Terminal Brooklyn," the New York Fire Department said in a tweet.
	Passengers rushed out as smoke filled the tunnel. The impact bent the train's doors and smashed windows.
	Some of the injured were brought out on stretchers.
	Commuter Aaron Neufeld said on Twitter that the crash was "crazy," but added, "Seems only a few people are lightly injured."
	New York's emergency notification system warned of traffic and transit delays and road closures in the area.
	In September, a train derailed during rush hour as it entered the station in Hoboken, New Jersey, near New York. One person died and 114 were injured.
	An investigation into 

New York train derails during morning rush, dozens hurt

Britain's Brexit plans were in turmoil today after the UK's ambassador to the EU quit, blasting "ill-founded arguments and muddled thinking" less than three months before the process is due to start.
	Ivan Rogers' resignation and sharp criticism shed new light on the difficulties faced by Prime Minister Theresa May, who wants to hand in Britain's notice for withdrawing from the European Union by the end of March.
	The move to trigger the Article 50 mechanism would start a two-year clock ticking on sorting out future relations between Britain and the EU before it leaves the bloc.
	Rogers said yesterday he accepted his departure would add to the "uncertainty" over the coming years of Brexit negotiations.
	May has faced criticism for saying little about Britain's divorce settlement objectives: last month she went beyond her "Brexit means Brexit" mantra to specify that she wanted a "red, white and blue Brexit".
	And Rogers made clear that he knew little more about how Britain intended to .

Britain's Brexit plans rocked by resignation

An imprisoned Iranian activist has ended a 70-day hunger strike after officials agreed to temporarily release his wife following a public outcry, Iranian media reported.
	Their cause won widespread support on social media and protesters rallied on Monday in support of the couple.
	Arash Sadeghi, who is serving 15 years in prison on charges of conspiracy, publishing false information and propaganda against the regime, launched the hunger strike in protest at his wife's prison conditions.
	Sadeghi's wife, Golrokh Ebrahimi Iraee, is serving six years for "insulting Islamic sanctities" and "spreading propaganda against the regime".
	The couple's lawyer Amir Raeisian said Sadeghi had given up the hunger strike after authorities agreed yesterday to grant Iraee temporary leave from prison.
	"Normally it will be five to six days and extendable," he told news agency ISNA. "Arash Sadeghi will also be transferred to hospital for treatment."
	The ILNA news agency reported that Iraee's family ...

Iranian activist ends hunger strike after wife released

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which has been monitoring the pro-Russian insurgency in eastern Ukraine, said today it was displeased with the "status quo" in the 32-month conflict.
	The OSCE's new chairman, Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, said the organisation was "not satisfied with the status quo we have now" during a visit to the government-held city of Mariupol outside rebel-controlled regions.
	"We want to make efforts to see change for the better," Kurz told reporters.
	During his two-day visit to Ukraine's war-torn east, Kurz stressed the importance of implementing the so-called Minsk agreements designed to bring an end to a conflict that has claimed 10,000 lives since 2014.
	"Although there are many concerns surrounding the state of these agreements, I must say that the situation at the time of their signing was worse than it is now," he said. "And it could be even worse."
	Kurz added that expectations regarding the possible deployment of ..

OSCE says displeased with 'status quo' in Ukraine conflict

Tunisian suspect Anis Amri smuggled the weapon used in the Berlin Christmas market attack across borders to Italy and used it in the shoot-out in which he was killed, police said today.
	Italian police said ballistic tests proved the gun fired at an officer in Milan was the same as the one used to kill the Polish driver of the hijacked truck which Amri is believed to have ploughed into the crowd on December 19, killing 12.
	"The weapon that killed the driver of the Berlin massacre truck is the same as the one Anis Amri used to wound a policeman in Milan," forensic police said in a statement.
	An investigation was underway to see whether the weapon had been used "in other criminal episodes, in Italy or elsewhere".
	Amri, 24, the prime suspect in the Berlin Christmas market attack, was shot dead after travelling from the Netherlands to France before heading to Italy.
	The Tunisian was approached by two policemen as he loitered outside a Milan train station. He fired at one officer ...

Gun used by Amri matches Berlin Christmas attack weapon

The European Commission said today it regretted that Britain's ambassador to the EU Ivan Rogers had resigned, just as London prepared to launch fraught Brexit divorce negotiations.
	"We regret the loss of a very professional, very knowledgeable while not always easy interlocutor and diplomat, who always loyally defended the interests of his government," said Natasha Bertaud, a spokeswoman for the Commission, the EU's executive arm.

EU Commission 'regrets loss' of UK ambassador

The private ownership of wild animals has been outlawed in the United Arab Emirates, where keeping exotic creatures as pets is a status symbol for some, reports said today.
	Wildcats including endangered cheetahs are known to have been domesticated in the UAE and neighbouring Gulf countries, with some even spotted being taken outside in the middle of big cities.
	In October, one such outing with five tigers on a beach near Dubai's iconic Burj Al-Arab hotel was captured on video and went viral on social media, while others have been filmed driving around with lions.
	The new law bans dealing in and ownership of "all types of wild and domesticated but dangerous animals," Gulf News daily said.
	Such animals can only be kept at zoos, wildlife parks, circuses, breading and research centres, the newspaper said.
	"Anyone who takes a leopard, cheetah or any other kind of exotic animal out in public will face a jail term of up to six months and a fine" of up to 500,000 dirhams (USD 136,000), ..

Emiratis banned from keeping wild pets: reports

An Israeli soldier who shot dead a wounded Palestinian assailant as he lay on the ground posing no apparent threat was convicted of manslaughter today after a trial that deeply divided the country.
	The soldier, Elor Azaria, had been on trial for manslaughter in a military court since May, with right-wing politicians defending him despite top army brass harshly condemning the killing.
	Sentencing is expected at a later date. He faces up to 20 years in prison.
	Judge Colonel Maya Heller spent more than two and a half hours reading out the decision, sharply criticising the arguments of Azaria's lawyers.
	On behalf of the three-judge panel, Heller said there was no reason for Azaria to open fire since the Palestinian was posing no threat.
	She called Azaria's testimony "evolving and evasive."
	Azaria's demeanour drastically changed as the judge read the verdict.
	Dressed in a green army uniform, he had entered the courtroom smiling, with family members and supporters applauding him while 

Israeli soldier who shot dead prone Palestinian found guilty

More than 125,000 Iraqis have been displaced since the start in October of an offensive to retake Mosul from jihadists, the United Nations said today.
	"Following the intensification of military operations in Mosul city on 29 December, the rate of displacement from Mosul has increased markedly, with over 9,000 people having fled the city in the space of four days," said the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
	OCHA also said about 14,000 of the 125,568 people confirmed to have been displaced in 11 weeks have already returned to their homes in recaptured areas.
	After a lull in the offensive launched on October 17 to retake what is now the Islamic State group's last major stronghold in the country, Iraqi forces started a fresh push last week, engaging in heavy fighting in eastern Mosul.
	A senior commander from the elite Counter-Terrorism Service that has done most of the front-line fighting inside the city told AFP on Sunday that Iraqi forces now controlled more .

Number of displaced in Mosul op passes 125,000: UN

Tunisian security forces have dismantled a 13-member "terrorist cell" that was funnelling young recruits to jihadist groups, authorities said today, as part of a growing crackdown on extremists.
	The suspects, aged between 22 and 43, were arrested yesterday in Hergla, a town north of the coastal resort city of Sousse, the interior ministry said in a statement.
	Members of the cell held "secret meetings in a mosque" and admitted to recruiting and sending 12 youths to fight with jihadist groups abroad, it said, linking it to the Okba Ibn Nafaa Battalion, a group connected to Al-Qaeda.
	It was the seventh announcement in less than a week of arrests of alleged "terrorists" in Tunisia, which has detained more than 70 people in a widening crackdown on jihadists since December 25.
	Authorities stepped up their efforts after Tunisian Anis Amri was identified as the primary suspect in last month's attack on a Berlin Christmas market that killed 12 people.
	Amri was shot dead by police in the ..

Tunisia dismantles 'terrorist cell' in growing crackdown

An alleged Islamic State jihadist accused of scoping out potential targets for an attack in Berlin, including the Brandenburg Gate and Reichstag building, went on trial in Germany today.
	It was the country's first trial of a suspected IS militant deployed to Germany from Syria during the chaotic 2015 refugee influx -- in contrast to "lone wolf" attacks or plots by extremists who were radicalised elsewhere.
	The defendant, identified only as 19-year-old Syrian national Shaas al-Mohammad, allegedly fought with the Islamist militia in his war-torn homeland for two years before arriving in Germany as a refugee in August 2015.
	Dressed in a blue pullover and a black cap, Mohammad hid his face behind a folder as he took his seat in the courtroom. Two police trucks were parked outside the entrance, with officers armed with machine guns guarding the proceedings.
	Mohammad was standing trial at a special state security court in Berlin on charges of membership of a foreign terrorist ...

AFP

AFP

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